briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business, and sport. it isa it is a very packed programme with many stories. and many organisations, including australia, have named their word of the year, so we are asking what is your world of 2017? just send them in to bbc the briefing. eu sources have told bbc news british prime minister theresa may and the european commission are "nearing solutions" that will clear the way for the second phase of brexit talks, about the future trade relationship. the prime minister is due to have lunch with the commission president, jean—claude juncker, in brussels later today. a downing street spokesman said it would be "an important staging post", but there were "plenty of discussions still to go." here's adam fleming. three trips in three months. now the prime minister is making a fourth visit to brussels to get the brexit talks going. she will meet jean—claude junker and others to apply the finishing touches to a packet of amendments sweated over by officials. it sounds like there have been progress in talks about the rights of eu citizens staying in the uk after brexit and british people living abroad. discussions about how much money is owed owed by the uk appear to have been unblocked by a more detailed offerfrom britain. but the big sticking point is what to do about the border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. the irish government does not want to wait for a possible trade deal. they want certainty of what is going to happen now. downing street has called today an important staging post on the way to the european summit inio staging post on the way to the european summit in 10 days‘ time because that is when eu leaders will decide whether there has been enough talk about the divorce to start working out the future. adam fleming, bbc news, brussels. oliver cornock is editor—in—chief of the business advisors, oxford business group. he isa he is a regular guest. it is good to see you. huge anticipation as to what will happen in the next 2a hours. your thoughts. it does indeed feel like a big—ticket day for theresa may. it underscores the basic premise, this would always be an easy negotiation. no divorce is easy and we have seen that played out in technicolour. theresa may did not lose but nearly lost an election recently. domestically, she is uncertain. the european position seems clear. the red lines are firm. the ireland issue for example. today isa the ireland issue for example. today is a big day and we are waiting for progress. her domestic base is uncertain, you said, but she has had to deal with the democratic unionist party, which makes ireland all that more difficult to resolve, if that is the right word for it, to make progress on. and many two are commentating on this, of course, we have our own correspondence right there, like katya adler, and others, they are staying the irish border seems to be the sticking point issue. we had a firm commitment from the eu, any deal unacceptable to ireland would be unacceptable to the eu. that is pretty absolute. so it is important, clearly, this is resolved. fingers crossed it is resolved. fingers crossed it is resolved today. what is the likelihood we could be seeing trades discussions on the agenda before the end of this year? well, it is anybody‘s yes. the media goes from 50- 52 70- 30. there anybody‘s yes. the media goes from 50— 52 70— 30. there is a lot of speculation. investors want certainty. at the moment we have a huge amount of it. thank you very much for now. he will be back for the news briefing later copy to keep a look at the business news on our website. —— later. —— do. we will have more on that later. we will be live to brussels. and now for other stories. the united states and south korea have begun their largest—ever joint aerial drills. more than 200 aircraft and twelve thousand troops are taking part in the annual exercise, which comes less than a week after north korea carried out its latest ballistic missile test. our correspondent, paul adams, joins us from seoul. we say this is an annual exercise, but both south korea and the us are, you know, really giving it their all this time, given what happened last week. this is certainly a big one. as you said regular events, nothing remarkable. but the sheer volume, 230 aircraft, we understand, and more importantly, the sophistication of what the americans are sending, including some of their most highly advanced aircraft, the f32 and f35, in larger numbers than ever before in this part of the world, they want to send a strong message. they say this is about making sure the south korean and american military work together. they are not commenting on reports the drills which will last for days will include simulated attacks on north korean nuclear targets. but that has been widely reported here. i don't suppose the pentagon mine is particularly that thatis pentagon mine is particularly that that is the message this drill sends. -- minds. that is the message they want to send to north korea. is north korea listening? the indication is they are just continuing in nuclear ambitions. as hr mcmaster, the national security adviser, said, was it yesterday, in the us, the north koreans are edging closer and closer to the acquisition of deliverable nuclear weapons. in fa ct, of deliverable nuclear weapons. in fact, last week, after the last ballistic missile test, north korea said precisely that, that they had achieved the objective most people think they are still some way off of. there is an awful symmetry in the rhetoric we hear from of. there is an awful symmetry in the rhetoric