saying you owe postage — more than half a million messages are expected to be sent this week. during his annual news conference, russia's president putin rejects accusations that he is preparing to invade ukraine. on the telephone! now, wait for it to ring! on the telephone! now, wait for it to rinu! ., and the stash in the attic — a 50—year—old episode of morecambe and wise found in a loft will be broadcast on christmas day. in sport, liverpool's boxing day game against leeds is one inspired liverpool boxing day game against leeds have been called off as a rising impact of covid effects the festive fixtures. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. early studies suggest the omicron variant of coronavirus may cause milder illness than the delta variant. scientists say the findings are good news, but warn that the sheer number of cases could still overwhelm the nhs. ministers are monitoring the figures, though the health secretary, sajid javid, has said there will be no further restrictions announced in england before christmas. meanwhile new figures show a growing number of health staff in england are having to stay away from work because of covid. here's our health correspondent dominic hughes. the last few days before christmas have brought better news. early studies of the omicron cove invariant suggest it may lead to fewer hospitalisations than the previous delta wave, that's the good news. but researchers say the true number of people getting infected is much higher than the official figure and there will be some challenging days ahead. we and there will be some challenging da 5 ahead. ~ . and there will be some challenging days ahead-— days ahead. we are picking up asymptomatic— days ahead. we are picking up asymptomatic infections - days ahead. we are picking up asymptomatic infections as i days ahead. we are picking up i asymptomatic infections as well days ahead. we are picking up - asymptomatic infections as well as symptomatic infection is also different bunch of people of people than people who may be reporting for testing through the national programme, so all that is telling us there's a lot of cases, but for any individual it might be less severe, but at the population level there will be very severe pressure i think on the health service. figs will be very severe pressure i think on the health service.— on the health service. as covid-19 infections continue _ on the health service. as covid-19 infections continue soaring, - on the health service. as covid-19| infections continue soaring, health leaders have been warning of a looming staff crisis. nhs workers are just as vulnerable to the highly infectious omicron variant as the rest of us, and with staff falling ill, hospitals, ambulances and community services are all being hit. h, . community services are all being hit. . ., community services are all being hit. ., , g community services are all being hit. ., ., community services are all being hit. the impact of staff absences is on to of hit. the impact of staff absences is on tap of staff— hit. the impact of staff absences is on top of staff shortages _ hit. the impact of staff absences is on top of staff shortages and - on top of staff shortages and normally trust leaders would be looking to fill the gaps through bank and agency staff. that is getting harder to do. the latest data from nhs _ getting harder to do. the latest data from nhs england - getting harder to do. the latest data from nhs england shows | getting harder to do. the latest - data from nhs england shows what a dramatic impact the rising infections is having on staff absence. on one day, the 19th of december, nearlyi9,000 nhs absence. on one day, the 19th of december, nearly 19,000 nhs staff in england were off work due to covid, up england were off work due to covid, up 54% compared to the week before. the biggest increase was in london, where covid related absence, sickness or isolation almost doubled to 3900. the sickness or isolation almost doubled to 3900. ,, ., ~ ., . to 3900. the nhs workforce was already under— to 3900. the nhs workforce was already under pressure _ to 3900. the nhs workforce was already under pressure before i already under pressure before omicron came along, we are seeing increased pressure in many workforces at the moment, especially if someone needs to isolate if they have a positive case, but some of the recent moves we have had from 10—day to seven—day isolation, i think all of this will help. a graphic illustration of the pressure is the health service is facing from liverpool city council, filmed in the intensive care unit of the royal liverpool. it shows how every patient needing treatment is relatively young and unvaccinated. in wales too, where waiting lists for planned procedures have hit a record high, there are warnings nearly one fifth of staff could be off with covid in january. nearly one fifth of staff could be off with covid injanuary. nhs england's top doctor says the health service is now on a war footing and the best weapons in the fight against the omicron variant remain vaccines and boosters. dominic hughes, bbc news. our health correspondent anna collinson is with me. we heard stark figures about staff absences in the nhs, what else is all this data telling us today? if we look at what else was happening on december the 19th, which was mentioned in the report, the data shows there was also a big demand for nhs services. the number of occupied beds were around 91%, the target is 85, and while there have been some improvements with ambulance handovers, delays have continued with around one in five patients waiting at least half an hour. the pressures facing the nhs go way beyond covid. they are boosting hundreds