hello and welcome to bbc news. it's great to have your company. the uk government has defended its decision to hold off on introducing new coronavirus restrictions in england before the new year, saying it will monitor the situation closely in the meantime. there are restrictions on socialising in the other nations that form the uk — wales, scotland and northern ireland. the latest data shows that there have again been record numbers of cases across the country. elsewhere in europe, france has also seen record highs in its cases, and the country has announced tighter restrictions to try and get the spike in numbers caused by the omicron variant under control. and there have been demonstrations in eastern germany against new restrictions. first, let's get more on the situation here in the uk from our health correspondent, sophie hutchinson. the latest uk government covid data now. a vaccination centre in lambeth in london, among the boroughs worst affected by omicron in the uk. staff here say there's no shortage of demand for the jabs. i'm a schoolteacher. i've got to go back. there are zero mitigations in class. and i don't want to get sick, you know? i'm 57 years old, so i'm quite frightened of that and i don't want to pass it on to my loved ones. it's really important because i'm a recently retired senior head of education at university college, so i preach it to my staff, so i have to jolly well do it as well. unlike the rest of the uk, which has increased restrictions, the government in england is relying on vaccinations to get the country through the latest wave of covid. we do watch very carefully- all of the data, and we have had some good news that it does seem to be a bit milder— in terms of severity. but we do watch the _ hospitalisations, and we do watch the number of people in hospitals all the time _ the data the government in england are monitoring in particular are for hospitalisations, which are increasing, but are still far from the peaks of previous waves. and in london, which has been worst hit by omicron, the number of patients in icu beds at hospitals like this and others are still well below worrying thresholds. and some scientists say that the spread of the virus in england seems to be slowing. cases are still rising. i think suggestions a few days ago that we might�*ve actually started to peak, i think, was probably not borne out yesterday, but on the other hand, cases aren't increasing as rapidly as they were a week or so ago. i think we can be fairly certain that they're not doubling every couple of days now. but the virus in wales is now growing exponentially, mirroring what happened over the last few weeks in england. our rates were quite stable, around the 500 per 100,000 mark, until a week or ten days ago. it's now heading towards the 1000 per 100,000 mark. this data that we published today isjust before christmas, so we still have to watch and see what the christmas mixing and the new year mixing is going to produce. back in england, the decision not to add further restrictions has been described as a lifeline for pubs, bars and clubs by the hospitality sector. it also says allowing people to go out on new year's eve signals better times ahead. it's not just about - new year's eve for us. i mean, it's bigger than that. it's the start of a recovery, - and we believe that we've created safe environments for people to come out and socialise _ and we think it's the best i scenario given the fact that if we'd have closed, i we'd potentially have seen more house parties and illegal events, - which would've been counter—productive.| but there are concerns about the wider impact of omicron on the nhs. hospital leaders say while many people are coming into hospital with covid but not because of covid, staff are also getting infected. it's very clear that as soon as you get omicron circulating significantly amongst the community, of course it will be circulating amongst nhs staff. we are now having to redeploy staff to fill the gaps that are being left in critical and essential services by staff who are off with covid—related absences. along with vaccinations, the government in england is urging people to remain cautious and, if possible, to celebrate outside on new year's eve. it will assess whether more restrictions are needed injanuary. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. the latest uk government covid data now. some of the figures are still being affected by delays over christmas, and some data has not yet been published, but it still shows record numbers of cases. there were 129,101 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period in england and wales. the scotland government have published their data separately but they also show record levels. there were 9,360 new cases recorded in the latest 24—hour period. and across the uk, the most recent figure we have for the number of people in hospital with covid stands at 8,240 — that's as of the 22nd of december. the last date which figures were available. northern ireland has currently not released any up—to—date figures. matthew taylor is chief executive of nhs confederation, the membership organisation for the whole healthcare system in england, wales and northern ireland. he says there's more to the latest statistics than meets the eye. we need to be cautious about the data _ we know, for example, the infection rate massively underestimates what's actually