and in turkey, the currency keeps falling. the government's cut interest rates again and inflation's getting worse. hello, welcome. we begin with the latest on the omicron variant of coronavirus. the uk has reported a record number of cases for the second day in a row. 88,000 positive tests were recorded on thursday. that's around 10,000 more than wednesday. the uk is racing to deliver booster jabs, the third shot of the vaccine. almost 750,000 people received it yesterday, also a record. here's england's chief medical officer. because of the steepness of this, even if this ends up in a situation where boosters do hold this to a large degree for a lot of people, there'll still be a lot of people in the nhs — a lot of people will simultaneously fall ill and be unwell, isolating or caring for others at the same time across the whole economy. so that side of things, i also do think we need to take quite seriously. that was professor chris whitty. and this is the view of professor irene petersen, an epidemiologist at university college london. i think this could get really bad. i think — i mean, you just said the numbers here were rising, we had a new record today, and we will probably see a new record in the next coming days, as well. omicron is a real sprinter, and it is getting pace right at the moment. earlier, the prime minister borisjohnson was asked whether the omicron wave meant people in the uk should be scaling back their plans for christmas. we don't want to make your choices for you about your social life. - we are not closing things. but what we are saying - is people should be cautious, and they should think about their activitiesl in the run—up to christmas. nobody wants to get omicron and be . unwell, and be forced to isolate. . the queen has cancelled her traditional pre—christmas lunch with her extended family. it would have brought up to 50 people together at windsor castle next week. buckingham palace said... here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. inevitably, of course, the queen will be wanting to be seen setting an example. goodness knows how many different households have been coming together for this lunch for the extended royal family — and there are quite a few of them, as we know. but it's important also to just say that at the time of writing, as it were, the arrangements for the immediate family to go up to sandringham for their christmas there, those are still in place. but clearly, the queen and her advisers will be watching the situation closely. france is tightening covid restrictions for travellers arriving from the uk, effectively banning tourists from saturday. a statement from the french prime minister's office says... i've been speaking to our paris correspondent hugh schofield. well, they are among the most stringent france has imposed upon the uk since the whole thing began. from saturday, you won't be able to come to france from the uk, for holiday purposes or work purposes. all tourism basically will be stopped from the uk, and commercial journeys as well or stopped. you can come if you've got imperious, compelling reasons, or if you're french and you want to go home for christmas or you've got an official residence in france. but all other travel is to be stopped. and for those who do come over, there are new rules regarding testing — you've got to get yourself tested before you come in after you come, and for 48 hours afterwards, you have to self—isolate until you get a negative result. so it's a big change, and of course it's to stop the over spill, which everyone fears will come from the uk, may be watching across the channel, hearing borisjohnson watching across the channel, hearing boris johnson warned watching across the channel, hearing borisjohnson warned about watching across the channel, hearing boris johnson warned about a watching across the channel, hearing borisjohnson warned about a tidal wave of omicron hitting the uk, and they don't want it to happen here. they know it will, but as usual with covid, they want to delay it, spring it back so that the booster programme of vaccinations can proceed at paced and have its effect to minimise the impact of the omicron wave as it comes. so they want the delay. — omicron wave as it comes. so they want the delay, hence _ omicron wave as it comes. so they want the delay, hence the - want the delay, hence the restrictions, can you bring us up—to—date on the covid numbers for france? up-to-date on the covid numbers for france? , ., ., . ., , france? they are not particularly aood france? they are not particularly good here _ france? they are not particularly good here either, _ france? they are not particularly good here either, they're - france? they are not particularly good here either, they're going l good here either, they're going upwards fast. 65,000, around their daily cases — that's largely to do with the huge amount of testing that's going on. but still, it's a lot and it's heading up. all that, a tiny percent is omicron, the vast majority is delta. but nonetheless, what everyone is preparing for is for that to change, everyone knows that when these new variants arrive, they very quickly take over. so the expectation is there'll be an omicron takeover in the next few weeks, and they are saying there are now about 2000 intensive care beds taken up with covid across the country, they expect that to go up to 73-4000 in country, they expect that to go up to 3—4000 in the next couple weeks, over the holidays, and they want to be ready for that. so at the moment internally, we haven't really enabled tents measures to combat omicron. but there is a meeting tomorrow where i expect there will be more measures announced internally. turkey has cut interest rates for a fourth month, despite rampant inflation and a plummeting currency. we're told the move was driven by president recep tayyyip erdogan, and his unorthodox economic policies. the currency, the turkish lira, has hit another record low. it's fallen 5% against the us dollar 30% in the past month, and 47% in three months. as its value drops, inflation has soared to 21%. that's fuelling protests. these demontrations were staged by health care workers, they're demanding better wages amid rising cost of living. while this protest against rising prices was held in istanbul on sunday. at the centre of this is turkey's president, recep tayyip erdogan, and his unorthodox view that cutting interest rates will curb inflation. most economists believe the opposite is true. in fact, most central banks raise interest rates to control inflation. not in turkey. on 18 november, turkey's central bank cut interest rates for a third consecutive month. the lira fell by 6% in a day. the next week, president erdogan pushed the central