and different ways of seeing in the new year — in different parts of the world. hello and welcome to bbc news. face masks are to be worn in secondary school classrooms in england, to reduce the spread of the omicron variant. until now, england was the only one of the four uk nations where face masks were not recommended for pupils in class. six teaching unions have demanded urgent action to limit the spread of the virus. the government has also announced that 7000 air cleaning units are to be made available to early years setting, schools and colleges to improve ventilation in classrooms. there's concern that rising cases will continue to impact staffing across vital services. public sector leaders have been asked to prepare for "worst case scenarios" of up to 25% staff absence rates. in europe — france has cut its self—isolation period. fully vaccinated people who test positive will only have to isolate for seven days regardless of the coronavirus variant they are infected with, and can leave quarantine after five days if they show a negative pcr test. across europe, police have broken up small anti—lockdown protests as well as illegal gatherings. in stuttgart in germany, about 100 activists attempted to stage an unauthorised protest against covid vaccines and restrictions. james reynolds reports now on the measures to prevent the virus spreading in england's schools. since march 2020, getting an education has become an obstacle course of home learning, missed exams and regular covid tests. 0lder pupils have got used to wearing masks and communal areas in schools. now the government recommends the pupils in years seven and above keep their masks on when they are in class as well. the move will be reviewed in late january. and then there is the air. taking a deep breath is the kind of thing you need to do before an exam but it is hard to do safely in a poorly ventilated classroom. in order to clear the air, then, the government is rolling out a further 7,000 purifiers. we are pleased the government is talking to us and trying to work out how to get some support into schools now. we are disappointed that we are having the conversation this side of christmas when we could have been making these arrangements earlier on. the government says it wants to minimise disruption and keep pupils in class, but unions warn that if large numbers of teachers get sick or have to quarantine, some classes may have to be sent home for short periods of time. james reynolds, bbc news. joining me now is paul whiteman, general secretary of the national association of headteachers. we heard our report saying that the arrangements could have been made earlier. 0bviously would have like that to happen. now they are being made, what you think about them? we made, what you think about them? - broadly welcome the government's announcements overnight. we were warning the government before christmas that our members were already contacting a saying that they are staffing levels were down to about half their normal levels, and the pressures on schools were making it very difficult to keep to ourjoint objective of keeping schools open. we all want to see every class open and all children in school who are well enough, but the pressure on staffing right now has become critical, so the announcement overnight about facemasks is welcome. it is not ideal in a teaching sense, but as a temporary measure, and the government has been very clear with me that this is a temporary measure and a balanced measure, a proportionate response to what we are seeing right now, so thatis what we are seeing right now, so that is very welcome. that is focused on secondary schools. we have got real worries about primary schools that are typically smaller and have smaller staffing numbers as well, so the air filtration units are particularly important there, because facemasks are not required for younger children, and we need those to be delivered quickly. there are about 300,000 classrooms across the school system, and 7000 units coming in, so we know from the c02 monitors that not every class of needs one, which we need to make sure that where they are needed, they are there quickly and there is no added bureaucracy to get our hands on them, and the costs are met by government. fix, hands on them, and the costs are met by government-— by government. a few days to go until the kids _ by government. a few days to go until the kids go _ by government. a few days to go until the kids go back— by government. a few days to go until the kids go back to - by government. a few days to go until the kids go back to school. | by government. a few days to go i until the kids go back to school. at this point it at all possible to get a grip on what the situation may be in terms of staffing and staff having to be off because of covid? is any testing being done, any information being put out there for you? we information being put out there for ou? ~ . , information being put out there for ou? . ., , ., , ., you? we are getting reports from the round you? we are getting reports from the ground already _ you? we are getting reports from the ground already from _ you? we are getting reports from the ground already from school _ you? we are getting reports from the ground already from school leaders i ground already from school leaders that are contacting us to say that their staff are already reporting in sick having positively tested for covid, down to almost half the staff levels in some schools. but it is not uniform across the country, and thatis not uniform across the country, and that is where the difficulty is going to be. so i don't think we are going to be. so i don't think we are going to be. so i don't