going on in the communities. that's reallyjust the rate of people who've had a test and reported that test result. sadly, i think the death figure also reflects the fact that we've been in this christmas period. what we do know is the hospitalisation rate is going up. now, it seems to be that the people with covid in hospitals may not be suffering on the level of acuity that we've seen in the past, less need to use intensive care. but do remember that if you have covid in hospital, you still are subject to infection controls, so that's still a demand on health service leaders, on doctors and nurses, to make sure that those patients are not infecting other people. our uk political correspondent, jonathan blake, has been telling us that there is a different approach to restrictions between the different nations in the uk. i think there is a confidence in downing street and the government of westminster as a whole at the moment that they can, if you like, ride this out, and hopefully get through the worst of the peak of cases from the omicron variant without the need to impose any more restrictions than they already have. now, i think it's a cautious confidence, and they say, "at every possibility, we're keeping an eye on the data hour by hour and won't hesitate to act if we need to." but it is in stark contrast to the other governments around the uk — scotland, wales and northern ireland — who are undoubtedly taking, i think, a more cautious approach. they are acting in advance, they hope, of a rise in hospital cases, to head off the worst of it. but in england, the government's firm holding out against imposing any new measures. now, that will be in part motivated by a desire to keep things open as much as possible, to protect the economy, keep it going, to keep schools open, of course, and to also protect public health as best they can with what has been put in place at the moment. but there is also a political reality at play, too, which we can't ignore, and that is that the prime minister, borisjohnson, is under intense pressure from his own party to not go any further and impose further restrictions, because people are ideologically opposed to them. they simply don't buy that they're necessary at this point, given that the high number of cases, which is continuing to rise, but at the moment, the early data suggesting also that omicron is perhaps less severe than other variants of the viruses, they say, of indication for their argument that but it's a precarious position because we know things can france has reported a record high number of new confirmed coronavirus cases on tuesday. nearly 180,000 new cases have been reported in the last 24—hour period — the highest since the pandemic began. it comes as the french government has announced that it will introduce tighter restrictions amid concerns over the omicron variant. from the 3rd of january, remote working will become compulsory for those who can, and public gatherings will be limited to 2,000 people for indoor events. and there have been demonstrations in eastern germany, against new coronavirus restrictions. they include a limit on private gatherings to ten vaccinated people and the closure of night clubs. students of all ages will have to wear masks in school, and sports competitions will be held behind closed doors. unvaccinated people are already banned from much of public life and only two people are allowed to meet in private. us health authorities have halved the recommended isolation period for people who test positive for covid but don't exhibit symptoms. they've previously warned of a half a million cases a day in the coming weeks as the omicron variant takes hold. that isolation time goes from ten to five days. officials insist this is being guided by the science. so, why is this step being taken now? we put that question to david edwards, an aerosol scientist and a harvard university professor and bioengineer. he was explaining what that significance would be. dr michael mina is the chief science officer of emed and was previously assistant professor of epidemiology and immunology at the harvard th chan school of public health. thank you very much for being with us on bbc news. how confident are the authorities not cutting the isolation period in half will still ensure sufficient public safety? well, i don't think it's a good idea. at this point, many places in the world and many people are remaining positive for quite a bit longer, but infectious for quite a bit longer than five days. i think to do this responsively, we need to have... it's ok to recommend a five day limit to isolation conditioned on having a negative test, and ideally, two negative tests and someone can leave isolation. but having itjust limited to five days and leaving isolation with loose recommendations i think it is not quite the best way for us to go. the centers for — quite the best way for us to go. the centers for disease control says is following scientific information, it's based on something specific. is there anything you've seen in the data that has changed that might at least make this an arguable point? well, they specified in the new guidance that it was based on data, which i agree with. that there was usually a two day window up front, where people were symptomatic, i'm sorry, were transmissible. however, things have dramatically shifted with omicron, so that relationship is now quite distinctive. we're