bank to go further, declaring an "economic war of independence". the lira fell again, by 15%. and today, the central bank cut rates again, for the fourth consecutive month. here's president erdogan on that. translation: we will not - let our turkish lira be swallowed. there are some troubles at the moment, and we will get over them as soon as possible. nobody should doubt that. we are determined to put an end to the uncertainty that has arisen due to the fluctuations in the exchange rate, and the exorbitant price increases as soon as possible. last month, inflation hit 21%. this is the reality. the price of wheat has gone up 109% sunflower oil, 137%. toilet paper, 90%. families are now queuing for subsidised bread because they can no longer afford market rate at bakeries, even though bread is one of the cheapest staples. so let's get the latest from istanbul — our business co—respondent, victoria craig, is there. the justification is that president erdogan wants to see an environment that has low interest rates and high growth. and he's got both of those at the moment, but they aren't exactly working as he thinks they should be. so growth is up above 7% in the third quarter from a year ago. interest rates have been cut by one percentage point today. the problem is we are seeing sky high inflation in a currency that's in a sharp decline — so people's purchasing power has been decreasing over the last year. that's really causing some economic problems here in turkey. 50 causing some economic problems here in turke . ., . in turkey. so the real-time impact is hue. in turkey. so the real-time impact is huge- in — in turkey. so the real-time impact is huge. in terms _ in turkey. so the real-time impact is huge. in terms of _ in turkey. so the real-time impact is huge. in terms of the _ in turkey. so the real-time impact is huge. in terms of the reaction, l is huge. in terms of the reaction, what are people saying?- is huge. in terms of the reaction, what are people saying? people here are really feeling _ what are people saying? people here are really feeling the _ what are people saying? people here are really feeling the pinch. - what are people saying? people here are really feeling the pinch. like - what are people saying? people here are really feeling the pinch. like i- are really feeling the pinch. like i said, the value of a five lira note has significant lee decreased since january, it's gone down by almost half. so people are feeling that, when they go to the supermarket they can't buy as much as they used to be able to. we talked of one family whose husband is a construction worker only doing odd jobs now because he doesn't have enough work to make ends meet. the wife has a baby who is four months old, she's reached the end of her three month maternity leave so she had to make the decision to quit herjob to stay home because they couldn't afford to have a baby—sitter. where hearing stories like this all across the city and across this country. these are the real effects of a currency crisis, and inflation that really has become out of control. now the central bank today blamed a whole host of issues that might seem familiar to our listeners here — they blamed travel restrictions, supply chain issues and high commodity prices. but the difference is, and i'll say it one more time, the difference between the economy like the us, uk and other countries, and turkey as you have a currency in decline and inflation the central bank hasn't been able to control. and also a move that's been pushed by the president himself, he's been defending this. what's he been saying? defending this. what's he been sa inc? ~ defending this. what's he been sa im? . ., defending this. what's he been sa inc? ., ., saying? well, he did come out today, and one of the _ saying? well, he did come out today, and one of the things _ saying? well, he did come out today, and one of the things he's _ saying? well, he did come out today, and one of the things he's done to - and one of the things he's done to try and alleviate some of the pressure on households here is announced that starting next year, minimum wage will rise 15% — that's in direct response to what's been going on in the price pressures people see here. because as i said, people see here. because as i said, people here are really angry and they can feel the effects of this inflation spiral. you will note that say central decision. i've never been somewhere where people have been somewhere where people have been somewhere where people have been so closely following what policy makers at the central bank have been doing or whether currency is doing day—to—day, hour to hour. so the president announced this change in the minimum wage and, an interesting titbit they are, one report suggested 40% of people here in turkey are on minimal wage. so the idea of putting more money in their pocket, you'll spur economic growth and get the economy back on track. but expert economists say the opposite is likely to be true, because giving people more money will only further cause further price increases, and therefore inflation. . �* , price increases, and therefore inflation. . �*, , ., ., inflation. that's the situation in turke . here in the uk, it's a different story. the bank of england has announced an unexpected increase in its main interest rate, to a quarter of i%. the move surprised many economists. it comes off the back of yesterday's higher than expected rise in inflation rise, as well as economic uncertainty caused by the omicron variant of the coronavirus. here's our economics correspondent, andy verity. with gas bills up by 28%, inflation is catching fire. electricity bills up i9%, petrol at a record high and goods prices rising faster than they have in 30 years, up 6.5%. the bank of england has decided it is time to act to try to stop inflation getting out of control. since the monetary policy committee first slashed interest rates to emergency loans in the wake of the financial crisis they have had well over 100 meetings and only raised interest rates and three of them. they are doing it now because they are protecting inflation will get up to 6%, the highest it has been since 1992. the one big reason why it is we are seeing further upward pressure on wholesale gas prices so they went up a lot obviously close to august and came off a bit and they are going up a bit. this is directly related to some of the tensions we are seeing on the border between russia and ukraine and a lot of europe's gas supply comes through there and that will feed through when the next price cap is set for all of us as domestic customers. we have to take the action we think will do the job to address and tackle inflationary pressure particularly in the medium term. we