we hearfrom both sides backin the rhetoric we hearfrom both sides back in september, you will remember nikki haley, the us ambassador at the united nations saying north korea is begging for war. that is precisely what the north koreans said about the us on the weekend, saying this was a dangerous provocation. so we do have a situation in which the two sides continue to do their military business while exchanging ever more heated bits of rhetoric. all right, for now, thank you very much indeed. and now for other stories making the headlines today. eight former catalan ministers who were jailed for their role in attempting to illegally break the region away from spain, will find out today if they can be released on bail. they are facing allegations of sedition and rebellion against the state over october's independence declaration. environment ministers from about 100 countries will meet in the kenyan capital, nairobi, to try to finalise a global declaration to combat pollution. the un says nine million people died in 2015 because of polluted air, land or water, with half of those deaths occurring in china and india. an australian mp has used a debate on same—sex marriage to propose to his boyfriend in parliament. legislation is now being discussed following a postal vote last month and liberal mp tim wilson used the opportunity to propose to his partner of nine years, who said yes. romania enters a new period of political turmoil this week, as the government tries to push a series of controversialjustice and tax reforms through parliament. protesters have returned to the streets of the capital and other cities, determined to force the government to back down again, and repeat the success of similar protests earlier this year. nick thorpe sent this report from bucharest. the anti—government protesters are back in bucharest‘s victory square. the numbers are smaller than before, but the issue is the same. the government alleges the country's anti—corruption agency is too big for its boots and it wants to cut it down to size. these people have come out to defend it. it's going to take more than that to make them change their mind. but i'm sure we can, but we have to get out of the house and into the streets, that's all we have to do. all at once. the protests are inspired by a loose alliance of groups linked on social media. corruption is the reason that people have died, that our children don't have good schools that our public money, our public budget, has been going to private pockets and this country, instead of growing, is going down. on december i for celebrations for romania's national day, government officials stayed away, angry at the support the president has given to the current justice system. the government accuses the president, the prosecutors and the protesters forming what they call a parallel state. all chant both sides in this dispute say there are defending romania's constitutional order from attack. romanians have a habit of protesting just when the weather turns cold. massive crowds in the square and others in february this year forced the government to back down. the question now is whether they can do it again. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme: over the moon. sky—watchers celebrate as the december "super—moon" graces the skies. it's quite clear that the worst victims of this disaster are the poor people living in the slums which have sprung up around the factory. i am feeling so helpless, that the childrens are dying in front of me and i can't do anything. charles manson is the mystical leader of the hippy cult suspected of killing sharon tate and at least six other people in los angeles. at 11am this morning, just half a metre of rock separated britain from continental europe. it took the drills just a few moments to cut through the final obstacle. then philippe cozette, a minerfrom calais, was shaking hands with and exchanging flags with robert fagg, his opposite number from dover. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: there's speculation that britain and the european union are close to agreeing a deal on the first phase of the brexit negotiations. talks are continuing ahead of a visit to brussels by prime minister theresa may. as the biggest ever us—south korean joint military airforce exercise begins, washington says the potential for war with north korea is increasing by the day. since the good friday agreement was signed in 1998, ending 30 years of conflict in northern ireland, relationships between catholics and protestants have greatly improved in many respects. however, in some places peace walls are still in use to separate the two communities. in belfast, they have become a tourist attraction for those looking to learn about the past, as helene daouphars discovered. so, welcome to belfast. thanks. and, my name's tom, and i'll bring you around today. the tour that we do in the black taxis is all about the trouble period, that we had from 1969 until 1998. belfast looks like a chess board. instead of black and white squares on a chess board, we have catholic and protestant areas everywhere. what is the difference between these two communities? it may have been about religion 500 years ago, but it's not about religion anymore. it's all about british identity and irish identity. those gates were locked in 1969, and they've never opened since. there are more than 100 walls in northern ireland separating some catholic and protestant areas. most of them have gates that close every night and at the weekend. some of the walls are 15 metres high, and mainly located in economically deprived areas. the