it in windsor, rather than at sandringham, as is traditional. also tonight... mass killings of civilians by the military in myanmar — the bbc uncovers disturbing new evidence. as russia deploys tanks and troops on its border with ukraine, we ask what is president putin planning? and victory for australia in the second ashes test in adelaide — they now lead 2—0 in the series. and coming up in sport on the bbc news channel... premier league and efl clubs choose to play their festive fixtures despite a record number of positive covid tests in the last week. good evening. borisjohnson has stopped short of bringing in new covid measures in england, but he insisted the government wouldn't hesitate to take further action to protect the public if needed. speaking after chairing a special cabinet meeting this afternoon, mrjohnson said the data on covid was being monitored hour by hour, as the omicron variant continues to spread with speed across the country. there had been speculation that the rules in england might be tightened, amid reports of splits among senior ministers over whether to take action. meanwhile, scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon confirmed there will be no new restrictions in scotland ahead of christmas. it all came as the queen cancelled her traditional christmas at sandringham in norfolk, amid concerns about omicron, choosing instead to stay in windsor. here is our deputy political editor vicki young. the decorations are up, celebrations in full swing. there was no shortage of christmas cheer in bristol this evening. some are too young to remember last year, when festive plans were thrown into disarray. everyone would welcome some certainty. after a two—hour meeting with his cabinet, borisjohnson said the arguments were finely balanced. we agreed that we should keep the data from now on under constant review, keep following it hour by hour, and, unfortunately, i must say to people we will have to reserve the, the possibility of taking further action to, to protect the public, and to protect public health and protect our nhs, and we won't hesitate to take that action. the government insists it is not sitting back doing nothing. manchester city's football stadium among the sites helping get vaccinations up to a record one million on saturday. people have already been told to work from home, use covid passes and take tests before socialising — that's not enough, says labour. instead of being hamstrung by his own cabinet and hiding from his own backbenchers, it's time borisjohnson stopped putting the politics of the conservative party ahead of public health and levelled with the country. last week, more than 100 conservatives refused to back mrjohnson�*s plan for covid passports. then, at the weekend, his ally lord frost resigned as brexit minister, blaming the government's covid response. i don't support coercive policies on covid. the prime minister has very difficult decisions to take and i'm sure he will be thinking very hard about them. in scotland, nicola sturgeon has issued new guidance but offered reassurance about the christmas weekend. between now and the end of the week, i'm asking people to reduce their contact with those in other households as much as possible. effectively to stay at home as much as is feasible. over the weekend, christmas day, boxing day, we are not asking people to cancel or change their plans. wales has put guidance in place for the run—up to christmas, and will introduce tougher legal restrictions on the 27th of december. it is still unclear what borisjohnson wants to do. his tone suggested it's a matter of when, not if new measures will come in. during their meeting, several cabinet ministers made it clear they are more reluctant to go down that road again. several are not convinced the data yetjustifies the economic hit that any when it comes to rules, critics say downing street ——any new restrictions bring. when it comes to rules, critics say downing street lacks moral authority. in this photo, taken during lockdown, the prime minister, his wife and staff are drinking wine in the garden. these were people at work talking about work, according to boris johnson. tonight, the queen is among those scaling back their plans. she has cancelled her traditional christmas in sandringham — a personal decision reflecting a cautionary approach, says buckingham palace. and as borisjohnson weighs up his options, the uncertainty continues. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. a key factorfor ministers is how well the nhs might cope should rising infection rates lead to greater demands for hospital care. there are fears that staff shortages may also hit the nhs as people are forced to isolate with covid. here's our health editor hugh pym. the nhs is braced for a wave of hospital cases in the weeks ahead. but they don't know how big that will be. what they do know is that covid is already taking its toll in the shape of higher staff absences. the nhs employers group told me that staff sickness is a particular problem in london. members have reported to us a really dramatic increase in levels of absence over this last ten days. three orfour times more people off sick now compared to ten days ago. the fear is that we see the same pattern of absence replicated across the country. even if omicron generates