think we are going to get a clear picture until the first two or three days of return, and then that will change daily. this is going to be a very dynamic situation. we know that the virus is passed on in schools, so evenif virus is passed on in schools, so even if we have a good start, there is a worry that goes beyond that into the first early weeks of term, so one of the other things the government has said which is encouraging is that they're going to remain very flexible reviewing with us what is happening on the ground on a daily basis, and we very much hope that true to their word they will be very flexible and respond with us to the needs on the ground. i want to be very, very clear that the trade unions that came together to say that we want to maintain school, keep children in the classrooms, that is a real, genuine effort to work with government to keep schools open, and we very much hope that the response that we had yesterday we will be seeing in the first few weeks of term. band yesterday we will be seeing in the first few weeks of term.— first few weeks of term. and how would you _ first few weeks of term. and how would you see — first few weeks of term. and how would you see prioritising - first few weeks of term. and how would you see prioritising what . would you see prioritising what happens in schools. you've said that in some schools, i don't know if you can give us a number, but currently at this point they're looking at half the number of staff potentially going back on the first day. but what should be prioritised to keep schools open? i what should be prioritised to keep schools open?— schools open? i can't give you an accurate picture _ schools open? i can't give you an accurate picture of _ schools open? i can't give you an accurate picture of how— schools open? i can't give you an accurate picture of how the - schools open? i can't give you an| accurate picture of how the whole country looks right now, i'm afraid. we are working through that as members report in. what is really important is that if the joint effort, if the priority is to keep children in school, then we need to give schools as much support and flexibility to deliver education in whichever way they can, so the normal way of educating children might have to change, and i think the best people place to make those decisions a local school leaders. they have the expertise of the knowledge of their school and the community that they serve. that can't be driven from westminster, so we need understanding and support from westminster. we need to move burdens such as inspections right now. thatjust gets in the way. we need to be fully focused on making sure as many children are in school and having face—to—face learning as possible. and having face-to-face learning as ossible. ~ ., and having face-to-face learning as ossible. ~ . ., and having face-to-face learning as ossible. . . possible. what about protecting exams? can _ possible. what about protecting exams? can you _ possible. what about protecting exams? can you guarantee - possible. what about protecting exams? can you guarantee thatj exams? can you guarantee that children who are facing marks, and for some kids who are doing a—levels, they didn't do gcse so they will be looking for these marks as being a very important thing in their education. can you give a promise to those kids that they will be able to do them? i promise to those kids that they will be able to do them?— promise to those kids that they will be able to do them? i think anybody makin: be able to do them? i think anybody making guarantees _ be able to do them? i think anybody making guarantees now _ be able to do them? i think anybody making guarantees now is _ be able to do them? i think anybody making guarantees now is making i be able to do them? i think anybody making guarantees now is making a| making guarantees now is making a step too far. we didn't expect this variant to have the impact that it is having before it arrives, so we now know what is around the corner with this virus, —— we never know. but everybody is very committed to keeping education going if at all possible. the government has made some precautionary plans already for taking things forward and working with schools to make sure that the evidence is in place should they be in a difficult situation, but as i say, the commitment right now is to keep those exams running if at all possible. for keep those exams running if at all ossible. ., . ., ., ~ keep those exams running if at all ossible. ., ~ ., ., ~ , ., possible. for wightman, thank you ve much possible. for wightman, thank you very much for— possible. for wightman, thank you very much forjoining _ possible. for wightman, thank you very much forjoining us. _ possible. for wightman, thank you very much forjoining us. thank- possible. for wightman, thank you | very much forjoining us. thank you. "robust contingency plans" are being developed by government ministers, amid warnings that a quarter of public sector workers could soon be off work because of covid. rising case numbers have led to large numbers of employees self—isolating — with absences particularly affecting the nhs and the transport industry. our business correspondent katie prescott has more details. cancelled trains, delayed deliveries, closed restaurants and shut—up shops. staff shortages because of the spread of 0micron are a real worry in the new year as people go back to work after the christmas break. i think it makes sense to try to plan for such events. we know we have a very contagious variant in the uk and we know that lots of people are catching the virus and naturally there will be absences throughout all businesses, really. from