seeing people stay positive for much longer and very highly positive, which you can see online for well beyond five days with this virus. fix, beyond five days with this virus. a lot of people have talked about omicron as being distinctive from previous variants because it seems to be very transmissible. people were getting infected quickly, but not for very long. are you concerned that might also be disguising continued infectiousness? you might have recovered, but you haven't stopped being able to infect other people. stopped being able to infect other --eole. . �* , stopped being able to infect other --eole. . �*, , people. that's exactly right. something _ people. that's exactly right. something i've _ people. that's exactly right. something i've tried - people. that's exactly right. something i've tried to - people. that's exactly right. - something i've tried to reiterate is that symptoms of covid are often times actually representing the immune response to the virus, and other symptoms are representing the virus doing damage to the body. so, big basing this on symptoms is probably not smart, because we know that completely ate some nomadic people can transmit very well. that was one of the first things we learned. —— some people can transmit. learned. -- some people can transmit-— learned. -- some people can transmit. �*, . , ., ,, .,~ transmit. it's a pleasure to speak to ou. transmit. it's a pleasure to speak to yom thank— transmit. it's a pleasure to speak to you. thank you _ transmit. it's a pleasure to speak to you. thank you very _ transmit. it's a pleasure to speak to you. thank you very much - transmit. it's a pleasure to speak to you. thank you very much forl to you. thank you very much for talking to us. the supreme court in russia has banned one of the country's best known and oldest human rights organisations, memorial, accusing it of violating a law requiring groups to register as foreign agents. it comes at the end of a year in which the kremlin has cracked down vigorously on its critics. our moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg, reports. more and more, it feels as if russia is turning the clock back. "liquidate," the judge says, as she orders one of russia's oldest civil rights groups, international memorial, to shut down. the ngo was found to have broken russia's draconian foreign agents law. "disgraceful decision," the reaction from the gallery. it's100% a political thing. and the substance of this political decision isjust one more step from authoritarian regime to totalitarian. for more than 30 years, memorial has been shining a light on one of the darkest chapters of russian history, what became known as the great terror. it's been painstakingly cataloguing the victims ofjosef stalin's mass repressions. up to 20 million soviet citizens are believed to have been sent to the gulag, to stalin's prison camps. hundreds of thousands were executed. memorial was set up to keep their memory alive. the founding of memorial in the late 1980s was a symbol, a symbol of the soviet union opening up and facing up to its past, to the crimes ofjosef stalin. the shutting down of memorial is a symbol, too, of how in russia today the past is being reshaped, rewritten, and how civil society is under attack. vladimir putin has been using history to try to foster patriotism, so he focuses on the glories of russia's past, like the victory in world war ii. through this annual reading of names of the victims of political repression, memorial has tried to remind russians of their tragic past. now, though, it's being silenced. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. joining me now is sam greene, professor of russian politics at kings college london. thank you very much. tell us about the group itself. its origins and why it seems to have caused the russian state such angst.- why it seems to have caused the russian state such angst. well, as our russian state such angst. well, as your report — russian state such angst. well, as your report said. _ russian state such angst. well, as your report said, memorial- russian state such angst. well, as your report said, memorial was . your report said, memorial was created formally in the 1980s. it began after the death of stalin in 1953. among russian intellectuals, primarily others who had lived through this period of terror, wanted to make sure it wasn't repeated and felt that it was important to catalogue the memory of what had gone on. there has been the mission of memorial since then. it's beenin mission of memorial since then. it's been in many ways the conscience of the russian public. who; been in many ways the conscience of the russian public.— the russian public. why is it that president putin _ the russian public. why is it that president putin seems _ the russian public. why is it that president putin seems so - the russian public. why is it that - president putin seems so determined to sanitise the history of the soviet union, a history which is well—documented and a part of which he was not directly involved, except as a veryjunior kgb operative? well, it's a complicated question. i think an important part of it is the fact that he has found over the last several years that it does increasingly important to him to be able to rely on repression. he has taken any kind of opposition or activity and lined it up as treason or extremism or some combination, forcing people into exile or into prison, and in some cases, worse. and the apparatus that he and his government use to impose that repression is built on foundation laid in the soviet period. during that —— doing that requires re—legitimizing those foundations, so any organisation like memorial is not the first to face this and will not the first to face this and will not be the last.