and mike nesmith — singer and guitarist with the sixties band the monkees — has died at the age of 78. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. fresh analysis of data on the omicron variant of coronavirus has revealed what the uk government is calling a "deeply concerning" situation. the figures confirm that omicron is growing rapidly in all regions of the country and could be the dominant strain within the next week. the uk health security agency is suggesting that vaccine protection against mild symptoms is substantially reduced — but that a third boosterjab is 75% effective in preventing any covid symptoms. here's our medical editor fergus walsh. the omicron variant is spreading incredibly fast, despite our highly immunised population. the growth rate is even more rapid than last christmas, when the alpha wave hit and very few of us had been vaccinated. new analysis shows that having two vaccine doses is unlikely to stop omicron infection. however, boosterjabs will give around 75% protection against a mild infection. both two and three doses should give significant protection against severe disease, but to what extent is still unclear. it's the sheer growth rate of omicron which is worrying scientists. it may produce the biggest wave of infection so far in this pandemic. if we continue to double in this rate, then i would expect that without any mitigations, we could have 100,000 or 200,000 cases, or even more by the end of the month in the case numbers that we see every day. what we don't know is how many of these cases will translate into hospitalisation. what we do know is the more cases we have in the community, the more pressure that will put on hospitalisations. even if omicron is causing mostly a milder illness than delta, which some early data from south africa suggests, a huge wave of infection here could still result in a sudden peak of hospital admissions within a matter of weeks. the government is not ruling out further measures beyond plan b to control omicron, but no one yet is using the l word — lockdown. we absolutely do need to keep everything under review. i think the approach that we're taking is proportionate, we recognise the importance of balancing people's ability to get on with their lives with the need to protect them against this virus, but action is absolutely required, and as new data comes in, we will consider what action we do require to take in the face of that data. care homes were especially hard—hit in earlier covid waves. under new guidance, residents in england will be allowed a maximum of three visitors, and more vaccination teams will be deployed to offer boosters. the omicron puzzle is still being pieced together. for now, it remains unclear just how big and how serious it will prove. fergus walsh, bbc news. the white house says president joe biden is "very concerned" by the supreme court's decision to leave in place a ban on most abortions in texas. it follows a ruling by the court on friday that abortion providers can pursue legal challenges to a controversial law that bans the procedure in the state of texas after the first six weeks of pregnancy. but the court also ruled that the legislation will remain in place for now. the law has been sharply criticised by doctors, women's rights groups and the biden administration. the president is very concerned by the supreme court's decision to allow sb8 to remain in effect, given the consequences that law has for women in texas and around the country and for the rule of law. i know you noted this, but i would just like to reiterate that the president is deeply committed to the constitutional right recognising roe v wade, and he has argued and advocated in the past for codifying roe through passing the women's health protection act, and the ruling this morning is a reminder of how much these rights are at risk. amy hagstrom miller is president & chief executive of whole women's health which runs four clinics in texas. let's start off at this reaction to the ruling today. it's really disappointing. the supreme court had an opportunity to weigh in and protect women's health and safety in texas, and it is really devastating.- safety in texas, and it is really devastating. what is the effect of that _ really devastating. what is the effect of that ruling, _ really devastating. what is the effect of that ruling, do - really devastating. what is the effect of that ruling, do you i effect of that ruling, do you think? what effect will it have? also this lot has been in place since september. have you seen any changes based on what was decided then? we seen any changes based on what was decided then?— was decided then? we won on -a er was decided then? we won on paper today- _ was decided then? we won on paper today. it's _ was decided then? we won on paper today. it's considered i was decided then? we won on paper today. it's considered a| paper today. it's considered a legal win, paper today. it's considered a legalwin, because paper today. it's considered a legal win, because the court allowed us to continue this lawsuit and guided us, but for real people on the ground in texas, there is no injunction, and about 80% of the people who need abortions in a state of texas are being denied. we've only been able to see folks who are under six weeks into the pregnancy. most people don't even know they're pregnant at that point, so the vast majority of people have been denied care and have had to eitherfigure out how denied care and have had to either figure out how to travel out of the state of texas or are being forced to carry a pregnancy against their well. one of the things that