tributes and reflections for the anti—apartheid hero archbishop desmond tutu, who died at the age of 90. and the extreme weather in the uk could alter its landscape forever. we'll take a look at this year's winners and losers. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. borisjohnson will be briefed today on the latest covid data as he considers whether to impose additional restrictions in england before the new year. the prime minister will hear how fast the omicron variant is spreading and whether the nhs is coming under unsustainable pressure, even though omicron is now thought to be milder than previous variants. from boxing day in scotland, indoor and outdoor events have new limits, and as of today pubs, restaurants, theatres, cinemas and gyms will have to ensure a one—metre distance between groups of people. groups of people meeting will be limited to three households. and table service will be required in hospitality venues offering alcohol. in wales, new restrictions from boxing day mean that no more than six people can meet at pubs, cinemas and restaurants. outdoor events are limited to 50 people, and there is a maximum capacity of 30 for indoor events, including in private homes. two—metre social distancing is also required in offices and public places. nightclubs have also had to close. and from boxing day in northern ireland, nightclubs must remain closed and indoor standing events are banned. then from today pubs, cafes and restaurants will have to provide table service only, while no more than six people from different households will be allowed to sit together. then outside of the uk, new york has also become the first us city to require vaccines for all private sector workers. new york city has also made it compulsory for everyone aged twelve and above to be fully vaccinated against covid in order to access indoor entertainment and sports activities. indian authorities are to impose a night—time curfew in delhi to try to contain a growing number of cases. the restriction will last for six hours each night. and there have been more covid—related flight cancellations globally as cabin crews test positive and need to isolate. more than 8,000 flights have been grounded over the long christmas weekend. our political correspondent ione wells explained what we might hear from the government today about england restrictions. this is his first meeting on that data in england since christmas. we are used to having these daily updates of cases, hospitalisations, deaths in the uk so borisjohnson meets today with sir patrick vallance and professor chris whitty to get a picture of what the data is looking like and the key thing he is looking at will be hospitalisations. as we know, further restrictions have been introduced in other parts of the uk, in england, cabinet ministers have been holding tight and this is because ministers have really been wanting to see real—time data on hospitalisations, notjust models about what they could look like in future but evidence that they are starting to rise to a level they believe willjustify introducing further restrictions in england. is there a changing political climate within the government, the conservative party, in the sense we have seen perhaps increased scepticism on the tory backbenches and amongst some cabinet ministers about restrictions and the need for restrictions and scepticism about the science as well, sometimes? that's right. i think there is a political part to the story that needs to be reflected. certainly, as you say, several sources in government have acknowledged any further restrictions that could be needed for england would politically be very tricky to get through. firstly, there's the issue of mps, remember when the uk government tried to pass the introduction of covid passes in england, that was met with fierce resistance from backbench mps with the biggest backbench rebellion since borisjohnson has been prime minister so that's something he will be keen to avoid again. there's definitely disagreement in cabinet, at the moment from the last cabinet meetings that took place, the majority wanted to hold off until there was further data but some are saying there are would be vocal opposition within cabinet itself were any further restrictions introduced and there are some in government pointing to concerns about compliance from the public, particularly those triple jabbed and how easy or not it would be to try and convince people in that situation to live with further restrictions going forward. at the moment number ten has not ruled anything out and are keen to stress this is not necessarily a crunch meeting today, just a regular data update but everything is kept under review and i think at the moment ministers are keen to hold tight until this think they can justify it. a hospital in israel will start administering a fourth shot of the coronavirus vaccine on monday, in a clinical trial to find out if a second boosterjab is safe and effective in containing the spread of covid. the trial in tel aviv will include about 150 healthcare workers who received their third shot no later than august this year. israel's health ministry has not yet decided whether to give the wider population a fourth dose of the vaccine. if approved, it will make israel the first country to administer a fourth shot to its citizens. now to new york and from monday, children aged 12 will be required to show proof of full vaccination against coronavirus for indoor dining, entertainment and many