just have to do that i'm afraid. for the vast majority of households more than 90% the rate rise will not cost them anything for now. they are either renting, have paid off their mortgage or their interest rate is fixed, but two million have tracker or variable rate mortgages. the rise means a borrower on an average tracker mortgage will pay £10 a month extra and on a standard variable rate they will pay £15 a month extra. if inflation continues to rise which is what the bank of england expects then wages are going to be squeezed further which suggests there is going to be a strain on people's living standards and they will not be able to buy as much as they could have done a year ago. their salaries will not stretch as far as the guest. it will not be the last interest rate rise. they are expecting two more in the new year. andy verity, bbc news. breaking news when it comes to the british premier league, reuters are reporting an announcement from the premier league which says that it has postponed four more matches which were scheduled for this weekend due to covid—19 outbreaks at brentford, watford, norwich city and leicester city fc. the matches that have been postponed are southampton versus brentford, west ham united versus brentford, west ham united versus norwich city, and everton versus norwich city, and everton versus leicester city fc. so this all comes on top of the league's earlier announcement that the manchester united game against brighton and hove albion on saturday had been called off, as well as there is a's game between c and tottenham hotspur. we are hoping to speak to our sports correspondent in the next few minutes. the only british woman convicted for travelling to syria to join islamic state group says she's now ashamed of her actions. tareena shakil says she hopes her case serves as a warning about the consequences and dangers of extremism. she is one of around 450 britons who've returned to the uk from areas controlled by is. poonam taneja from the bbc�*s asian network reports. british mother tareena shakil in syria back in 2014. she had secretly travelled to the heartland of islamic state group with her one—year—old son. here she lived in a house with dozens of other women as they prepared to marry foreign fighters. conversations were often listened to and, you know, you were just generally expected to behave in a certain way. you know, don't cause any trouble. she says the brutal reality of life under is soon became apparent. there were, like, two girls who didn't act that way, who would just act open. i can't really give an example... they were just unruly, really. and, you know, a van came, men came off the van and took them girls away and we never seen them again. less than three months after arriving in syria, tareena shakil escaped back to the uk. police arrested her at the airport. so how did this bright student with ambitions of becoming a doctor end up embracing a group which murdered, raped and tortured thousands? during her trial, the court was told that after her abusive marriage ended, she was radicalised online. she posted the black flag of is on social media and exchanged messages with prominent is members, even urging others to take up arms. jailed for six years, she has now served her sentence and has gone through a de—radicalisation programme. i regret every last thing in terms of my decision to run away to syria with my child. you know, i live with them consequences every day. tareena shakil now looks very different. online selfies have replaced is flags, but rehabilitating convicted terrorists is complex. so how do we know she has really changed and is no longer a threat? it has been a long journey and along the way, i've had a lot of different conversations with a lot of different people. you know, imams in prison, mentors outside. but she says she remains bitter towards is and its online recruiters. you know, i rememberfeeling really sad, really bitter, really taken advantage of and duped as it were, but i rememberfeeling really like ashamed of myself to some degree that i had allowed it to happen. tareena shakil says she has turned her back on islamic state group and its ideology. she says she hopes her story will act as a warning to other girls and women vulnerable to online radicalisation. poonam taneja, bbc news. the defence has begun making its case in the trial of ghislaine maxwell. the court in new york has begun hearing testimony from the first defence witnesses. ghislaine maxwell is accused of procuring underage girls for the convicted sex offender, jeffrey epstein, to abuse in the late �*90s and early 20005. she says she's not guilty. nada tawfik is in new york. what did we hear from the first witness, kimberley espinosa? well, it's very clear why she was chosen as the first to speak. she spoke very glowingly about ghislaine maxwell, saying she became her executive assistant after working with epstein, and that she was a demanding boss but one that she had a lot of respect for. then the defence started asking her about one of the key accusers that is underpinning this case, jane — remember, jane said that both epstein and maxwell sexually abused her when she was 14 years old. well, kimberly espinoza said thatjane was seenin kimberly espinoza said thatjane was seen in jeffrey kimberly espinoza said thatjane was seen injeffrey epstein�*s office a number of times, but that she regarded her as epstein�*s goddaughter. she said it was jane's own mother who described her that way. she was then asked about that relationship — she said it was a loving one that, even afterjane had moved to california to star in a soap opera, that she remained in touch, sending kimberly cast photos within inscription. but the prosecution's cross examination was very simple and clear — they asked her if she had ever worked in epstein�*s homes. that's where the alleged abuses took place. she said she had not, she was only an employee in the offices. as i say, it was clear why she was chosen as the first witness, but we have yet to hear from others. the first witness, but we have yet to hearfrom others. and it seems clear that a fence's strategy is to just continue to try to discredit the accusers and former staff who have testified —— defence. the accusers and former staff who have testified -- defence.- the accusers and former staff who have testified -- defence. there was another witness, _ have testified -- defence. there was another witness, a _ have testified -- defence. there was another witness, a memory - have testified -- defence. there was another witness, a memory expert i have testified -- defence. there was another witness, a memory expert -| another witness, a memory expert — what did we hear from them? another witness, a memory expert - what did we hear from them?