this law in texas dead is that put the onus on citizens to enforce this law. have you seen any lawsuits popping up as a result. ~ ., ., lawsuits popping up as a result. ., ., , , result. we have not, because all of us _ result. we have not, because all of us complied _ result. we have not, because all of us complied with - result. we have not, because all of us complied with the i result. we have not, because| all of us complied with the law because abortion providers and the folks that help us, our supporters, we know what these vigilante bounty hunter people are like. they are out in front of our clinics, they are screaming at us, they stamp us on social media. and having this kind of power to survey all of us and to sue us is terrifying. and this law went into effect, all of us complied with the law, and everyone has been complying for 100 days now. , ., ., ., ., now. does that mean you are not ”rovidin now. does that mean you are not providing any — now. does that mean you are not providing any abortions _ providing any abortions anymore?— providing any abortions an more? ., ., , ., anymore? we are not providing abortions over _ anymore? we are not providing abortions over six _ anymore? we are not providing abortions over six weeks. - anymore? we are not providing abortions over six weeks. all i abortions over six weeks. all the portions we provide have to be before six weeks into the pregnancy and anyone over six weeks has to leave texas or be forced to continue with the pregnancy. forced to continue with the pregnancy-— forced to continue with the pregnancy. forced to continue with the reunan .~ . ., ~ pregnancy. what would you like to ha en pregnancy. what would you like to happen next? _ pregnancy. what would you like to happen next? where - pregnancy. what would you like to happen next? where do - pregnancy. what would you like to happen next? where do you| pregnancy. what would you like l to happen next? where do you go from here? i to happen next? where do you go from here?— from here? i was hoping we could have _ from here? i was hoping we could have this _ from here? i was hoping we could have this lot - from here? i was hoping we could have this lot ruled - could have this lot ruled unconstitutional or at least take the power away from these vigilante folks so that we could resume with the care that people need us to provide while we fight the lawsuit, but now we fight the lawsuit, but now we are going to have to continue fighting the lawsuit and figure out what the next steps would be and in that interim time period, we will remain open, caring for people who can get to us early enough in the pregnancy, but we are spending a lot of our time trying to help people leave the state and help them with the money and logistics in order to get the abortion they need but they have to migrate and travel in order to do so.— in order to do so. thank you for your— in order to do so. thank you for your time _ in order to do so. thank you for your time today. - in order to do so. thank you for your time today. thank l in order to do so. thank you . for your time today. thank you. there has _ for your time today. thank you. there has been _ for your time today. thank you. there has been a _ for your time today. thank you. there has been a large - there has been a large explosion at a palestinian camp in the city of tyre in southern lebanon. and injured about a dozen people. local journalists say an ammunition depot belonging to a palestinian militant group exploded at a refugee camp. the cause of the blast is not clear though some reports say it was triggered by a fire. a lorry has overturned in southern mexico killing 53 people and injuring dozens more. more than 100 people, said to be migrants from central america heading to the us border, had been crammed into the lorry�*s trailer. the authorities say the truck hit a pedestrian bridge on a highway outside the city of tusklus gut—earez. the british foreign secretary liz truss has warned russia it will face "severe economic consequences" if it were to invade ukraine. she was speaking at the start of a meeting of g7 foreign ministers in liverpool where she said there'd be a show of unity in making clear to moscow that any military action would be a "strategic mistake". with me is our new reporter mark lobel. what were the key message liz truss's is trying to to get across. her main messages to do at this mounting international concern about a potential conflict in the ukraine. that is because of reports of 100,000, over 100,000 russian troops amassed on the border between russia and ukraine. this topic came up earlier this weekend president putin and president biden spoke in biden came away from that meeting warning of economic and other consequences on russia if there was this invasion of ukraine. president putin came away saying that he was concerned and wanted guarantees that nato wouldn't expand eastwards into ukraine. the two of them are at loggerheads. liz trost wants this meeting this week and deb g7 moran technique for administration a as a show of unity between like—minded economies to deter russia from invading ukraine. she was speaking to the bbc�*s james landau. let's have a listen to how she put it. i share the view that it would be extremely serious if russia where — be extremely serious if russia where to— be extremely serious if russia where to take that action. it would — where to take that action. it would he _ where to take that action. it would be a strategic mistake and there would be severe consequences for russia. and what — consequences for russia. and what we — consequences for russia. and what we are doing this weekend is working with life minded allies to spell it out. she went on _ allies to spell it out. she went on to _ allies to spell it out. she went on to talk - allies to spell it out. she went on to talk about. allies to spell it out. she | went on to talk about the possibility of economic sanctions. she said with allies she wanted to become less dependent on russian energy and on that project, the pipeline, the proposed pipeline to go from russia to germany to supply gas, she said that it would be a problem to press ahead with it if russia invaded ukraine and saying that she would discuss the issue with her new german counterparts and alina this weekend will decide what to do with that. that alina this weekend will decide what to do with that.