of thousands of people every day, delivering urgent care and now preparing for the potential impact of high covid numbers in the coming weeks. even though early studies suggest omicron may cause mild symptoms, the pressure's hospital phrase this winter will be a mix of its severity and also how many people are infected. a survey by the office for national statistics suggests over 1.3 million people in the uk would have tested positive in the week ending december the 16th. the highest level since the survey started. whilst it has a timeline, it tests people regardless of whether they have symptoms or not. epidemiologists are warning that the speed omicron is spreading out could lead to hospitalisations which could lead to hospitalisations which could lead to hospitalisations which could lead to real issues for the health service. . ~ lead to real issues for the health service. ., ~ , ., and the bbc has launched an nhs tracker so you can find out how your local services are coping in england, wales and scotland. it'll run throughout the winter. you can find out more at bbc.co.uk/nhstracker. well, other european countries are bringing in additional measures to counter the omicron variant, amongst them spain. our correspondent, guy hedgecoe, is in madrid. explain what measures are coming in there. in explain what measures are coming in there. ,, ., ., ., , there. in spain to date, the cabinet is approving — there. in spain to date, the cabinet is approving a _ there. in spain to date, the cabinet is approving a government - there. in spain to date, the cabinetj is approving a government initiative to reintroduce the mandatory use of facemasks outdoors. this is a measure that was already in place until earlier this year, it was lifted injune and has been reintroduced as of tomorrow. the government is not however introducing tighter restrictions than that. it is trying to tackle the surge in cases here which we saw 60,000 new cases yesterday, that is a record, trying to handle this with the reintroduction of facemask wearing and also by broadening the vaccination campaign, both to younger age groups and also ensuring that younger people, for example those aged between a0 and a9, are receiving a third vaccine. in order to do that, it is mobilising the military and also it wants to mobilise healthcare professionals who have been retired. so that is how the spanish government is managing the situation at the moment going into the christmas period. fill]? going into the christmas period. guy hedgecoe in madrid, thank you. the former prime minister gordon brown has described the failure to distribute covid vaccines to poorer countries as a "stain on our global soul". speaking to the bbc, mr brown said that everyone will suffer without a push to get the whole world immunised next year. so far, eight billion covid vaccines have been administered worldwide but the vast majority have been given in high and middle—income countries. our health correspondent naomi grimley reports. at a clinic in kenya, they're doing their bit for the biggest vaccination campaign in human history. 2021 was the year more than eight billion covid vaccines were administered across the world, but the vast majority have been given in richer countries. this chart shows the huge disparity between the percentage who've been double vaccinated in developed nations compared to poorer countries. nigeria, the most populous country in africa, has particularly low coverage. and so far, only one in four african health care workers have been vaccinated. a fact the former prime minister gordon brown thinks should shame us all. it's really a stain on our global soul because we've had a surplus of vaccines created in one part of the world and indeed stockpiling. and we've got a severe shortage in the other part of the world where only 3% have been vaccinated in low income countries. and it affects us all because i think people are starting to realise that if we allow the disease to spread in poor countries and then mutate, it comes back and it haunts even the fully vaccinated. it was at this g7 summer summit in st ives when world leaders pledged a billion vaccines would be distributed worldwide by next year. but campaigners say the donations have been erratic and often included doses which are near to their expiry dates. the uk has so far delivered a quarter of what it promised by mid—2022. getting the vaccines to those who need them most in all countries must be a priority for every single government, notjust some. we need to also be able to use tools to drive transmission down because if we don't, we will continue to see the virus change and the virus threaten us in ways that will bring us closer to the beginning rather than closer to the end. 2022 will see us enter the third year of the pandemic, but will it also be the year that vaccines finally become available everywhere they're needed? naomi grimley, bbc news. the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall will be with the queen on christmas day, clarence house has said. the queen is staying at windsor for her first christmas without the duke of edinburgh. the queen took the decision to remain at windsor as a "precautionary" measure following rising covid—19 case numbers. now the rest of the day's news. gas and electricity bills will rise by as much as 50% next year, unless the government steps in — that's a new warning from the energy industry. the cost of gas on the wholesale markets — where providers get their supplies — hit record levels this week, and although bills are capped by the regulator ofgem, those price rises do feed through to consumers. this time last year, ofgem's default tariff for consumers without a fixed price deal stood atjust over £1,000 a year. it rose in the summer, and then again in october — it's currently £1,277. the next rise is due in april, when analysts say a very steep increase is inevitable. we're joined now by our business correspondent theo leggett. and some eye watering figures being warned about, theo?