- what did we hear from them? that's ri . ht, what did we hear from them? that's right. she's — what did we hear from them? that's right. she's a _ what did we hear from them? that's right, she's a psychologist _ what did we hear from them? that's right, she's a psychologist who - what did we hear from them? that's right, she's a psychologist who has. right, she's a psychologist who has testified before in the harvey weinstein trials, the r kelly trials, the oj simpson trials. she says she has testified in over 300 cases since 1975 based on her studies that memory can often be unreliable. she says that over time, people can be given information that will affect their emotions and what they can recall about past events. so the defence again, remember in their opening statements, tried to say the accusers had either fabricated their memories or were thinking that ghislaine maxwell had more of a prominent role in epstein�*s life than she really did in hindsight. so this is the expert they are using to hit back on that point. they are using to hit back on that oint. �* they are using to hit back on that .oint. �* ., they are using to hit back on that oint. �* ., ., �* point. don't go away, we'll come back to you _ point. don't go away, we'll come back to you in — point. don't go away, we'll come back to you in a _ point. don't go away, we'll come back to you in a moment. - four women abused by epstein have already given evidence for the prosecution, some using false names to protect their identity. one witness, "jane", told how epstein began abusing her when she was 14 years old, and that ghislaine maxwell was sometimes in the room. another witness, "carolyn", said she was the same age, when epstein first abused her. she also said that ghislaine maxwell groped her. the defence has sought to undermine the womens�* testimony by drawing attention in some cases to past problems with alcohol and drugs, and by accusing the women of seeking financial gain. here's a former new york prosecutor on the strategy of the defence. the defence, i think, from the very beginning here has been very aggressive. they were aggressive in their opening statement, they were aggressive with the cross—examination of the government's witnesses, particularly the victims. and that's a calculated risk — i mean, they're taking a calculated risk by doing that, because they certainly can alienate the jury by coming out so hard against those victims. so it really — i certainly expect they will continue that aggressive stance in the defence case, but they mayjust think that they've scored enough points in their cross—examination, in their presentation of evidence so far that they don't need to put ms maxwell on the stand. and that is what we will all —— what we all want to know. let's go back to nada. are we likely we are going to see ghilaine on the stand? reportedly a family spokesperson had said that ghislaine maxwell is too fragile to take the stand. well, i can tell you from here in court, we've had no confirmation whatsoever yet as to what she has decided to do. she'll be following the advice of her attorneys to see if whether testifying will help or hurt her case. what i can tell you is that if she does testify, it will expose her to intense cross—examination from the prosecution. on top of that, if she is convicted in this case and she is convicted in this case and she testifies, everything she said on the stand could open her up to further perjury trials. but at the end of the day, it is her decision and hers only if she wants to tell her side of the story to the jury. but wejust do her side of the story to the jury. but we just do not know yet what her final decision is. this but we just do not know yet what her final decision is.— final decision is. as always, many thanks for bringing _ final decision is. as always, many thanks for bringing us _ final decision is. as always, many thanks for bringing us up - final decision is. as always, many thanks for bringing us up to - final decision is. as always, many thanks for bringing us up to date | thanks for bringing us up to date and bringing us across what we've been hearing in new york in that trial of glen maxwell. as always, more detail and background, as well, on our website, don't go away, will be talking to our sports correspondent regarding the further for matches being suspended — that announcement being made by the premier league, we broke thatjust a few minutes ago, we will get more detail and analysis of that. do stay with us here on outside source. bye—bye for now. hello there. it's been another grey, gloomy day for most of us, but there were some lovely spells of sunshine across eastern england in particular, and also parts of scotland. here's a lovely sunset picture from one of our weather watchers in orkney — they did have a few showers there, as well. but for friday and, indeed, into the weekend, for most people, skies will look like this — it'll be rather grey and cloudy, but mainly dry, thanks to that blocking area of pressure. some dense fog likely to develop across the eastern side of england, where the skies will remain clear. could cause some problems through tomorrow morning, you can see the temperatures lower where we have the clear skies — otherwise elsewhere, with the cloud, the mist and the murk, no lower than around 5—7 celsius. our area of high pressure then sticks by into the weekend, starts to migrate a bit further northwards, closer to iceland — that means they could see some cooler northeasterlies picking up certainly on sunday. for the short—term, though, for friday, we're still in the fairly mild air mass, another rather grey and gloomy day for most of us, limited sunshine, perhaps the best of it again across the northeast of the uk. temperatures a little bit lower across the north than what we had on thursday — double—figure values across the south and west, maybe a bit breezier here, too. friday night, we hold onto a lot of the cloud, clearer skies across scotland, parts of northern england — so it's here where we'll see the lowest temperatures, a touch of frost there, but further south, it will be milder with more of a cloud and more of a breeze. so for the weekend, we're onto a blocking area of high pressure — very little change, it stays cloudy and mostly dry, and it will be turning cooler, like i mentioned. saturday, probably the best of the sunshine will be across scotland, northern england, the higher ground poking out of the low cloud here, because it will be a rather grey, gloomy day further south. top temperatures, 10—11 celsius in the south, a little bit cooler further north. that cooler air filters slowly southwards on sunday — again, a lot of cloud, limited spells of brightness, probably