- what to do with that. that is not the only _ what to do with that. that is not the only concern - what to do with that. that is not the only concern that i what to do with that. that isj not the only concern that liz trash brought up, because iran is also in the picture here. there is this ongoing concern about british nationals being held in iranian prisons unfairly according to many of theirfamilies, they are being held hostage, and britain is being asked by those family to pay a £400,000,000 debt that the uk 05 pay a £400,000,000 debt that the uk os iran based on arms sales to iran in the 1970s. they think that they are linked, and this is what liz trust had to say about paying that debt. it trust had to say about paying that debt. , trust had to say about paying that debt-— that debt. it is our policy that debt. it is our policy that this _ that debt. it is our policy that this is _ that debt. it is our policy that this is debt - that debt. it is our policy that this is debt that - that debt. it is our policy that this is debt that the | that this is debt that the british— that this is debt that the british government needs to pay~ — british government needs to pay. there are complexities to working — pay. there are complexities to working with iran which are well— known, working with iran which are well—known, we working with iran which are well— known, we are working through _ well— known, we are working through that. in well-known, we are working through that.— through that. in terms of complexity. _ through that. in terms of complexity, they - through that. in terms of complexity, they were i through that. in terms of i complexity, they were asked by james landau if the threat of us financial sanctions was stopping the uk paying that debt. she wouldn't get into those details, but the iranian ambassador to london said that earlier in the week or last week in the uk government officials are in tehran to discuss legal ways to paper in's i stark of £400,000,000 debt. it sounds like there is some movement on this which may give hope to those families who have family members and relatives detained for many years in some cases in iranian jails. years in some cases in iranian “ails. ., ~' years in some cases in iranian “ails. ., ~ ., years in some cases in iranian “ails. ., ., ~ , years in some cases in iranian 'ails. . ., 4' , . jails. thank you for keeping an e e on jails. thank you for keeping an eye on that — jails. thank you for keeping an eye on that for _ jails. thank you for keeping an eye on that for us. _ this is bbc news, the headlines... the uk government has warned that the omicron variant could be the dominant strain in britain within a week — with a senior minister saying situation is seriously worrying. the us supreme court leaves a controversial texas law banning most abortions in place — president biden says he's very concerned by the decision the wikileaks founder julian assange can be extradited to the us to stand trial, the uk's high court has ruled. assange faces charges in the states of publishing classified documents. his extradition was blocked injanuary because of concerns about his mental health, but nowjudges have said that assurances given about mr assange's treatment allow the move to go ahead. dominic casciani has this report. free, freejulian assange! a day ofjudgment, but is it the end of the road in washington for a man who has been wanted for a decade? today, the high court ruled julian assange should go on trial in the us for disclosing state secrets. his supporters say he'll kill himself injail, the americans say they'll treat him humanely. mr assange's partner says those assurances are worthless. the high court decided againstjulian on this occasion on the basis of political assurances. amnesty international has analysed these assurances and has said that they are inherently unreliable. it's taken 11 years to get here. in 2010, julian assange's wikileaks posted video of iraqi civilians killed by us forces. just one of thousands of us secrets. two years later, he flees into the ecuadorian embassy in london. in 2018, the us begins preparing a prosecution. the next year, assange is removed from the embassy, and he's been in a britishjail cell ever since. for his supporters, julian assange is a warrior for truth and justice, but our extradition law says he must stand trial for his alleged crimes. his lawyers will try to get the case into the supreme court to overturn this judgment, but that's not guaranteed. time is running out. if he can't launch a final appeal, one of the most controversial figures of the internet age will be on his way to trial in america. dominic casciani, bbc news, at the high court. president biden says he's spoken to olaf scholz — and congratulated him becoming germany's new chancellor. the american president tweeted that he was looking forward to