of daily coronavirus cases, health officials warn the days ahead will be crucial as hospitalisations continue to rise. new year honours for leading figures in the battle against covid. professors chris whitty and jonathan van tam are knighted. drjenny harries and drjune raine are both made dames. the president of south africa pays tribute to desmond tutu as "the spiritual father of our new nation". today is officially the hottest new year's day on record — with temperatures reaching 16.2 degrees in st james's park in central london. now on bbc news, review 2021, the media year. our media editor, amol rajan, takes a close look at some of the organisations running our digital world in his review of the year.