extra—curricular school activities. it has also become the first us city to require vaccines for all private sector workers, with jabs already mandatory for state employees. some businesses have threatened to take legal action. dr danielle ompad is the associate professor of epidemiology at the new york university's school of global public health and gave her assessment of vaccine mandates. as an epidemiologist who has watched this pandemic from the beginning, i am happy to see vaccine mandates for people in congregate settings, restaurants and gatherings because i am really worried about the pandemic continuing. i actually think at least two doses is a good idea and we'd know that immunity begins to wane after six months, the second dose, so i anticipate boosters may be mandated as well. i understand people don't like being told what to do, generally, i don't like being told what to do either but if we don't all work together on this pandemic and that right now means masking and vaccination, then this is going to keep happening and quite frankly, i am is going to keep happening and quite frankly, iam not is going to keep happening and quite frankly, i am not prepared to lose anybody else. neighbours, friends, family. fellow citizens of the world. it's time for us to pull together and bring this to an end and we can only do that together. indian authorities are to impose a night—time curfew in delhi to try to contain a growing number of coronavirus cases. the restriction, which takes effect from monday evening, will last for six hours each night. delhi officially recorded 290 new omicron cases in the latest 24—hour period. our south east asia editor anbarasan ethirajan has the latest from delhi. this is one of the first steps being announced but not only the government here in delhi, but also in several other states, that has a night—time curfew, to restrict people gathering, especially the youth gathering in the night and there is a new year celebration coming and they don't want people to congregate in any one particular place. if you look at delhi, it has the highest number of omicron cases within india, it has surpassed maharashtra state, even though the numbers are around 580 confirmed cases of omicron, the authorities are worried, given the way it spreads, the numbers could go up very quickly, they are registered around six and a half thousand covid cases but what they are worried about, especially in delhi, is the number of positive tests, the positivity rate so that is why they are imposing these restrictions but there are health experts who question this on social media because many people in the city, they are not wearing masks and people are still mixing in the markets. i saw a market yesterday, it was busy with activity so a night—time curfew will not really bring the situation under control, if the omicron starts spreading. back to the uk, and on the scottish rules, our corrrespondent catriona renton sent this update from glasgow. it's all about hospitality and indoor public venues. that means pubs, restaurants, theatres, museums and even gymnasiums will have to ensure there is one metre spacing between each group. groups can contain no more than three households and where alcohol is served, table service will be required so you can imagine the knock—on effect there on pubs will be felt greatly because there can be no more drinking at the bar. nightclubs also will be shut unless of course they can use distancing and table service and operate essentially as a pub. the scottish government has provided extra money, £375 million worth of money to try and help businesses mitigate these circumstances but this has hit the hospitality industry hard. over the weeks i have spoken to businesses who say further restrictions will not make an awful lot of difference because their businesses have been damaged over the festive period anyway because people are voting with their feet about restrictions. new restrictions on outside events came in yesterday, that's limited to 500 people outdoors and indoors, 200 people if they are seated, 100 people if standing, you can imagine the impact is going to be on big events like hogmanay which has really effectively been cancelled in terms of public events this year. the scottish premiership has now decided to take its winter break early because they would rather not be playing to empty stadia. restrictions are reviewed here every three weeks. the next date for the diary for checking will be the 11th of january. and louise cullen gave us the situation in northern ireland. it's going back to table service in pubs, cafes and restaurants and at those tables it's back to the rule of six, six people from no more than six households can group together, it's a mix of regulations and recommendations here, the rule of six and table service, that is a regulation, another regulation is no dancing in hospitality venues but none of that applies to weddings or civil service partnerships. the recommendations that people should work from home where possible and when mixing in a private household, there should be no more than three households involved. there are changes to the laws around face coverings, some exemptions removed, for example, one where wearing a facemask causes severe stress, that is gone, the onus is on the individual to prove any medical exemption. dr simon clarke is an associate professor of cellular microbiology at the university of reading. thank you for being with us. what is your reading of what the coronavirus has