working together on a range of global challenges. it comes as olaf scholz is on a whirlwind tour of europe. he's been calling for unity to tackle the pandemic — and tensions with russia. scholz said he was concerned about a russian build up of troops on the ukraine border. translation: we are, of course, deeply concerned by the events i unfolding along the ukrainian, russian border, and it has to be our responsibility to ensure that everyone can feel safe within their borders and that the border is europe are invaluable. our correspondent damian mcguinness described why scholz�*s itinerary matters. it's always that tradition for the german chancellor to go first to france, for historical reasons, to show that france and germany, after years of bloodshed, they century or over the centuries have now, you know, brought europe together, also, pragmatic reasons, without french and german cooperation committee can't do anything in europe. but as you say, this is a sign of continuity, because going to brussels there is a signal to the german government is as pro— european, if not more, than the previous government under angela merkel, so you are quite right. the new chancellor is really wanting to show a sense of continuity. he is quite similar in style to angela merkel, quite low—key, not a very showy personality, but actually, what he is doing with his government could provide some differences because it's even more pro— european than angela merkel�*s government. what they talked about today, both in paris and brussels, was what they call the sovereign europe, sovereignty for europe. a phrase that kept on being repeated throughout the meetings today. and what that means in concrete terms is quite a lot of radical reform for europe, more control for brussels, less control for national leaders, and that is something that, actually, angela merkel always pushed back against. so, this phrase, a sovereign europe, is actually a new german coalition agreement, something the new minister is apparently key on, so this could mean more power is going to the eu in terms of security, in terms of migration, certainly something that french president, emmanuel macron, wants, now you have that in berlin as well. so, you are quite right, the sense of continuity certainly in style, but actually under the surface, we could see some big changes in the eu over the next few years if their plans come to fruition. michael nesmith, singer and guitarist with 1960s pop group the monkees, has died at the age of 78. the quartet rose to fame with a string of hit songs and starred in their own popular tv sitcom. nesmith, who was from texas, penned songs like mary, mary; circle sky; listen to the band; and the girl i knew somewhere. in a statement to us media, his family said he "passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully and of natural causes". our media and arts correspondent david sillito told me he was a big fan of the monkees growing up. mike nesmith, i grew up watching the monkees thinking it was the most fantastic tv programme i'd ever seen, and it is hard to overestimate how popular they were in their peak, and there is a fantastic audition tape of him back in 1966, i think it is, 65, and there he is in the woolly hat, the deadpan drawl style there from the very beginning, absolutely crucial parts of the monkees magic. and he was already by this point a singer—songwriter. he had songs, one of his songs was being sung by linda ronstadt, but of course, famously, the monkees weren't allowed to play on their first records, and they were very much a made—for—tv band. but they had great talent, and... and he did insist that they write and record their own music. absolutely. and he was very discouraged, very discouraged that they weren't allowed to play his songs, and one of the last songs is listen to the band, which is absolutely fantastic song, right at the end of the monkees career. then he goes on, well, he goes on and creates, he is one of the creators of country rock, the first national band, not very successful, but they are great songs. then he moves on, he does a song called rio in the late �*70s and decides "i'm going to do a pop video for that," quite sort out their pop video and thinks, i like this idea, i'm going put this together, maybe into like a tv programme that people could watch, and he sells the idea to warners, then they go on and take that idea and create mtv. he is very much the architect of mtv. as a director of original series at netflix, carolina garcia is responsible for bringing binge—worthy shows such as stranger things, atypical, and raising dion to our screens. born in argentina, garcia moved to the us with her family when she was a child and worked her way to the top of the entertainment industry. named as one of bbc�*s 100 women, she reveals what really makes a hit tv show. i believe that being a woman is a superpower. my name is carolina garcia, and i am the director of original series on netflix. what i do is i help take hopefully the best shows to bring to audiences, and i work with creators and writers to bring those stories to life to hopefully create something that the world will love and enjoy. if we had a crystal ball, all of the shows that we programme would be the biggest hits in the world. unfortunately, it's really hard to predict what is going to strike and what is going to feel, what is going to puncture the zeitgeist. so, what i really rely on when picking show this is my intuition, my heart, and my instinct, so when someone is telling his story, if i am moved by that story, there is no algorithm in the world that is going to be able to predict