northern irish government hopes to take the walls down by 2023, but only if tensions are reduced. donna is protestant and seamus catholic, but they work in the same organisation to bring the communities together. they do have needs, and should it be education, should it social, should it be employment. and you can'tjust go in and magically fix it. but what you can do is start a process, and work in partnership. the thing about peace walls is they can impact one street or one road. and it's only when the circumstances are right for those directly impacted that you see change. a lot of people in these communities have suffered a lot. sheamus is one of them. he lost one of his friends in 1994. paul was shot dead, and shortly after that attack, then plans were put in place for this substantial structure to be put up, but the nametag attached to it was the million—brick wall. the fact that the peace walls and peace lines are still standing in between communities shows that tension still exists, and the peace is uneasy. many say brexit is bringing new uncertainties. brexit has thrown a spanner in the works, because the majority of people in northern ireland voted to remain. but the problem we have is we're landlocked with the republic of ireland, so what's going to happen now? community workers worry about getting cut off from eu funding, and how it might affect the peace process. i think a lot of people are concerned that brexit will bring enormous difficulty. we currently have an internationally binding agreement within the good friday agreement. how is that supposed to work and develop what is supposed to be a connected peace process, a connected system ? here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. first up, in beijing, where canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau begins an official visit to china. we travel then to europe and the hague where the international children's peace prize is happening. this year's award will be presented by nobel laureate, malala yousafzai. and later in america, us president donald trump travels to salt lake city to sign an order to shrink the boundaries of two national monuments in utah to allow mining and drilling to go ahead. protests are expected. cricket now and on the third day of the second ashes test, australia look to be well in command. after declaring yesterday on 442—8, australia seem to have england's batsmen on the ropes. a short time ago in adelaide, england were on 106—5. vince was out for two, root for nine and cook for 37. malan for 19. now the rest of the sport's news from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm tulsen tollett and coming up on your monday sport briefing: the cleveland cavaliers are looking for their 12th straight nba victory, arsenal are hoping for a kind fa cup draw, while manchester city continue their winning run in the english premier league. we're looking ahead to a big night of nba action this monday, where the cleveland cavaliers are on the road to the windy city looking for their 12th straight victory when they take on chicago bulls. the cavs currently own the longest winning streak in the nba with 11 straight wins so far this season and have been inspired by the amazing form of lebronjames. they're nowjust two wins shy of their franchise record set in 2008—09. and defending champions arsenal will be hoping that the fa cup will again be favourable to them, the draw for the third round will be made later when the teams from the english premier league and the championship find themselves in the hat. the games will be played on the weekend of sixth and seventh january. manchester city have a chance to break new ground against their rivals manchester united at old trafford next sunday. david silva's 83rd minute finish against west ham saw city win a record—equalling 13th premier league match in a row. they could be the first ever premier league team to win14 in a row if they beat jose mourinho's side next weekend. angelo ogbonna put west ham ahead, but nicolas otamendi equalised before silva pounced with seven minutes left. the second half, we were outstanding. it was quite similar, i thought we would score. but today was a bit different. it was massive how no chances because they played 10 players inside the box. it's almost impossible to do that. but we didn't concede too many counter—attacks and a big victory. american ricky fowler has won golf's hero world challenge in the bahamas by four shots finishing on 18 under. he carded a destructive final round of 11 under sweeping away all others setting a new course and tournament record in what was also the lowest round of his career. tiger woods who hosted the event in his latest comeback from injury fired a final round of four under to finish tied for ninth, ten shots behind fowler. this was his first completed round in 12 months. i'm excited. i'm excited the way this week has gone on, you know, not only with the competitive rounds, but also the duties at night, all the functions. i still got my training in. it was a very good week. i don't know what my schedule will be, but my expectation is we will be playing next year. how many, where, i don't know. we'll figure all that out. finally, if you've ever been skiing, you'll be familiar with chair lifts. using them to climb the mountains can be unnerving so imagine being aboard one when it grinds to a halt just before a big race. that's exactly what happened in lake louise in canada. saturday's power cut left some skiiers stranded for half an hour. the back up power could only get them down the mountain, so they had to find an alternative way