the best of it again across scotland and northern england. those temperatures in single figures right across the board through sunday afternoon. and we start to see that cold air filter southwards, we think, next week during the run—up to christmas, could even see a few wintry showers mixed in, as well — you'll have to watch this space. there is signs some computer models want to try and push something more unsettled and milder into the southwest. we could become a bit of a battleground with the air masses. but at the moment, it's looking like staying on the cold side. hello, i'm kasia madera, this is outside source. another record for cases in the uk as the omicron variant of coronavirus takes hold. a lot of people will simultaneously file ale and be unwell isolating caring for others across the whole economy. the impact of the variant continues to be felt with france preventing most travel from the uk — and some premier league games being postponed. fears of a possible russian invasion into ukraine has dominated the last eu leaders summit of year — western intelligence says moscow has massed tens of thousands of troops on its border and could be preparing an attack. in new york, the first witnesses have taken the stand in the defence of the former assistant, she was told she respected her and never saw any inappropriate behaviour. we have been breaking the news from the english premier league this evening. this is a statement from the football league which says... so let's crossover straightaway to speak to jane dougal at the bbc sport centre. this is because of concerns about spectators, or because of concerns about squads isolating. why this decision? this decision is isolating. why this decision? in 3 decision is mostly about players and players health, testing positive for coronavirus. as you can imagine, it's a situation which is changing all the time. there have been calls from premier league managers for a few days now to have the fixtures for this we and postponed ahead of christmas. thomas frank, the branford manager said that taking a short break had to sort things out for the boxing day fixtures. at the premier league has said that that was not going to happen. earlier today, tonight's match between leicester and tottenham was called off. that is because both leicester and tottenham have had massive outbreaks of cold dead within their squads. a few hours after that, manchester united said they could not field a team to play against brighton on saturday because, again, they had so many coronavirus positive tests within their squad. —— outbreaks of covid. following that, three other matches were announced to be postponed. so as you mentioned, for manchester saturday are postponed including manchester united, brighton, and a sunday match after ten against leicester is off. liverpool are playing newcastle tonight. that match is going ahead, that's despite three liverpool players testing positive for coronavirus. as you can see, there have been many, many tests spreading throughout their premier league and the leagues below as well, and a few hours ago, the premier league and said that it was their intention to continue the current schedule we are safely possible. branford wanted those games to be postponed where according to their manager they have 13 positive cases in the set up, and that does reflect the spike that football in the uk is going through, mirroring the rest of the population, of course, as the omicron variant sweeps to the country. on monday, the paramedic announced 42 positive cases across the clubs. that number was a record of positive cases in a week. that is since the restart began we don't know what the numbers are now because the official numbers have not yet been released, but it will have risen. the problem after the premier league and the leagues below is when will these fixtures be played? later down the lane, once we after the christmas period, there are some gaps in midweek, but not many, and the fa cup to have to factor in. it's going to be difficult. the other issue is with some players being reluctant to get the coronavirus vaccine. now, no premier league player has publicly taken the jab, but several managers have said very vocally how important it is to be vaccinated including the liverpool manager, juergen klopp, he has been very vocal about it saying that it's an individuals responsibility for the community. of course, he did mention attendances and in the lead up to christmas, that risk of transmission could affect that. there were empty seats at brighton's match against palace last night. just hours after the nhs director primary care set at the downing street briefing that if you were going to a stadium, make sure it is to get a covid jab and not to watch a match. it is to get a covid 'ab and not to watch a match.— it is to get a covid 'ab and not to watch a match. nicely said. jane, thank ou watch a match. nicely said. jane, thank you for— watch a match. nicely said. jane, thank you for getting _ watch a match. nicely said. jane, thank you for getting across - watch a match. nicely said. jane, thank you for getting across that l watch a match. nicely said. jane, l thank you for getting across that so quickly. jane dougall at the bbc sport centre. thank you. baltic leaders have told a summit that the european union is under assault from russia on multiple fronts. latvia's prime minister accused moscow of disinformation —, aswell as massing thousands of troops close to russia's border with ukraine. and these are the concerns of lithuania's president. i think we have to do everything that's in our hands in order to prevent the worst scenario, which unfortunately we cannot exclude. the scenario is possible, military intervention into the territory of ukraine. i think we have enough tools in order to stop russia from its aggressive behaviour. first of all, we have to talk about economic sanctions, which are possible. eu leaders are holding their last summit of the year, with lots is on the agenda, including the pandemic and energy prices. while talks are in brussels, one topic is dominating, nearly 3000 kilometres away on the border between russia and ukraine. western intelligence services believe up to 100,000 russian troops have been deployed there, and could be preparing an attack. the kremlin denies that. but ukraine isn't reassured. here's its president. translation: what i hear is that most of the countries _ of the european union and of the eastern partnership precisely support the position of ukraine. everyone understands that the price will be very high but no one understands the amount of victims and lost lives in the event of an invasion. nobody wants that. ukraine definitely doesn't want that. ukraine is a former soviet