been doing in the last few weeks over the holiday period? clearly a lot of people worried that omicron has been spreading rapidly because so many people have been mixing together? so many people have been mixing touether? ., �*, , together? good morning. it's been curowin together? good morning. it's been growing much _ together? good morning. it's been growing much faster— together? good morning. it's been growing much faster i _ together? good morning. it's been growing much faster i think, - together? good morning. it's been growing much faster i think, it's i growing much faster i think, it's fair to say that many of us, myself included expected. a few weeks ago. we have seen really quite a startling increase in the numbers. but it does appear to be initially at least in younger people, sending fewer of them to hospital and that will translate to fewer deaths but beyond that, we are still learning about it, there is still an awful lot to learn.— lot to learn. lots to learn particularly _ lot to learn. lots to learn particularly in _ lot to learn. lots to learn particularly in terms - lot to learn. lots to learn particularly in terms of i lot to learn. lots to learn l particularly in terms of how lot to learn. lots to learn - particularly in terms of how it will affect older people, it seems to be mainly younger members of the population contracting this variant so far? ., �* , �* , population contracting this variant sofar? ~y ..,, so far? that's right. any infectious disease, so far? that's right. any infectious disease. the _ so far? that's right. any infectious disease, the symptoms, _ so far? that's right. any infectious disease, the symptoms, severity l so far? that's right. any infectious| disease, the symptoms, severity of it is dependent on three things, the bug causing the infection, the other is the physiology of the host, the third factor is the environment. obviously, as one gets older, your physiology changes, susceptibility to covid—i9 changes. so i'm afraid we have to sit and wait on that. in terms of the symptoms people have been reporting from omicron, people tend to talk more now about cold like symptoms, sniffles and sore throat and so on. less about the lungs and so on, is that in some ways perhaps a hopeful sign that it isn't as devastating in terms of the way it hits the lungs and can cause serious illness and death? it is way it hits the lungs and can cause serious illness and death?- serious illness and death? it is a ho eful serious illness and death? it is a hepeful sign. — serious illness and death? it is a hopeful sign, yes. _ serious illness and death? it is a hopeful sign, yes. in _ serious illness and death? it is a hopeful sign, yes. in younger. hopeful sign, yes. in younger people, predominantly, it is much more infectious. so if we, for example, have a hospitalisation rate one third infection that we have seen before, you must remember before christmas, the numbers of infections on the government dashboard which relies on people with symptoms, was about three times higher than it was 12 months ago, 12 months ago those people ended up in hospital injanuary at months ago those people ended up in hospital in january at lockdown. so we could have, it's possible, we could have any benefit of decreased severity wiped out by increased transmissibility. we are literally gaining on the and losing on the roundabouts. irate gaining on the and losing on the roundabouts.— gaining on the and losing on the roundabouts. ., ., _ , roundabouts. we are obviously seeing different measures _ roundabouts. we are obviously seeing different measures in _ roundabouts. we are obviously seeing different measures in different - different measures in different countries. some tougher, tighter, some more relaxed. what is your view given that we are still in this kind of holding pattern where we do not exactly know how severe omicron is? my exactly know how severe omicron is? my view is the government is going to sit tight, wait for more information, wait for a signal that omicron, if indeed it is, is more severe in older people, where the devolved governments have decided to act sooner. we have to understand though that in the uk,, in england, i should say, if we get it right, then the government will be hailed, if they get it wrong, they will have the finger pointed at them but we must accept not acting early, if indeed we have a problem, will come at a cost to us. indeed we have a problem, will come at a cost to ve— at a cost to us. doctor simon clark, aood to at a cost to us. doctor simon clark, good to talk — at a cost to us. doctor simon clark, good to talk to _ at a cost to us. doctor simon clark, good to talk to you. _ at a cost to us. doctor simon clark, good to talk to you. thank - at a cost to us. doctor simon clark, good to talk to you. thank you. - the latest headlines on bbc news.... in the uk the prime minister's scientific advisers will brief him today on the spread of coronavirus over christmas, as he decides whether to impose more restrictions in england before the new year. in scotland and northern ireland, further measures come into force today for pubs, bars and cafes. health advisers in israel have recommended a fourth covid jab for all people aged over 60 and healthcare workers. a week of events are starting in south africa to commemorate the life of the anti—apartheid leader archbishop desmond tutu. he died on sunday, aged 90. the bells of cape town's st george's cathedral will toll for ten minutes a day every day at noon