a surge in mainly mild infections, that will have an impact on the public sector and the wider economy, with some employees needing to isolate. that's another reason why ministers and health officials are pushing the message about boosterjabs, including front—page newspaper ads today. the uk has moved relatively quickly with the booster roll—out. israel is ahead, but they started sooner. the uk, though, has moved more rapidly than some other leading economies. within great britain, where data is available, there is a varied picture. the darker shades show higher take—up, the lighter shades, lower, and that is looking at all those who have had their first and second doses by the end of september who then went on to have a booster. the figures for wales are one week behind england and scotland which is why booster take—up looks less advanced. york was one centre today where people were queueing for boosters. if the vaccine does help, then you may as well get it done. there's no harm that we know of. we've just got to do what we are in theory told, and hopefully this will help slow the omicron and everything else that goes with it. i think it's important to get a booster or a vaccine - if you haven't had a vaccine yet, to just try and help to protect i people and protect yourself. all done. from today in england, the 12—15 age group have been able to book second doses. and this centre in harrogate did the honours for some of the first takers. being protected from covid is really important for people my age and for my family. just to get the vaccine, so i can protect people around me and myself, so it's... i'm not under risk more when i'm around bigger groups of people. just what impact omicron will have is far from clear, but the health service is having to prepare for the worst while hoping the outcome will be less severe than some have predicted. hugh pym, bbc news. let's look at the latest official data on the pandemic in the uk. there were 91,715 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. the average over the past week is now more than 83,000 new cases every day. 44 deaths were recorded, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test. 112 covid—related deaths were recorded on average every day in the past week. on vaccinations, more than 770,000 people a day had boosters on average in the past seven days, bringing the total to almost 29 million. our health editor hugh pym is here. looking at that data for the uk, where are we in the pandemic? weill. where are we in the pandemic? well, cases are rising _ where are we in the pandemic? well, cases are rising week _ where are we in the pandemic? well, cases are rising week on _ where are we in the pandemic? -ii cases are rising week on week by 61%. that is a lot faster than hospital admissions, 61%. that is a lot faster than hospitaladmissions, up 61%. that is a lot faster than hospital admissions, up 6% better because hospital admissions reflect infections picked up more than two weeks ago, so what really counts is what today �*s cases tell us about the next few weeks. hospital numbers are really important because they are really important because they are real data in a sense that they reflect what is really going on, daily cases can be affected by testing differences and so on. what i'm told by government sources is that the london hospital numbers are being watched really closely because thatis being watched really closely because that is seen as the omicron epicentre and what happens in london could be replicated further afield around the uk. there are 1800 patients in london hospitals were covid, up nearly 500 on the week but other than that, there isn't much more new data. ministers will be considering a range of economic factors before deciding on possible restrictions. they will look at the idea that if they suppress the peak, it will just push idea that if they suppress the peak, it willjust push the problem a little bit further out. they will be looking at levels of immunity, boosted by the roll—out ofjabs but when all is said and done, the experts on the sage committee say if you are going to act, do it sooner and harder than you would like because leaving it too late won't help. because leaving it too late won't hel. . because leaving it too late won't hel, ., because leaving it too late won't help. thanks so much, hugh pym there. 2a hours to save businesses from a christmas crisis. that's the stark warning to the government from two of the biggest names in the restaurant and pub industry, as cancellations decimate festive takings. and hospitality is not the only industry struggling. gyms, hairdressers, theatres and hoteliers have all added their voices to the call for financial support from the chancellor. our consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith has been to stockport to find out how firms are managing. this is the cheshire suite. usually, you know, we would have christmas parties in here. there's no festive buzz this week. normally packed with guests for christmas meals and work parties, there's not a single diner here today. business has dropped off a cliff, and there's only so much deep cleaning and polishing the staff can do. with so little trade, manager rob is facing difficult decisions. we have actually closed off one of the floors in the hotel. for