— warned about, theo? absolutely but this is the problem _ warned about, theo? absolutely but this is the problem at _ warned about, theo? absolutely but this is the problem at the _ warned about, theo? absolutely but this is the problem at the moment. l this is the problem at the moment. the wholesale price of gas which is the market that suppliers buy their energy on, has been going up very rapidly over the last three weeks in particular. in fact it's almost double what it was in early november. and also gas is used to generate electricity. there's lots of reasons for this, cold weather is one of them, reduction in supply from russia where europe gets a lot of its gas from is another, a lack of its gas from is another, a lack of storage in europe is another. the prices suppliers are paying has gone up prices suppliers are paying has gone up remarkably, but the price that can be passed onto consumers is capped by ofgem. there is a reason for that, capped by ofgem. there is a reason forthat, it capped by ofgem. there is a reason for that, it is designed to protect consumers. but since the summer we have seen more than two dozen energy suppliers go out of business. at some point these costs have to be passed on, and that is what we will see when ofgem adjusts the cap for the next time, which will come in april. people in the industry are predicting rises could be as high as 50%, and then another rise on top of that potentially in october later in the year when the price of a dual fuel bill for the average family could go above £2000. what the industry is asking for is for the government to step in and do things like cut vat fuel bills and reduce environmental levies. it's understood the government is looking at this, ministers are deeply concerned and looking a range of options. concerned and looking a range of o tions. ., ., ,, concerned and looking a range of otions. ., ., ,, , ., it may be the season of goodwill, but this week there will be an estimated half a million fake delivery texts sent out by fraudsters. people are being advised to take extra care if they get a message about a missed delivery, and to think about whether to click on a link. last christmas, a record number of similar scams were reported and this year has already seen ten times that amount. our consumer affairs correspondent, colletta smith, has the story. tis the season for gifts, last—minute purchases and late deliveries. the text arrives, you scan the message and click the link, except it's not from royal mail or amazon or dpd. it's a scam and you've just popped in your address. the thing about this time of year is that so many of us are still waiting for those last—minute presents to be delivered, the final parcels still to arrive at the door. so when we do get one of those messages, it's all too easy to just click on the link, to put in a few details, without really thinking about the consequences. we've had years of advice to be suspicious of emails, but everyone is more likely to fall for a scam text. we trust them more and respond quicker. the pressure to get our presents means we're easy prey for half 1 million parcel scams this week. a million parcel scams this week. messages saying you missed your parcel delivery, you haven't paid enough postage, you need to pay customs, stuff like that. so that's ten times more than this time last year. royal mail say it's easy to check whether the message really is from them. if we ever send a message like that, we will always put something through the door. we love putting things through the letter box! so we will always put either a red "something for you" card if there is an item that we couldn't deliver, or a grey "fee to pay" card that will always come through the door. but the text is only the first half of the scam. once you've given your address or postcode, you might get a phone call in the days that follow. people take the information that they glean during those conversations or information that you give them, and in turn pretend to be from your bank orfrom the police. and then they contact you and say, "we need your money to be moved to a safe account," or something similar. although the police have made postal scam arrests this year, they're always playing catch—up. you cannot sort of arrest your way out of this tsunami that we've got of fraud, so it is a lot about protecting ourselves. so don't let present parcels pressure you into clicking a link this christmas. you might be in for an unpleasant surprise inside. colletta smith, bbc news. the time is 1.17. our top story this lunchtime... the government says there will be no more announcements of covid restrictions in england before christmas, as early studies suggest omicron may be milder than delta. and coming up — we speak to people returning to poland, after living and working in the uk. in sport, an english cricketer having in fun in australia right now is a bit of a rare thing and george garton is one of two uncapped players in england's t20 squad for their five—match series against west indies next month in barbados. for some, they bring freedom to get around. to others, they're a menace on our pavements and roads. the last few years have seen a boom in the popularity of electric—powered scooters, e—scooters. but if you're thinking of getting one for christmas, you might want to think again. police forces across the uk are reminding shoppers that while its legal to buy