a retail perspective, the biggest concern will be on the supply chain to make sure that that is still running at the efficiency we are used to. empty workplaces are the nightmare for government. ministers are looking atjust how bad things could get and drawing up contingency plans to try and protect against any disruption from rising infection. to try and keep school gates open as well as hospitals and other vital services, in the public sector leaders have been asked to look at the worst—case scenarios of having ten, 20 or even 25% of their staff off at any one time. labour says that this announcement shows the government is leaving contingency planning to the very last moment. the most recent restrictions in england, set out in the government's plan b earlier in december, are expected to be reviewed this week. katie prescott, bbc news. firefighters in south africa have been battling a fire at the country's parliament building. the fire, which authorities say is contained but still burning, is thought to have started in office space on the third floor at the parliament building in cape town before spreading to the national assembly building. let's take a look at the latest pictures.... this is the scene live now in cape town. the picture clearly tells the story, still smoke filling the air behind the houses of parliament there. fire services say the fire is under control, but clearly still a lot of black smoke filling the sky there. dozens of firefighters dealing with the fire. it is not clear what caused the fire to start, but the city authorities have said the roof area had caught fire and the national assembly building was also on fire. so this is the scene live. the minister for public works says they have started an investigation into the cause of the fire. we have the situation under control for now. we have contained the fire within the national council of provinces. this is a very sad day for our democracy, because parliament is home for our democracy and also a strategic key point. all matters will be investigated. the police have started to investigate. the forensic department is here, public works is here, all together. but for now what is important for us, we can't tell you exactly where the fire started, but we can tell you where we've contained it and where the fire is currently taking place. part of the other smoke that you see coming out is there is a big extractor fan that is pulling the smoke and everything from the national council of provinces out into the air, and that is what you see it happening also at the moment. jermaine carelse from cape town fire and rescue told us about the emergency response. we receive the calljust after five this morning, of the building alight in parliament avenue _ and when the officer arrived and confirmed that it was the parliamentary building, we had eight firefighting appliances on scene and 50 firefighters currently. and obviously it is quite a fluid situation, with the fire inside the building creating intense heat. we are getting reports from the appliance is fighting the fire from the roof— appliance is fighting the fire from the roof side that the bitumen on the roof side that the bitumen on the roof— the roof side that the bitumen on the roof is— the roof side that the bitumen on the roof is currently melting. and there _ the roof is currently melting. and there are — the roof is currently melting. and there are reports of cracks in the walls _ there are reports of cracks in the walls inside the building itself. there have been no reports of the fire spreading to other buildings. we have the aerial appliances to help cover — we have the aerial appliances to help cover with the protection. israeli warplanes have hit hamas targets in gaza in response to palestinian rocket fire. israel's military said it had warned residents of the gaza strip to stay away from the targeted areas, including a compound hamas militants used to make rockets. there are no reports of casualties. the two rockets launched towards israel early on saturday fell in the sea off tel aviv. 0ur headlines on bbc news... secondary school pupils are to be required to wear facemasks in class in england, as coronavirus cases continue to surge across europe. fears a quarter of uk public sector workers could be off due to coronavirus — as firms are warned to make contingency plans. france will cut the covid self—isolation period from 10 to 7 days, in a bid to ease staff pressures. coronavirus is continuing to cause major disruption for travellers worldwide. airlines cancelled more than 4000, 400 flights on saturday, airlines cancelled more than 4,400 flights on saturday, due to surging covid cases among airline crews and ground personnel, as well as storms in parts of the us. stephanie prentice reports. from last—minute cancellations to hours of delays in airports. the past week has been called the perfect storm of travel chaos in the united states as the demand of a new year's rush, staffing in 0micron world, and bad weather collide. many on social media say their trip was cancelled either as they arrived at the airport or once they were through security. some say they are now stuck until tuesday at the earliest. and this man described an extensive re—route involving sleeping on the floor at dallas airport. more than 4400 flights were cancelled worldwide over saturday and into sunday. 2500 of those were going to or from us airports. and as if covid wasn't enough, the weather took over at chicago airport. 