the staff we have on board, you know, we just have to put them on holiday or we can't give them hours. and at this time of year, that's when it really impacts them, because they have families to provide for. down the road at this italian chain, they've had three lunch cancellations already today. there's staff to pay but not enough customers to serve. if you want to close us and create some kind of circuit—breaker, then close the industry and give meaningful support. if you're not going to do that, then let us get on with trading and stop scaring the public into not coming out. it's absolutely crucifying the industry. other industries are joining the call for help, with half of all west end productions hit by covid this weekend. rather than packed performances, the biggest players in the theatre world say the industry is now in a dreadful state. out—of—town retail parks have seen higher shopper numbers these last few days than most high streets like this right across the uk — that have been taking a real hammering. sophia opened herfirst—ever physical shop five months ago and is heartbroken to only be seeing a handful of customers each day now. i have never been open for christmas before but i have worked in retail before so i know how it should be, and this is not what i was expecting — especially when you compare it to the start of december, where i really started to see things busying up. and then in the past week alone, itjust seems to have dropped off a cliff. the government says it is still deciding how to provide ongoing support to the sectors affected. but without customers or government support, the next few days are crucial. colletta smith, bbc news, in stockport. as record numbers of infections continue to be recorded in the uk, danny savage has been talking to people in york about whether they are considering changing their plans for christmas. this is exactly how many people fear christmas will turn out this year. but before any new restrictions are announced, they are making the most of it. york today was busy, but everyone has one eye on next saturday. if the government tells you to change your behaviour this week and brings in new restrictions, how would you feel about it? fairly resentful, i think, in light of their shenanigans last christmas, which is why, to be honest, i think they haven't. i don't think they could look the nation in the eye after what they've done and expect people to follow plans that they haven't followed themselves. i run a social club in middlesbrough, so this actually has crippled the club. i'm going to be out of a job in the new year. i don't think i have any choice, do i? i sylvia is from slovakia and would like to be with her relatives, but yet again can't be. i would love to go and see my family in my country, - which i can't do at the moment, and it has been like that - for the last two years. i miss my family. in london especially, case numbers are rocketing, and it is putting people off visiting, people like jane from lancashire, who was looking forward to a family reunion. we haven't seen my husband's family in london since january 2020. we miss them, we love them. we would love to see them, but on balance, we felt this was the wisest decision. in scotland, people have been told to socialise less and limit gatherings to three households. in wales, night clubs will shut next week, and there is a meeting on wednesday about the next move in northern ireland. back in york, not everyone is pledging to toe the line. would you go along with it because it might not be law, it might be advisory? no, iwouldn�*t, no. i don't think we should be told or dictated to by the government, who can't stick to the rules themselves, that we should be abiding by the rules that they break themselves. once again, it feels like we are on the coronavirus merry—go—round of restrictions. the question is, when is it going to stop again? danny savage, bbc news, york. the bbc has discovered that covid passes are being advertised for sale on social media to people who have not been vaccinated. cyber investigators have also found sellers on the dark web claiming to provide coronavirus documentation that has been added to the nhs database. our business correspondent caroline davies has the story. weapons, drugs and stolen goods, but the dark web has a new item for sale. covid vaccination passes. it is selling them for countries ranging from the us, uk, russia, france, switzerland, greece, all the way through to latvia, morocco, austria, estonia. jonathan benton runs a cyber crime investigations company. his team have found multiple sellers claiming to sell covid passes from around the world. we were finding passes, certificates, cards, vaccine cards, a choice of, uh, even down to a choice of what vaccine you wanted recording on the card. they will either be fraudulently obtained, or they will be a mock of the real thing. or it will be a scam. some of the websites that you were showing me, they were saying they had people on the inside who could update the data. how credible do you think that is? sadly, i would say it is probably highly credible. it is a risk the authorities are aware of, too. last week, three men were arrested in london after nhs staff found potentially faked covid—i9 vaccination records on their systems. but how easy are these