— not be the last. does this active attem -t not be the last. does this active attempt to _ not be the last. does this active attempt to control _ not be the last. does this active attempt to control both - not be the last. does this active attempt to control both the - attempt to control both the definition of the past and the active nature of criticism in the present actually signal something about a change in food in himself or how he regards his own position —— putin quiz although i think it probably does reflect will putin quiz although i think it probably does reflect- probably does reflect will a vulnerability. _ probably does reflect will a vulnerability. he _ probably does reflect will a vulnerability. he is - probably does reflect will a vulnerability. he is ruling l probably does reflect will a i vulnerability. he is ruling over probably does reflect will a - vulnerability. he is ruling over a country that he has been ruling for more than 20 years. the rules are passed, and he has to rely on the police and on coercion and censorship and these sorts of measures to maintain some degree of legitimacy, to continue to control the public state in the face of declining incomes of economic hardship, and a lack of a prospect for a betterfuture for hardship, and a lack of a prospect for a better future for very many russians. ., , ,., ., ~ for a better future for very many russians. ., , ., ~ , ., , russians. professor, thank you very much forjoining _ russians. professor, thank you very much forjoining us. _ russians. professor, thank you very much forjoining us. thank - russians. professor, thank you very much forjoining us. thank you. - the us secretary of state antony blinken has called for a ban on arms sales to the military in myanmar following an attack that killed at least 30 civilians last week. mr blinken said the burmese military had to be held accountable. the charity save the children has confirmed that two of its staff members were among the bodies found in a burned out vehicle in kayah state. it's urged the un security council to take action. clashes are continuing in myanmar after the military seized power in february. it's denied responsibility for the attack. china has issued a complaint about the us tech entrepreneur, elon musk, over his activities in space. beijing says that there have been two narrowly avoided collisions between its new orbiting space station and satellites launched by mr musk�*s companies. the chinese have raised the issue with the un's space agency, although the incidents have not yet been independently verified. jonathan mcdowell is an astrophysicist at the harvard—smithsonian center for astrophysics, and i spoke to him a little earlier about those near—misses. under the outer—space treaty of 1967. _ under the outer—space treaty of 1967, anything that a private company does in space is the responsibility of the un member state _ responsibility of the un member state that licensed it to go it in the first— state that licensed it to go it in the first place. so there is a government role here. the question is, is _ government role here. the question is, is the _ government role here. the question is, is the us— government role here. the question is, is the us correctly regulating what _ is, is the us correctly regulating what spacex is doing? i think the probtem — what spacex is doing? i think the problem here is that these satellites are being moved around actively _ satellites are being moved around actively much more so than most, so the chinese _ actively much more so than most, so the chinese couldn't figure out in advance — the chinese couldn't figure out in advance whether two dogs are not to. how crowded is it getting around the earth —— to dodge? it’s how crowded is it getting around the earth -- to dodge?— earth -- to dodge? it's really burstin: earth -- to dodge? it's really bursting as — earth -- to dodge? it's really bursting as the _ earth -- to dodge? it's really bursting as the seams. - earth -- to dodge? it's reallyj bursting as the seams. space earth -- to dodge? it's really i bursting as the seams. space is earth -- to dodge? it's really - bursting as the seams. space is big. no earth _ bursting as the seams. space is big. no earth origin... it's not in fluently— no earth origin... it's not in fluently used. —— might influence lee huge. because everything is travelling — lee huge. because everything is travelling at 17,000 miles an hour, you travelling at17,000 miles an hour, you know_ travelling at 17,000 miles an hour, you know the old saying about how far and _ you know the old saying about how far and you — you know the old saying about how far and you should be from the parent— far and you should be from the parent front of you. there are now almost _ parent front of you. there are now almost 5000 working satellites. there _ almost 5000 working satellites. there are — almost 5000 working satellites. there are little pieces ofjunk we can even— there are little pieces ofjunk we can even see on the radar, so it's a mess of— can even see on the radar, so it's a mess of there. to can even see on the radar, so it's a mess of there-— mess of there. to be fair to the chinese. _ mess of there. to be fair to the chinese. the — mess of there. to be fair to the chinese, the european - mess of there. to be fair to the chinese, the european states i mess of there. to be fair to the - chinese, the european states agency expressed some concerns —— backspace agency. i'm not sure how that should be properly regulated. and i agency. i'm not sure how that should be properly regulated.