to get to the start, and this was it. the course was shortened by 460 metres and the race finally started. more than an hour late. you can get all the latest sports news at our website, that's bbc.com/sport. but from me tulsen tollet and the rest of the sport team, goodbye. skygazers around the world have been treated to a spectacular sight with the moon appearing far bigger and brighter than usual. confused? let andrew plant explain it has become known as a supermoon, seen here above whitby abbey, in yorkshire in the uk. the phenomenon happens when the moon reaches it closest point to earth, and appears to be brighter and larger in the sky, as seen here by an aeroplane flying over california. to ea rthbound observers, it appears about 70% larger than normal, and that is because its elliptical orbit takes it about 16,000 miles closer than average. the effect is slight, but seems exaggerated thanks to an optical illusion. we are going to see a supermoon, and there is some gain in the apparent size, and indeed the brightness of the moon, as it makes that closest approach and is fully illuminated, from our perspective, by the sun. but the difference is really quite marginal. what i would say is if you want a dramatic effect, if you go outside and look at the full moon, indeed, any full moon, rising and setting, your mind actually produces an illusion, which we call "the moon illusion," which makes the moon look larger on the horizon. and that effect can actually be more dramatic than the so—called super moon. nasa has called this week sighting the first in a super—moon trilogy. in the next two months, there will be others, on the first and last day of january next year. last year, the moon made its closest approach to earth since 19118, and it won't be this close again until 203a. andrew plant, bbc news. stay with me on bbc news, i'll be back with the business briefing in just a few moments. i'll be live to brussels for an expert insight into the brexit talks and the latest from sydney on the australian enquiry into facebook and google's dominance of online advertising. we asked you at the beginning of the programme or you to send us your words of the year. we've heard from australia, its word for the year is ouassie. helen, you are one of the few that hasn't got a word related to donald trump because we have so many to do with donald trump. sultan in toronto says fake is the word of the year. neal goldsmith in the new york says trump. we have in the dean in columbia, he said dogmatism is his word. we have helen, she says #resist or #metoo, as those two words have become one in 2017. i will have more later. our weather watchers had much to admire during sunday, after dark the feature was the super moon, captured bya number of feature was the super moon, captured by a number of weather watchers. earlier in the day it had been the most glorious sunsets that captured the attention, but that's not to say it's wall—to—wall sunshine to start the new week because we have weather fronts close by. this front at its most active i suspect across the northern parts of scotland, wet and windy start here. further south, especially in the south—east, it may be the density of fog that's a of an issue to say the least and a cruel start to the eastern pennines. elsewhere, and of cloud perhaps in parts of west wales and the south—west for a spot of passing rain and a similar prospect in northern ireland and the western side of scotland but you get the sense there is a lot of dry weather to be had. a lot of cloud and maybe some hill fog around as well because some hill fog around as well because some of this cloud sitting quite low in the atmosphere, but as the day gets going and the last battle begins to lift up into more low cloud, well, it will be a half decent sort of day and i don't will get in your way too much. if the fault has lingered with you that will suppress the temperatures and six or seven for some, elsewhere, eight, nine, ten, so quite a quiet start to the weak. the breeze freshening in the evening in northern scotland and more cloud eventually bringing more rain and that sets the tone for the northern and western parts of scotland for tuesday but again elsewhere after a coolish start again, maybe one or two mist and fog patches, not a bad day, i don't think the weather will get in the way of your plans, eight, nine, ten. that cloud and rain in northern parts of scotland becomes a good deal more widespread and the wind really picks up in western areas, we could be looking at a gale, but at least it comes from the south so that boosts the temperatures, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12, something like that, that's the last of the mild air because after that significant low pressure which will be destructive for a time wednesday into thursday, moves to the east, that opens up the possibilities of some really cold air plunging its weighty eventually write down and across the british isles. we start pretty cold in the early pa rt isles. we start pretty cold in the early part of the week and wednesday and thursday it gets pretty wet and indiana by the end of the week it turns much colder. this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: theresa may heads for brussels amid speculation that britain and the european union are close to agreeing a deal on the first phase of the brexit negotiations. australia launches an investigation into google and facebook‘s dominance in the global advertising space. we'll be live to sydney for the details. these are the markets in asia. a bumper day is expected all street with the key taxation bill passed in