until friday. buildings have been lit up in the city as people gathered outside the city's st george's cathedral and also outside his home, ahead of his funeral on the 1st of january. others laid wreaths and lit candles in soweto. our correspondent nomsa maseko sent this report. he was the last remaining nobel prize laureate here in south africa. along with others, including nelson mandela and the last apartheid president, fw de klerk. you know, there's a lot of events also that are planned, which also include an intimate event for friends and family of the late archbishop and also his wife, mama leah, who held his hand, we are told, until he died early yesterday morning. and then the archbishop's body will also be lying in state at the st george's cathedral in cape town, where his funeral service is expected to be held on new year's day. in the last few minutes the bells of st george's cathedral have been ringing to mark the passing of archbishop tutu. bells toll. they'll be rung daily for ten minutes, starting at midday local time until friday. the archbishop of cape town, thabo makgoba, has asked all who hear the bells to pause their busy schedules for a moment in tribute to archbishop tutu. the business secretary, kwasi kwarteng, is due to hold emergency talks with some of the uk's energy providers who warned last week that household bills would rise by another 50 per cent next year unless the treasury intervened. ahead of the meetings the boss of the country's third largest supplier, ovo energy, told bbc news ministers were showing "nowhere near enough urgency" and needed to step in to protect customers. our business correspondent, vishala sri—pathma, reports. it's been a constant worry for households for the past three months — rising prices of gas and electricity around the world have meant we've all been paying more to heat our homes and cook our meals. 26 energy companies have gone bust since september, and more casualties are expected in the industry as there's no sign of prices falling. our number—one ask going into the meeting is that the government and the regulator are taking the situation very seriously, and they're prepared to start taking action — not in the months to come, but in the days to come. because i think if we don't find a solution in the coming weeks, we're certainly going to be locking uk consumers into more and more expensive energy for years to come. labour is calling on the government to use money raised through higher—than—expected vat receipts to cut household bills. the party says higher energy and food prices have meant more vat being paid, so the extra money should be used to help people struggling with the higher cost of living. the government said they are regularly engaging with the industry, and are continuing to support those most in need. the energy price cap is expected to be on the agenda, as well — it stops companies from passing rising costs onto their customers. the cap will be reviewed again in april, when bills could go up as much as 50%. not the good news families were hoping for this festive period — with many already struggling to keep the lights on. vishala sri—pathma, bbc news. in the uk, the conservation charity the national trust has published its annual reckoning of uk wildlife "winners and losers". it says some of the landscapes it cares for are being altered forever as climate change makes some forms of extreme weather the new normal. but some species have flourished. our climate editor justin rowlatt reports. this is one of this year's wildlife winners. the first beaver family was released onto national trust property in somerset in 2020, and this year it produced its first kit. the baby beaver was born injune. but the uk's changing weather patterns brought losers, too. some seabird populations were hit by the storms that swept the country. other birds suffered from the unseasonable cold spells and frequent heavy rain in the summer. i've come to newark park estate in gloucestershire to find out more about how our changing climate is affecting the national trust's landscapes and the wildlife it cares for. and just look at this wonderful place. a tudor hunting lodge with — look over here — the most incredible views right out across for the mendip hills. but this place is experiencing the effects of our changing climate. so we've had to remove all of our ash trees, unfortunately, because they've succumbed to ash dieback. the fungal disease, which affects adult trees, is now common across britain. so we're finding that the moist conditions that we get, as well — wet and warm — are really great for these things to spread in our current climate. the national trust lost thousands more trees in storms — storm arwen, which ripped through the north of the country in late november, was particularly destructive. and some properties, like this stretch of the dorset coast, were changed forever. this landslip — caused in part by extreme dry and wet spells — took a great bite out of the cliffs at thorncombe beacon. meanwhile, the very dry spring saw wildfires devastate parts of national trust estates in the mourne mountains in northern ireland, and at marsden moor in yorkshire. more evidence of how increasing weather extremes are ratcheting up the pressure on britain's already—stressed wildlife, the national trust says. the kind of regular rhythms of the seasons are kind of...are kind of drifting away and we're now getting this new normal, which is pretty unpredictable and has some really big extreme kind