— be properly regulated. and i don't think we need _ be properly regulated. and i don't think we need necessarily - be properly regulated. and i don't think we need necessarily to - be properly regulated. and i don'tj think we need necessarily to focus on spacex. — think we need necessarily to focus on spacex, on elon because there's a bunch _ on spacex, on elon because there's a bunch of— on spacex, on elon because there's a bunch of other countries and companies that are pulling up these lar-e companies that are pulling up these large satellites. he'sjust the first— large satellites. he'sjust the first to — large satellites. he'sjust the first to really go all out for it. but we — first to really go all out for it. but we need to solve this in an international way and solve it as a generat— international way and solve it as a general problem of space crowding, and we're _ general problem of space crowding, and we're just general problem of space crowding, and we'rejust in general problem of space crowding, and we're just in a new space age where _ and we're just in a new space age where space is getting much more active _ where space is getting much more active and — where space is getting much more active and there are many more players — active and there are many more players. it's notjust the superpowers. players. it's not 'ust the superpowersh players. it's not 'ust the superpowers. that's a really interesting _ superpowers. that's a really interesting point. _ superpowers. that's a really interesting point. it- superpowers. that's a really interesting point. it was - superpowers. that's a really interesting point. it was the | superpowers. that's a really - interesting point. it was the cold war period, so it was presumably a lot about preventing one side occupying and controlling. now it's very different, with so many more players. very different, with so many more -la ers. ., v very different, with so many more -la ers. . �* , , . players. that's right, the implicit assumption _ players. that's right, the implicit assumption that _ players. that's right, the implicit assumption that a _ players. that's right, the implicit assumption that a lot _ players. that's right, the implicit assumption that a lot of- players. that's right, the implicit assumption that a lot of the - players. that's right, the implicit| assumption that a lot of the early space regulations is either a us government satellite and space regulations is either a us government satellite— space regulations is either a us government satellite and it would be a very different _ government satellite and it would be a very different world _ government satellite and it would be a very different world now. _ government satellite and it would be a very different world now. so, - government satellite and it would be a very different world now. so, the l a very different world now. so, the amount— a very different world now. so, the amount of— a very different world now. so, the amount of the frequency of close passes— amount of the frequency of close passes getting more and more frequent _ passes getting more and more frequent. i should mention that the international space station has had to dodge _ international space station has had to dodge chinese space junk several times _ to dodge chinese space junk several times so. _ to dodge chinese space junk several times. so, it's not all on one side. jonathan _ times. so, it's not all on one side. jonathan mcdowell. more now on our main story — the uk government has defended its decision not to introduce further restrictions in england before january. ministers have said they will continue to monitor the situation and the spread of the omicron variant, and will act if necessary. the news has been welcomed by the hospitality industry, but some experts say it is unclear what the impact will be. earlier, i spoke to nightclub owner terry george to get his reaction. well, you've caught me in a good mood, a happy mood, in actualfact, because this move is what we've been praying for. we've had a terrible week running up to christmas because of the cancellations that we've had. we've had lots of people being unsure whether to come out, people actually getting the virus, whatever conditions they've been suffering with. and this week, we're being told that new year's day can go ahead as planned. and that is great news because people have been reserving themselves, not wanting to come out, not wanting to buy tickets, not wanting to commit themselves. today, we have seen people starting to buy their tickets. we had people in the past buying tickets but then asking for refunds and wanting to know what the policy was if they didn't turn up, but now people have got that confidence again, knowing that they can come out on new year's eve and celebrate. and we've seen an influx. we've been very nervous because not knowing whether