republic with deep social and cultural ties with russia. it shares a border with both russia and the european union. to understand the escalation now, we have to go back to 2014, when russia seized and annexed crimea. russian backed separatists also captured big parts of ukraine's two eastern regions — marked here in blue. in focus now is this satellite image, showing russian tanks, artillery and ground troops around 300 kilometres from the ukraine border. ukraine believes an invasion could happen next month. all of which has lead to this warning from the european commission president. our very first is on russia to de—escalate, but we are also prepared for any increasing aggression from russia's side. as i said, sanctions are in place. the sanctions could be tightened, but of course, they are also sanctions prepared that are additional and coming on top of all the different fields you might think of. also concerned is the nato defence alliance. here's the secretary general, jens stoltenberg. we see no sign that this build—up is stopping or slowing down. on the contrary, it continues. we also send a very clear message that we can, we are ready to talk to russia. we believe in dialogue, we believe that dialogue is important, especially when times are difficult as they are now. and an invitation to moscow to meet with the nato russia council. the kremlin denies its planning an invasion. for its part, it accuses ukraine of provocation. it says ukrainian military drills, like these ones near annexed crimea, are a provocation. russia also wants assurances that the us and nato won't send soldiers to the border. and it's seeking support from its ally, china. here's a kremlin spokesperson. translation: the president briefed the chairman - on his recent video call with us presidentjoe biden. our president has outlined the situation regarding the growing threats to russian national interests from the us and nato, which continue to move their military infrastructure closer to russia's borders. in this regard, our president highlighted the need to promptly launch serious talks with the united states and nato in order to develop international legal security guarantees for our country that would rule out the alliance's further eastward expansion and the deployment of weapons threatening russia particularly in ukraine and other neighbouring states. regardless, those living in ukraine say the threat of war is real. this is the view of one woman in eastern ukraine, who was a volunteer when conflict broke out in her area in 2014. translation: my name is hannah. i'm a research scientist at the museum of war in the east. my life has changed after 2014. before the war, i was an ordinary person living an ordinary life, just like others, i used to work in an ordinary company. when we came to the hospital to pick up servicemen, we saw their ragged trousers, scorched uniforms, combat boots with the bottoms torn off and reattached using scotch tape. you won't see anything like that now. do you know where bomb shelters are located in the city? i don't. i know if we ask people in the street they won't know either. and there is no activity under way regarding this. we are not told where to go and what to do. people are not proactive, there are many children, there are many elderly, people with special needs, what should they do if something starts? that is how that woman �*s lake has changed. next lets hearfrom jessica parker who is at the eu summit, on what leaders want to achieve. there is this wider push that we have seen from the g7 from the united states as well in terms of trying to send a strong message to russia to basically a detour, i think that is the word that i keep hearing, to try and deter russia from further military aggression on the borders of ukraine. ——a strong message to russia to basically a deter, that is the intention. what lies behind it, i think, is a key question here had the european council summit in brussels. we hear talk of potential sanctions, whether that's boosting existing sanctions against russia or whether it's coming up with new sanctions, the emphasis really being that they would fight, ——with new sanctions, the emphasis really being that they would bite, they would be damaging to the russian economy, but it's pretty bag at the moment as to exactly what that would mean. i don't thank you will see any pen to paper, for example, for statements coming out of the european council in terms of what they would do. jessica parker, managing that eu leaders summit. still to come, we look back at 2021 and what we have learned about coronavirus. five children have been killed in australia, after a bouncy castle was swept into the air, by a gust of wind. four other children are being treated in hospital — three of them are in a critical condition. our sydney correspondent, shaimaa khalil reports. an event to mark the last day of school turned into a devastating scene. the accident happened when a strong gust of wind blew the inflatable castle in the air. police say the pupils fell from a height of more than 30 feet. several children are in critical condition. it appears a wind gust has caused a jumping castle to lift in the air. several children fell from thejumping castle and it appears they may have fallen from a height of approximately ten metres. this is a very tragic event and our thoughts are with the families and the wider school community and also ourfirst responders. there is no doubt that this has been a very confronting and distressing scene. police have confirmed that another child died in hospital, the authorities did not give their ages, but said all were in grades five or six. typically for children aged ten to 12. the australian prime minister scott morrison called the accident unthinkably heartbreaking. the events that have occurred today in devonport in tasmania are just shattering. they are just unthinkably heartbreaking and young children on a fun day out together with their families and it turns to such horrific tragedy, at this time of year, it just breaks your heart. witnesses described chaotic scenes as parents rushed to the school. an investigation is now under way to find out how this happened and why families are mourning the loss of their children on a day when they were celebrating the end of the school year. shaimaa khalil, bbc news. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is... the uk has recorded another record number of coronavirus cases as the omicron variant takes hold. every week my colleague ros atkins takes an in depth look at an issue in the news. this time as the end of the year approaches, he looks back at what 2021 has taught us about the coronavirus pandemic. christmas is coming, and so is omicron — at speed. the covid variant was first reported in south africa in november. it's already spread to dozens of countries. and the who has this message for us. omicron's very emergence is another reminder that, although many of us might think we're done with covid—19, it's not done with us. to put it mildly — this is not where we hoped we'd be. ifeel like we're... it's 2020 all over again, in a way, you know? we're back where we were. i want to consider where we were with covid and where we are, and look what we've learnt about this virus in 2021. back injanuary, wealthier nations had onlyjust started their vaccine roll—outs. this was israel. the pandemic death toll passed two million, and the number of cases reached 100 million. in the uk, the infection rate was rising, as was the pressure on hospitals. we have a very significant problem. the next few weeks will be the worst weeks of this pandemic. and, amid all this, the who had a message of defiant hope. this was from february. i don't want to ask people to hide under their desks or duvets in fear. actually, i want people to be connecting with each other and saying, you know, "this is a virus that's particularly nasty. "but it is within our power to be able to resist it." almost 12 months on, have we shown we can resist it? to answer that, we need to look at how this pandemic and our understanding of it have evolved this year. certainly on one thing, there's been no change — we were told the vaccines worked, and they do. in the uk, as vaccinations increased, the number of hospitalizations dropped dramatically. the number of deaths dropped dramatically, too, right across the year. what was less clear was whether vaccines stopped infections. what we really don't know, though, at the moment, is, does the vaccine reduce transmission? does it block infection? that was in january. by the summer, the picture was clearer. what we know with the vaccines is that they are actually remarkably effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths. they are less effective at preventing infection. the vaccines did reduce serious illness, but wouldn't stop the spread of the virus. delta in particular had made sure of that. and, by the end of the summer, it was also clear that two jabs would not be enough. people's immunity was waning. and, in many richer countries, including the us, that's exactly what happened. we are announcing our plan to stay ahead of this virus l by being prepared to offer covid—19 booster shots. . now at this stage, boosters were a response to waning immunity. but right now, they're needed for another reason, too — the omicron variant. we know that two doses of vaccine are not enough to stop you getting infected with omicron. but a booster will cut your risk of symptomatic infection by around 70%. that's why in the uk, we've seen people queuing for hours to get a booster. this year has shown the need for a third jab. and omicron has also taught us other ways the pandemic has evolved. for one, just like the scientists said they would, variants have arrived. alpha, beta, and delta drove covid infections globally with devastating consequences in india. my colleague yogita limaye described the situation. every crematorium we've been to, we've seen body after body being brought in. it's hard for anyone to keep count, but what workers have been telling me is that the real scale of deaths caused by covid—19 in india is a lot higher than what official numbers reflect. the threat of variants was real — and their threat was being explicitly connected to vaccination rates. this is the co—creator of the astrazeneca vaccine. we need to be able to find the funds and the means to vaccinate widely across the world. if we don't, what will happen is more mutations arising in the virus, and we will have a harder and harder task to fight the virus as it continues to mutate. through the year, the richer countries pushed on with their vaccine roll—outs. nearly 70% of the uk population has been double—jabbed. but less than half of the overall global population has been. and in africa, it's 8%. and the who continues to focus on this issue. let me be very clear. the who is not against boosters. we are against inequity. our main concern is to save lives everywhere. we started the year with the who warning about vaccine equity, we finish it with the same message. and, while richer countries push on with their boosters, omicron has shown that even vaccinating most people in a country may not be enough. this is austria — it's now made vaccines compulsory from february. and here, and in much of western europe, health care systems are under pressure — despite ample vaccine supply. this is the french health minister. translation: the load | in the intensive care units and the number of hospitalizations will continue to increase in the next two weeks. and that is weighing on our hospitals, which are already very mobilised. the question, then, is what to do about this? and bringing in new restrictions remains a live issue. in the house of commons this week, a significant number of borisjohnson's own tory mps voted against new restrictions. one of them was andrea leadsom. covid will be with us - for many years to come, and it's unthinkable to think that every autumn from now on, - we will be limiting the qualityl of life for all citizens just to be on the safe side. these restrictions were voted through, and polling in the uk and elsewhere suggests public opinion remains behind them. but, as covid becomes ever more long—term, opposition to restrictions becomes more pronounced. and one of the most contentious restrictions of them all this year has been travel bans. at the start of 2021, there were heavy restrictions. international travel was down 49%, compared with 2019. in addition, countries like australia and new zealand effectively sealed themselves off — they wanted to suppress the virus. but in the end, delta made sure this wasn't possible. by august, for australia, the aim was no longer keeping the virus out. instead... that is our goal — - to live with this virus, not to live in fear of it. globally, international travel has returned in a form. there are still some restrictions, prices are high, and tests have to be done. and the who continues to question travel bans as an idea. and, while the uk briefly introduced some of them for omicron, it quickly changed tack. now that there is community transmission of omicron in the uk, and omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of omicron from abroad. 