passes to find? very, as it turns out, because some are advertised on facebook. i've only been searching for a matter of minutes on social media, but i've already found multiple posts of people claiming to be selling nhs covid passes, along with qr codes to whoever wants them. now, what's not obvious is if you did decide to go through with these, what exactly you would get, if anything, but it is clear there are multiple people claiming to sell these things. facebook�*s parent company meta says it prohibits anyone from buying fake or genuine documents and continues to identify and move remove content whenever they find it. sellers created these passes to help unvaccinated people travel, get into some venues, even secure certain jobs, but how many are in use? one border force union says when officers were checking documentation, they saw several every day. now airlines do those checks and fakes are hard to spot. because there's no common standard, really you are down to the very, - very old—fashioned look at the grammar, look. at the spelling, which is fine if you speak the language i it's written in, but if you don't speak that language, - you're really not going to spot it. the government said this could not only put lives at risk but lead to £10,000 fine. it said it works closely with law enforcement to tackle online fraud. however, others worry stopping the sellers is a complex challenge. caroline davies, bbc news. details of a series of brutal mass killings of civilians by the military in myanmar have been uncovered by the bbc. the united nations says the military�*s actions point to crimes against humanity. it's thought the killings were a collective punishment for attacks by militia groups in the region demanding a return to democracy following a coup in february. earlier this year, four villages in kenee township in central myanmar were targeted over a period of a few weeks injuly. this report by rebecca henschke contains some distressing images and details from the very beginning. shouting dog barks, child screams this girl is grieving over her grandfather's body. it's distressing to see. there are clear signs of torture. when the myanmar military entered their village in the kenee township, she fled. her grandfather stayed, believing his age would protect him. more bodies were uncovered close to where her grandfather was found. 12 in total. some were buried in shallow mass graves. the military carried out the mass killings in four villages in kani township. a region that has been a stronghold of opposition to the military regime. in yin village, 1a people were killed. we have blurred their bodies as they are too gruesome to show. the man filming finds people he knows. at great risk, our team interviewed a number of eyewitnesses. for their safety, we are hiding their identity. their stories are all similar. translation: they split us - into groups of men and women. men were tied up with ropes and beaten up. we couldn't stand to watch it, so we kept our heads down, crying. we begged them not to, they didn't care. they took away everything from us. they asked the women, "is your husband among them? "if he is, do your last rites." this man managed to escape. translation: 11 others were arrested with me. | they were tied up, beaten with stones and rifle butts and tortured all day. i put our evidence to the military spokesperson, general zaw min tun. translation: i'm not denying incidents such as this - in kani could happen. it can happen. it can happen — for us, when they treat us as enemies and open fire i on us, we have the right to defend ourselves. - the united nations is investigating the mass killings in kani. in the hope that future generations, those left behind, will get some kind ofjustice. rebecca henschke, bbc news. more than 370 people have died after a powerful storm struck the philippines. the philippine red cross has described scenes of complete destruction after the typhoon flattened homes, schools and hospitals. many central and southern regions remain cut off with power and communications lines down. russia has for weeks been massing troops and tanks along the ukrainian border — prompting ukraine, poland and lithuania to call for more western sanctions against it in fear of an invasion. a joint statement by the countries today accused russia of continuing aggression and urged nato to act. russia has denied preparing for an invasion and has accused the west of threatening russia through nato expansion. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has been investigating just what president putin might be planning. in russia, too, it is the season of goodwill. but peace on earth is in short supply. russian armour is massing near the border with ukraine. at the same time, moscow is demanding an end to nato enlargement and nato military activity in eastern europe. what is russia signalling? i asked the deputy foreign minister, has moscow decided to reverse the results of the cold war? translation: we are not re-examining the results of the cold war, _ we are reassessing the expansion the west has carried out in recent years against russian interests with hostile intent. enough is enough. state tv has been echoing vladimir putin's claimed that nato activity close threatens russia's security, and moscow has this warning. translation: if ukraine