to order stock and get staff in order, we didn't really know what to do. so, today, we've been going frantic, trying to make sure everything is going to be planned for the big night, new year's eve night. we've been running this as the government have guided us. we ask for people to show their vaccine passports upon entry of our venues. if they're coming earlier than one o'clock, then we give them a stamp to make sure that they've actually proven that they've got a vaccine passport. then when they go to the bar, they just show their stamp, so the staff are confident of that as well. and that's what the government have told us to do and that's what we do. we follow the rules. surprisingly, we've been able to follow the rules all the way through. but you know what? it's been really, really hard to be able to work a business through all these difficult hurdles we've had to jump. it's almost impossible, but thankfully, we are still here. terry george celebrating good news for his nightclub in leeds. whatever you're doing, don't forget bbc news stays with you in your pocket at any time, even when you're waiting for that taxi very late at night. goodbye. hello, i'm hugh ferris with some sport here on the bbc news channel. liverpool are attempting to reduce manchester city's lead at the top of the premier league to three points. they're playing leicester at the king power. that is not how things will end if they continue as they are. leicester had the lead against liverpool. there are now about 22 minutes remaining. earlier, mo salah had a penalty saved by kasper schmeichel. but at the moment, liverpool having for their second defeat of the season. earlier, west ham went up to fifth in the table after a big win over watford, who took the lead at vicarage road in the fourth minute, but lost 4—1. it's west ham's first premier league victory since december 4th. watford are just a place above the bottom three, so needed a good start, and they got it from a high—quality eighth goal of the season from emmanuel dennis. but there were plenty of holes at the other end in the watford defence — jarrod bowen spotted one and set up tomas soucek for the equalise. and the turnaround was complete two minutes later. said benrahma's deflected effort made it 2—1 to west ham. —— the equaliser. mark noble added a third from the penalty spot before bowen played the perfect pass for nikola vlasic to make it 4—1 — his first for west ham. to be talked about is chance of the chop called mont —— top four. we have a long way to go. we have to maintain it, we have to get our standards back. our performances are still not close to where they should be, but hopefully we can get ready and be the good teams and get better in the second half. west ham have gone above spurs, who were held to a 1—1 draw by ten—man southampton at st mary's. james ward prowse tends to get his goals from set pieces, but this one came in open play to give southampton the lead. harry kane equalised with a penalty, awarded for a foul by mohamed salisu, who was sent off. spurs dominated the second half and had two goals disallowed, so it finished all square. norwich remain bottom of the premier league after they were beaten 3—0 at crystal palace. odsonne edouard had given palace the lead from a penalty, before two further goals before half time from jean—philippe mateta and jeffrey schlupp gave them a comfortable win. and there has been even more disruption to the festive football schedule. everton's home premier league game with newcastle has been postponed because of coronavirus cases and injuries in the visiting side's camp. the game was due to take place on thursday, but the premier league were satisfied that newcastle couldn't field the requisite number of players. it's the 16th top flight match to be postponed in recent days, while in the football league, only 1a games are still on over the next two days. and premiership rugby are investigating allegations against leicester regarding historical image rights payments. tigers have confirmed they've met with representatives of the league to discuss the potential breach of salary cap rules, which the times reports relates to links between the club and a now defunct company, worldwide image management. leicester are top of the premiership with ten wins from ten. 2018 champion rob cross has reached the last 16 of the pdc world darts, sealing his win over daryl gurney with a 170 checkout. the finish of treble 20, treble 20, bullseye is a rarity in any context, but cross hit them with what proved to be his final three darts of a tight third—round match. it went to a deciding set, with the 11th seed winning 4—3. earlier, three—time champion michael van gerwen was forced to withdraw from the tournament after testing positive for covid—19. he was due to play chris dobey, who will get a bye into the last 16. fellow dutch players raymond van barneveld and vincent van der voort have also tested positive for coronavirus. and that's all the sport for now. much more a little bit later on. i'm shaun ley with the latest bbc news headlines at 9:30pm. new covid infections in england and wales hit a record daily high, as the government defends its decision not to introduce further restrictions in england before january. we want to party all night long! members of the hospitality industry welcome the move, calling it a "lifeline". protests outside court, as the kremlin bans one of russia's