2021 taught us that travel restrictions may buy a little time, but more transmissible variants will find a way through. and so, here we are at the end of 2021 — variants spreading, unresolved disagreements over vaccine distribution, over restrictions, over travel bans — and the statistics tell their own story. more people have died in 2021 from covid than in 2020. the who report that over five million people have lost their lives so far during the pandemic. and, for all these reasons, and with omicron spreading, it can be difficult to gauge how to assess the state of the pandemic. i thought this clip of the who's michael ryan perhaps spoke for a lot of us. but it introduces a level of concern and a level of fear, and a sense of, erm... ..more exhaustion that we all feel. well, here we go again. "here we go again," says michael ryan. and he also offered some advice. just because we have a new variant doesn't mean the situation will get worse. it means we have more uncertainty now. and that, perhaps, is the best way to summarise this year. two fundamental questions remain — can we vaccinate enough people, and how serious are these new variants as we try to do that? at the end of 2021, neither of those questions have definitive answers. and so, as michael ryan says, "we have more uncertainty now." now, for advice that can benefit all parents wherever you live, the children's commissioner for england says that pa rents parents should talk to their children about pornography and online sexual harassment from a young age. dame rachel de souza says young people want their parents to broach these topics. she's written a new guide — with the help of teenagers and young adults. the "overriding" message from the group of 16 to 21—year—olds consulted was to "talk early, talk often". parents are advised to keep the conversation going to ensure there is no "awkwardness" or "taboo" subjects. it also suggests that parents should talk about the risks of sharing pictures when they first give their child a phone — and explain early on that they might be sent naked pictures. let's hearfrom dame rachel de souza on how the guide came about. ——donna jones is the the association of police and crime commissioners' joint victims lead. here's what she thinks of the report. most children in great britain get a smartphone between the ages of 10—12, often when they start secondary school. nowadays, on a smartphone, within three clicks, you can be accessing free and sometimes quite brutalised pornography. it is normalising quite unusual behaviours, so for example, strangulation during sex. it is a real concern, and this is probably one of the things that we think now is leading towards this violence against women and girls agenda. it starts very young with normalising behaviours which we, you and i, would think are completely unusual. i do very much welcome the report's recommendations, there are ten recommendations there, and they do hone in very much on speaking to your children. now, if you don't tell them about the harm on their mobile phone from pornography, from people sending them indecent images, from people trying to pretend to be other teenagers in chat rooms on social media, they won't know that if someone tries to approach them. so speaking to your children before you get them a smartphone is absolutely crucial. good and sound advice. lots more as always on our website. bye—bye. hello there. it's been another grey, gloomy day for most of us, but there were some lovely spells of sunshine across eastern england in particular, and also parts of scotland. here's a lovely sunset picture from one of our weather watchers in orkney — they did have a few showers there, as well. but for friday and, indeed, into the weekend, for most people, skies will look like this — it'll be rather grey and cloudy, but mainly dry, thanks to that blocking area of pressure. some dense fog likely to develop across the eastern side of england, where the skies will remain clear. could cause some problems through tomorrow morning, you can see the temperatures lower where we have the clear skies — otherwise elsewhere, with the cloud, the mist and the murk, no lower than around 5—7 celsius. our area of high pressure then sticks by into the weekend, starts to migrate a bit further northwards, closer to iceland — that means they could see some cooler northeasterlies picking up certainly on sunday. for the short—term, though, for friday, we're still in the fairly mild air mass, another rather grey and gloomy day for most of us, limited sunshine, perhaps the best of it again across the northeast of the uk. temperatures a little bit lower across the north than what we had on thursday — double—figure values across the south and west, maybe a bit breezier here, too. friday night, we hold onto a lot of the cloud, clearer skies across scotland, parts of northern england — so it's here where we'll see the lowest temperatures, a touch of frost there, but further south, it will be milder with more of a cloud and more of a breeze. so for the weekend, we're onto a blocking area of high pressure — very little change, it stays cloudy and mostly dry, and it will be turning cooler, like i mentioned. saturday, probably the best of the sunshine will be across scotland, northern england, the higher ground poking out of the low cloud here, because it will be a rather grey, gloomy day further south. top temperatures, 10—11 celsius in the south, a little bit cooler further north. that cooler air filters slowly southwards on sunday — again, a lot of cloud, limited spells of brightness, probably the best of it again across scotland and northern england. those temperatures in single figures right across the board through sunday afternoon. and we start to see that cold air filter southwards, we think, next week during the run—up to christmas, could even see a few wintry showers mixed in, as well — you'll have to watch this space. there is signs some computer models want to try and push something more unsettled and milder into the southwest. we could become a bit of a battleground with the air masses. but at the moment, it's looking like staying on the cold side. this is bbc news. the headlines. the queues forjabs continue — almost three quarters of a million people had their boosters yesterday — a record number hospital admissions are rising slowly but in london — where cases are rising the fastest — hospital staff in this icu are feeling the pressure the chancellor is cutting short his us trip and is held talks with leaders in the uk about the solution for hospitality and other affected sectors. �* ,., for hospitality and other affected sectors. ~ ., ., ., ' sectors. about a quarter of £1 billion of— sectors. about a quarter of £1 billion of cash _ sectors. about a quarter of £1 billion of cash sitting - sectors. about a quarter of £1 billion of cash sitting with - sectors. about a quarter of £1. billion of cash sitting with local authorities that is been provided by government to support those businesses who need it in my