joined nato, or if nato develops military _ infrastructure there, we will hold a gun to america's head. russia has the world's best weapons, hypersonic. you'd get the cuban missile crisis all over again, but with a shorter flight time for missiles. we propose trying to avoid this situation, otherwise everyone will be turned into radioactive ash. critics of the kremlin say this isn't about genuine security threats, it's about moscow trying to restore a sphere of influence. we don't know what the kremlin is planning, but what is clear from what president putin has been saying is that — 30 years after the fall of the soviet union — russia's leader remains deeply resentful of how the cold war ended, with russia losing territory, influence and empire. and if vladimir putin has decided that now is the moment to try to reverse that, that will be a huge challenge for russia's neighbours and for the west. right now, most russians are focused on celebration, not confrontation. if there is a full—scale war with ukraine or a clash with the west, the kremlin may be skating on thin ice in terms of public support. "i don't want any war," irina says, "any killing." "slavic people are like a family," says roslan. "i can't bear the idea of fighting with ukraine." ultimately, it's the president who will decide whether russia takes the path of compromise or confrontation. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. it was defeat for england's cricketers in the second test in adelaide — they lost to australia by 275 runs, and now trail 2—0 in the ashes series. they were dismissed for 192 in their second innings on the final day. patrick gearey reports. too good, 2—0. australia might be missing their captain, and the best bowler in the world. england couldn't further inconvenience them. their aim had been to make the aussies run out of time. commentator: edged! ollie pope got through less than ten minutes. five wickets left. the biggest of them was ben stokes, so australia's fielders made an enclosure around him, then sent in a lyon. that was very close! nathan lyon thought he had him lbw. the umpire didn't. australia reviewed, then rejoiced. england reset. chris woakes made a defiant 1m. jos buttler, a natural cavalier, relied on his shield. no wicket fell for more than two and a half hours. say it quietly: "maybe". but english optimism on this tour is no sooner formed than shattered. the end of woakes, and, ultimately, hope. england dragged this into the evening. still there, jos buttler, the adelaide barricade. for so long, he'd hardly put a foot wrong, until... oh, he's thrown it onto his stumps. he has! watch the lights on the bails, hit wicket, the last in a series of backward steps. england's day five fight was too little, too late. australia win the test match! they go up 2—0 in the ashes. it's 4,000 days since they will last won a test in australia. to regain the ashes, they must now win three in a row. patrick gearey, bbc news. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello. after a cloudy and cold day, a cloudy, rather cold night to come tonight. but we have seen a few breaks through the day. and where you see breaks in the cloud overnight, greater chance of some frost around, particularly to the higher ground of wales, northern england and into parts of scotland as well. but even where the clouds in place, for many of you, temperatures only a few degrees above freezing, leading to that rather chilly start to tuesday morning. and it's the winter solstice on tuesday, the shortest day of the year. and with it, we'll actually see the return of a little bit of sunshine across parts of england and wales. slightly more breeze will help to break that cloud a bit more readily. still a lot of cloud in places across northern ireland, scotland, eastern parts of england, but in the far north of scotland, sunshine at times here, just one or two isolated showers. those showers continue into tuesday night in the far north. cloud, wind and rain pushes in across ireland, keeping temperatures up. but into wednesday morning, coldest morning of the week, i suspect, for many of you, with a widespread frost, temperatures well below freezing in rural areas in particular. but after that chilly start to the week, milder conditions with some rain midweek. will the cold air fight back for christmas? i'll tell you later. this is bbc news. the headlines... the world health organisation says the omicron variant of covid is spreading more quickly than the delta — and is causing infections in people who have already had covid or been vaccinated. the uk's prime minister boris johnson says his government is not introducing any new measures to stop the spread of omicron covid. but — he said he was reserving the possibility of taking more action, if the number of infections and hospitalisationsjustified it. the jury in in ghislaine maxwell's trial on sex trafficking charges in new york has begun its deliberations. her defence says the women who accused her are not credible — the prosecution said she was a predator who knew what she was doing. rebel tigrayan forces fighting the ethiopian government say they are withdrawing immediately from neighbouring regions. it comes after pro—government forces made significant military gains. the rebels say they are hoping there will now be a ceasefire.