that human movement in me. growing up, i think latina immigrants, i'll speak personally, you just want to that end, you just want to be part of the americana and really be the same as everyone else. i remember growing up, i have a pretty cool name, my name is carolina, and i always was like why can't my name just be sarah orjessica, or, you know, whatever the american name was, because ijust, i really wanted to fit in, and now i am like, oh, carolina, that was years superpower, being who you where ——carolina, that was your superpower, being who you where was your superpower. you did not have to be anyone else. it's important to have examples and visible examples of people that look like you doing things that you aspire to do and to be. part of it is making sure that in the casting, we are representing a full breath of who can do what role. so, part of myjob is to pay it forward and to open the door and create new opportunities for latino excellence to come through the door and foster that talent. i think women especially, and i know this is true for me growing up, i always wanted to think like one of the guys. it used to be there was only one seat at the table for a woman, and when and where often, you know, trying to make way for themselves to be that woman, and now we have created my seats, and it's not at the expense of anyone else, but it really is just about opening up opportunity for other people to comejoin the table. honestly, the more the merrier. why not? the duke and duchess of cambridge have chosen a family photograph taken on a visit tojordan as the image for their official christmas card this year. (tx 00v)the photograph was released on the royal's social media the photograph was released on the royal's social media accounts with the caption: "delighted to share a new image of the family, which features on this year's christmas card." kensington palace said the photograph was taken injordan earlier this year, but did not reveal the nature or date of the visit, or the name of the photographer. the festive card is sent to friends, associates and their charities. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @kacungira. hello. a big change in the feel of the weather through this weekend with some milder air spreading from the west. but with that, a fair amount of cloud, some mist, and murk and hill fog and some outbreaks of rain at times. on the earlier satellite picture, a slice of clear sky, and where that clear sky remains, quite a cold start to saturday morning. the coldest weather of the whole weekend, in fact. out west, more cloud, and with that some milder weather, which is slowly but surely going to crawl its way eastwards through the day. so, temperatures in eastern parts starting the day below freezing, western areas well above. belfast at six, plymouth at eight degrees, and as we go through the day, the milder but cloudier and wetter conditions will work eastwards. so early sunshine in eastern scotland, eastern england, that won't last long, things will tend to cloud over. briefly a bit of sleet and snow over high ground in scotland. but as you can see, it will turn back to rain because as this wet weather continues to track eastwards, it will introduce ever milder conditions. so 12 degrees for belfast, for cardiff, for plymouth, just six in aberdeen, seven in norwich. but actually, as we go through saturday night, we will bring that milder weather further eastwards. whereas we normally expect temperatures to drop through the night, they won't across some eastern parts of england, for example, ending the night at 10 degrees in norwich and hull, five there in aberdeen, very mild out towards the west. all the while some cloud, some outbreaks of rain, some clear spells across the northern half of the country. then through sunday, again, there's going to be quite a lot of cloud. that cloud producing some outbreaks of rain at times, especially through northwest england, northern ireland, up into southwest scotland. some brighter glimpses here and there and a very, very mild afternoon, eight to 1a degrres. now, we have to keep a close eye on developments during sunday night, because this small but potent weather feature is expected to pass closer to the far northwest, a deepening area of low pressure. that is set to bring some very strong winds across parts of northern ireland, but perhaps most especially in exposed parts of western and northern scotland, particularly for the western and northern isles, there could be some really quite stormy weather for a time. we will keep you posted on that one throughout the weekend. into next week, it stays relatively mild. a bit of rain around for a time, perhaps settling down later in the week. this is bbc news, the headlines. the uk's health security agency says the country could have more than a million omicron cases by the end of the month and that two doses provides little protection against the new variant. a senior government minister says the situation is seriously worrying. the white house says president biden is very concerned by a supreme court decision to leave strict new abortion laws in place in texas. the new law bans abortions from six weeks of pregnancy. it's being challenged by abortion providers. the high court in london has ruled thatjulian assange should be extradited to stand trial in the united states. the wikileaks founder faces charges linked to the leaking of classified military documents. his supporters say the us could not be trusted. (pres)now on bbc news...it�*s time for the media show. now on bbc news...it�*s time for the media show. and a warning that this programme contains