1000 flights cancelled on saturday. in a statement, united airlines — one of those impacted — said that today's cancellations were driven by 0micron, staffing and weather—related issues. "we did pre—cancel flights in anticipation of inclement weather." but with many people now returning home from christmas holidays, sunday is expected to see further chaos, particularly with forecasts of snow and heavy wind. a bleak picture but one that travellers are starting to become familiar with. and experts warn that the storm of travel chaos will get worse before it passes. stephanie prentice, bbc news. ajudge in the united states has thrown out prince andrew's attempt to halt proceedings in a civil lawsuit against him. the duke of york's lawyers had argued that virginia giuffre — who has accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager — lives in australia, so is not a us resident. prince andrew has consistently denied the allegations. aruna iyengar has this report. seen here at the age of 17, virginia roberts, now giuffre, with prince andrew on the left and ghislaine maxwell in the background. miss giuffre has accused prince andrew of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager at the homes ofjeffrey epstein, the convicted child sex offender, and ghislaine maxwell. prince andrew has consistently denied the allegations. the civil lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. two efforts to stall the case were blocked on saturday. us federaljudge lewis kaplan told the prince's lawyers they must hand over key legal documents before a crucial court hearing in new york on tuesday. he also rejected arguments by the prince's lawyer, andrew brettler, that the lawsuit should be dismissed because miss giuffre, a us citizen, no longer lives in the us. this comes after ghislaine maxwell was convicted this week of recruiting and trafficking young girls to be sexually abused by her boyfriend, the late american financier jeffrey epstein, between 1994 and 2004. on tuesday, judge kaplan will hear oral arguments to decide whether virginia giuffre's lawsuit against prince andrew will proceed. aruna iyengar, bbc news. the south korean military says it has carried out a search operation after a south korean man crossed the border into north korea. the circumstances of the apparent defection are unclear, but a military source said the unnamed man crossed from the demilitarised zone into the north on saturday evening. the office of south korea'sjoint chiefs of staff said it could not confirm whether the person was still alive. laura bicker in seoul is following the story. there have been a number of breaches of the border in the last few years, but this, just to explain to your viewers, is one of the most heavily fortified areas in the entire world. it is a four kilometre wide area full of landmines, surveillance equipment. it is surrounded by electric fences. normally there are guards in watchtowers who are there, armed, ready to react every 24 hours. this happened on new year's day. it has happened in the same area in the last year, so there have been questions about the security and surveillance of the border area in this east coast part of south korea. what appears to have happened is an alert was raised about 6:40am on new year's day and then a search was made for about three orfour hours. they did not find the individual, and that individual has then made it into north korea. one of the things we do know, and certainly one of my sources is telling me, is it is a civilian, but we don't know if it is a south korean citizen or whether or not it was a north korean defector who was here in the south, who may have wanted to try and go back north. laura bicker reporting. in the uk, 20 conservative mps and peers have called on the prime minister to tackle the spiralling cost of living. five former ministers are among the signatories of a letter to the sunday telegraph, which follows huge increases in wholesale gas prices. 0ur political correspondent chris mason reports. wholesale gas and electricity prices are rising steeply. the boss of one energy firm is predicting an enormous crisis this year as a consequence. now 20 tory parliamentarians are expressing their concerns, too. their letter has been organised by what is called the net zero scrutiny group of conservatives, which keeps an eye on the consequences of the government's environmental commitments. the government is meeting energy firms and the regulator 0fgem regularly to work out how to help consumers. this will be, without question, one of the government's most pressing problems in the early weeks and months of the new year. police are appealing for information after a man was shot in the stomach in liverpool last night. the incident happened in the car park of the netherton pub in litherland just after 7pm and the 33—year—old victim is said to be in a serious condition. merseyside police say they believe the shooting was targeted. snow is hindering relief efforts after a wildfire hit the american state of colorado. the blaze destroyed almost a thousand homes and at least three people are missing. russell trott has more. freezing conditions and a blanket of snow had helped to quell the flames. the eerie charred remains are all that's left in this part of boulder county. the snow, up to ten inches in places, was initially welcome, but is now hampering relief operations. three people are still unaccounted for, but rescue has now turned to recovery in the search to find those still missing. we are calling in cadaver dogs and search teams to help us with the effort tomorrow. the structures where these folks would be are completely destroyed. they are covered with about eight inches of snow right now. the wildfire had moved quickly, fanned by high winds. it took just seconds to rip through an area the size of a football pitch, leaving a trail of destruction. entire neighbourhoods engulfed