one, it's illegal to ride it on public land — and they have the right to seize and destroy them. jo black explains. at a depot in the midlands thousands of pounds worth of e—scooters are being chopped into pieces. if one of these is on your christmas list it could be seized and destroyed if you are caught riding it in the wrong place. privately owned e—scooters can only be used on private land with the landowner�*s consent. currently the only e—scooters you can ride on public highways are rental ones from approved operators, which are part of a government trial operating in 32 areas of england. mate, pull over there. and the police are out and about looking for each illegal e—scooter use. £600, £1200 for the two of them and i think they're brilliant. stephen crowley from birmingham bought his own e—scooter. he's walking with it so isn't doing anything wrong on this occasion. when you bought it were you told about where you could use it? no, not really, but in the same breath we didn't enquire, so we wasn't really interested, but what gets me a little bit just finding this out, why they should be allowed to sell something you can't use. stephen says the rental scooter trials can confuse people into thinking personal devices can be used in the same way, and he's not alone in calling for retailers to be much clearer about the rules when they're selling them. westminster police have seized well over 100 private e—scooter since april, around 140 in fact, and sometimes they're seizing them a few minutes after people have bought them from the shops. there's no way people would be riding them around on public land if they'd been told on that kind of scale, so the shops are not doing enough. but retailers we've spoken to say they do provide clear and visible information so customers understand the legal restrictions. and sales seem to be booming. these figures from the bicycle association of great britain are estimates from the last four years. more sales brings more safety concerns. this crash testing footage released by the charity guide dogs shows the potential dangers of badly ridden e—scooters. james holbrook dislocated his shoulder when two school girls riding a private e—scooter crashed into him as he was cycling home. i think anything that gets people out of cars is a good thing. - i think e—scooters are part i of the solution of freeing up the roads, but there should be some regulation. - people aren't aware l of what the rules are or choose to ignore them. they're not really being enforced. calls to legalise private e—scooters are growing and a decision could be taken by the government next year. the department for transport says safety is a top priority and the rental trials across england will allow an understanding of the benefits and impact of this new form of transport. many say e—scooters provide a fun, convenient, greener way to travel, but if you misuse a privately owned one it could in the end be a very expensive journey. jo black, bbc news. two more premier league games have been called off because of the pandemic. liverpool's game with leeds and wolves' match at home to watford have been postponed because the number of positive covid cases which means some teams have insufficient players to fulfil their fixtures. it brings the total number of games cancelled this month in the premier league to 12. hong kong university has defended its decision to remove a famous statue marking the tiananmen square massacre. the statue showed piled—up corpses to commemorate the hundreds, possibly thousands, of pro—democracy protesters who were killed by chinese authorities in 1989. it was one of the few remaining public memorials in hong kong commemorating the incident. vladimir putin has rejected accusations that russia is preparing to invade ukraine, after amassing thousands of troops on the border between the two countries. during his annual press conference, the russian president said he wants to avoid conflict — but again insisted that the west must give russia guarantees that nato won't expand eastwards and admit ukraine. olga ivshina, from the bbc�*s russia service, has been watching the briefing and joins me. what did you make of what vladimir putin said? ~ ., . ., ., putin said? well, putin once again made clear— putin said? well, putin once again made clear that _ putin said? well, putin once again made clear that in _ putin said? well, putin once again made clear that in the _ putin said? well, putin once again made clear that in the way - putin said? well, putin once again made clear that in the way he - putin said? well, putin once again made clear that in the way he is i made clear that in the way he is enjoying that tension regarding ukraine, the build—up of forces, and he said that this tension helps russia. he mentioned negotiations with the west, that they need to take place injanuary and that increases tensions and gives him strong points in that negotiations and russia needs that because the russian economy is struggling, the russian economy is struggling, the russian life of an ordinary russian has dropped down dramatically so this is for an internal and external audience. mr putin is blaming it all on the west and during that negotiation it will give him additional strong points. the same with the economic questions. he said that this problem with the gas which we have mentioned earlier in your news bulletin, he said it's the west pressuring russian initiatives and russia is always ready to increase its supplies. russia is always ready to increase its appplies-_ its supplies. olga ivshina, thank ou ve its supplies. olga ivshina, thank you very much- _ footage has been released of two babies being pulled from the wreckage of a tornado last