of weather events. and all of that has a kind of massive impact on our wildlife, which, of course, has kind of evolved in synchrony with the seasons and the weather patterns and the climate, ultimately. this year's wildlife losers include spring—blossoming trees in the south of england, which suffered a series of late frosts. the chilly spring also hit butterfly populations, although there were some rare sightings — including this purple emperor at anglesey abbey near cambridge. but some seal populations flourished, with record numbers of seals recorded on some suffolk beaches. the warm and settled autumn produced spectacular shows of colour across the country, and helped some grassland fungi to thrive. waxed—cup varieties did particularly well, while this unusual devil's finger fungus was spotted in herefordshire. the trust warns extreme weather is increasingly becoming the new normal, but says it is possible to strengthen ecosystems against climate change. by making bigger and better patches of wildlife habitat, they can support stronger populations, which are then more resilient to things like climate change. and here's a lovely seasonal shot to celebrate that ambition — as well as what the national trust says has been a great yearfor berries. justin rowlatt, bbc news, newark park estate in gloucestershire. you are watching bbc news. less than half of our waste is recycled — but a trial in denmark is tackling that problem using pioneering technology. adrienne murray went to take a look. early each morning, rubbish trucks are on the streets collecting binloads of household plastic. this is the start of its recycling journey. it's then brought to this facility, ready to be sent for sorting. in europe, each person generates 35 kilos of waste plastic packaging a year. only 40% gets recycled. globally, it's much less. while plastics are useful, a lot of packaging is difficult to reuse — most of it ends up in landfill or incinerated. a big problem is plastic pollution. and yet more resources get used making new plastic products. here in copenhagen, new technology is being trialled that could help boost recycling rates. it's part of an industry—led project called holygrail 2.0. what we're trying to do is really use intelligence that is embedded in the packaging, using the digital watermarks to revolutionise the way we sort or recycle plastics. more than 100,000 packaging samples are being sent along this line to a smart sorting machine. each piece of packaging is printed or embossed with a digital watermark that's about the size of a postage stamp. it can barely be seen by the naked eye, but it's like having an invisible bar code stamped all over it. this identifies what it is. consumers can even use a smartphone app to find out more about the product, and how to recycle it. inside the machine, a high—resolution camera scans the digital watermarks. this tells a computer what the plastic is, and what it was used for. air jets accurately separate the items. that's important if we want to reuse it. the digital watermark is embossed... american firm digimarc has developed the watermark technology. today's technology is able to identify the type of plastic, but not necessarily whether it came from a food application or non—food application. with watermarks, you can precisely identify what it was. dozens of firms are taking parts — including big consumer brands like nestle, unilever and pepsico. it's sorting very, very accurately. the question now is, will that yield the kind of recycling results at scale that we would need for this to become a commercially viable solution for the future? however, the amount of plastic we consume is growing. yes, we have to improve waste management and recycling. but overall, i mean, the world is drowning in plastic and plastic waste. we have to look more into, how can we prevent waste in the first place? the tech will be tested out further. that means hundreds of watermarked products will be on supermarket shelves in denmark, france and germany as soon as next year. adrienne murray, bbc news, copenhagen. west mercia police has issued a written apology to the family of the former premier league footballer dalian atkinson, who died from injuries he suffered while being arrested in telford in 2016. the ex—aston villa striker was kicked in the head and tasered by pc benjamin monk, who is now serving eight years for manslaughter. in a letter, the force's new chief constable, pippa mills, said a uniform doesn't "grant officers immunity" from the law. detectives are investigating a video apparently made by a man, arrested in the grounds of windsor castle on christmas morning. the 19—year—old was in possession of a crossbow when he was arrested. since then, he has been sectioned under the mental health act, and remains in the care of medical professionals. the number of shoppers looking for a boxing day high street bargain plummeted compared to pre—pandemic levels. footfall was down nearly 50% on 2019 as many people shunned shops and spent their money online. the british retail consortium said many retailers would continue to see a boost in online trade amid fears of the spread of the omicron variant. now, the weather with louise lear. hello again. we have been watching wet and windy weather sweeping in across the south—west and turning lighter and patchy nature. showers across scotland on and off through the day but sunny spells developing here as they were across northern ireland and northern england, especially cumbria. temperature