in flames, at least 1,000 homes and businesses destroyed. tens of thousands of residents had no option but to flee for their lives. president biden approved a disaster declaration, freeing up federal resources. weather experts spoke of their disbelief that such a large fire could have taken hold in the depths of a cold winter. all of colorado's 20 biggest wildfires have happened in the last 20 years, and it all points to a change in climate, and the unpredictability that goes with it. russell trott, bbc news. 21 people have been rescued after becoming trapped overnight in mountain tram cars in albuquerque, new mexico. the tramway was stopped because ice was affecting the emergency cable. the cars were lowered using a rope system and the passengers evacuated via helicopter. all around the world, people have been welcoming in the new year in different ways. large numbers decided to see in 2022 by getting rather wet, as tim allman reports. what is it with new year's day and people doing things like this? cheering. here at cavour bridge in rome, for more than half a century, every year, to celebrate the new year, they threw themselves into the tiber. normally, the water is icy cold, although milder weather meant it was perhaps a little less bracing this time around. in the netherlands, a group of hardy souls went for a dip in the north sea. an official event had been cancelled due to covid restrictions, but some just couldn't stop themselves. it feels like a refreshment, you know? now, i feel like all my troubles are gone and i actually feel really energised. not that far away in portugal, their destination was the choppy seas of the north atlantic. the sun was shining, the water was cold. the mood, surprisingly positive. "it's a portuguese tradition on this beach," said this man. "what's nice is the conviviality, socialising with people, hoping to be able to recover our strength for a much better year, and hoping to get out of this pandemic." bagpipes skirl. 0n the other side of the pond, they have some traditions of their own. in boston, one of america's oldest cold water swimming groups solemnly marched to a nearby beach before they all made a mad dash for it. cheering. some called it "crazy," some called it "fun" — it's certainly one way to see in the new year. tim allman, bbc news. you can stay up—to—date any time with all the latest on the bbc news website. thank you for your company. goodbye for now. hello there. the mild weather story is set to continue for today at least. it was a beautiful start for some of us, with early morning sunshine, as you can see by this weather watcher picture scented from rotherham. but there were also sharp showers around, one batch eased off into the north—east, a rash of showers to the north of the great glen, but as we go through the morning and into the early afternoon, some showers merged together for a heavy burst of rain to push through the south of england and west wales, gradually drifting east. sunny spells and scattered showers for much of scotland and northern ireland as well, blustery for all, particularly on exposed west—facing coasts, gust in excess of 40 mph not out of the question. but in terms of the feel of the weather, once again temperatures above where they should be for the time of year, not quite as mild as the last couple of days, but nevertheless 9—13 celsius the high. through the night tonight, we continue with a south—westerly flow, so mild across england and wales, but a northerly wind will start to kick in, and that is going to drag in some colder air for the far north of scotland. this is a cold front, so that cold air is going to continue to push its way steadily south as the front sinks slowly south during bank holiday monday. we will also see more cloud and rain just brushing the southern fringes, and sandwiched in between the two, relatively mild and still with sunshine continuing. we will have sunshine further north, but look at the difference with the feel of the weather. ten to 11 to the south of that cold front, and behind it, a noticeable difference, particularly across eastern scotland where temperatures really struggling to climb above freezing in spots. that cold air will push its way steadily south, so as we go into tuesday, a noticeable difference for all of us. still plenty of strong winds up into the far north, driving in some wintry showers, but elsewhere on tuesday we start off cloudy, but that cloud should ease away, and more sunshine come through. a crisp day, noticeably cooler for all, top temperature is around 5-8 degrees, about where they should be for this time of year. now, that does lead into a frosty start during the early hours from wednesday morning, and that means that on wednesday after that frost we are going to see a good deal of dry, sunny weather before the showers are set to return, and it stays on the cold site. this is bbc news. the headlines... secondary school pupils are to be required to wear face masks in class in england, as coronavirus cases continue to surge across europe. fears a quarter of uk public sector workers could be off due to covid — as firms are warned to make contingency plans. france will cut the coronavirus self—isolation period from 10 to 7 days, in a bid to ease staff pressures. dozens of fire crews are tackling a blaze at the houses of parliament in the south african city of cape town. a us judge throws out prince andrew's attempt to halt proceedings in a civil lawsuit against him. now, on bbc news, review 2021, the coronavirus pandemic. 0ur health editor, hugh pym has the story of the coronavirus pandemic across the year and its impact on so many different aspects of people's lives. hospitals under pressure.