week in the us state of kentucky. the children's grandmother had tucked them into a bath with a blanket and a bible. the bath was ripped from the house by the force of the storm and ended up in the garden. this is the moment rescue teams found them. can you get down here, we need help, we got someone in this debris. in the bathtub. hey, baby. baby cries. come here, sweetheart. good girl. is she ok? he? what have we got? 0k. both of them are ok. praise god, lordjesus, oh thank you, jesus! i thank you, jesus. look here. here's the little one. i told you we'd get them. a remarkable rescue in kentucky. close to one million polish people left their homeland in search of higher wages and a better life in the uk after it opened its labour market in 200a. many have settled here, but a combination of brexit, the pandemic and the pull of theirfamilies has persuaded others to return. our correspondent in poland, adam easton, has been talking to some of those who've gone home. i feel safe here. that's something i didn't have in the uk. this cosmetics student is talking about that secure feeling that being nearfamily and close friends often brings. and that's her sister and grandmother... a law graduate she lived in the uk for 12 years doing a variety ofjobs. injanuary, she rushed back to her home city of lodzjust in time to say goodbye to her dying grandmother. i grew up here in this flat and my nana used to teach me how to skate. granddad used to teach me how to cycle. so, yeah, all sorts of wonderful memories. since 200a, hundreds of thousands of people here have left for the uk seeking better paid jobs. since then, we've had brexit, the covid pandemic and people are missing theirfamilies and are returning home. the number of poles living in the uk now is at its lowest for eight years. this couple had well—paid jobs in london for more than six years. they love the city. their children were born there. but the high cost of raising a family there persuaded them to come home to warsaw. and i was sure that in poland i could easily find a nice nursery where i canjust send them and, you know, spend like five, six hours at home working. and in london, actually, we were not able to find, like, a nice nursery. professor isabella grabovski has interviewed hundreds of poles who have recently returned. most want to stay, but some, after years abroad, now feel uncomfortable in their homeland. one third out of our 500 returnee sample said that we do consider. return to the uk or to other. countries because they do not feel at home any more. in recent months, poland has seen a surge in the number of mostly middle eastern people trying to enter the eu illegally from belarus. most poles support the government's refusal to let them in. but this woman says her years living in britain has affected the way she sees migrants. living abroad, being a migrant myself, gave me that feeling, kind of an empathy for the people who are now on the border with belarus. they're in terrible conditions. we should treat those people equally. after years of living abroad, these poles are bringing with them new skills and life experiences that may shape the country's economy and its politics. adam easton, bbc news, warsaw. they were giants of light entertainment in the 1960s and �*70s, so popular that their christmas special in 1977 pulled in 28 million viewers. well, now a long—lost episode of the morecambe and wise show will be on our screens this christmas day. it was discovered by eric morecambe's son in the attic of the family home. our arts correspondent david sillito reports. morecambe and wise, october 1970. and what would become a familiar setting for many classic sketches, eric and ernie at home in pyjamas. eric morcambe. hello! unlike so many of their shows, this hasn't been repeatedly re shown. it was thought to have been lost. that is until eric's son, gary, paid a visit to his mother's attic. i was rummaging around mainly looking for paperwork. i was looking actually for old scripts because some of them had gone missing. and then i came across all these cylinders and i thought very little of them, actually, except that they were big and old and were worth bringing down. he had no idea what was in the canisters until he got a call from someone who finally watched the footage and told him. i think it be very surprised to learn you've just found the missing show. and i really was staggered. would ou like and i really was staggered. would you like me _ and i really was staggered. would you like me to _ and i really was staggered. would you like me to hit _ and i really was staggered. would you like me to hit you _ and i really was staggered. would you like me to hit you over- and i really was staggered. would you like me to hit you over the - and i really was staggered. would l you like me to hit you over the head with an _ you like me to hit you over the head with an umbrella? if you like me to hit you over the head with an umbrella?— you like me to hit you over the head with an umbrella?_ i - with an umbrella? if you insist. i didn't realise _ with an umbrella? if you insist. i didn't realise at _ with an umbrella? if you insist. i didn't realise at that _ with an umbrella? if you insist. i didn't realise at that point - with an umbrella? if you insist. i didn't realise at that pointjust . didn't realise at that pointjust how far the bbc would go to present it, that it would then get colour rise to, for instance, which is fantastic, so it's been brought bang up—to—date. find bobbin can we get rid of it, quick. and what's also really good is the quality. the quality of the show itself. you can see the embryonic morecambe and wise come through and that's fantastic. so now restored and coloured, a