more than 28,300 people crossed the english channel to the uk on board small boats in 2021, triple the number for 2020. a devastating fire that swept through south africa's houses of parliament in cape town has restarted. a legal document which prince andrew's lawyer believes could stop a civil case against him in the us has been made public. the duke of york, who isn't named in the document, has consistenly denied sexually assaulting virginia giuffre when she was 17. the document, which has been unsealed, is a settlement agreement between jeffrey epstein and virginia giuffre, also known as virginia roberts. it dismisses the case for damages brought by ms giuffre in return for the sum of $500,000, or £371,000. there was no admission of liability from epstein. it also adds that the document is a general release by virginia giuffre for any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant from all legal actions, including lawsuits both state and federal. the agreement was overseen by the laws of florida, where it was agreed. it was signed by ms giuffre, who gave her address as being in new south wales in australia. here's more from our legal correspondent dominic casciani. so, this is a 12—page document signed in november 2009, which seems a whole world away, but you have to bear in mind the allegations virginia giuffre makes againstjeffrey epstein and people around him date back 20 years. now, this is part of her case where she was suing him in a court in florida. this is epstein. it's her saying she been lured into a world of sexual abuse and she also had been abused by people around epstein and his closest confidantes. she talks about being abused by politicians and royalty who were not named in the document. she was paid about $500,000, about £371,000 by today's rates. in the document, the crucial bit says she releases and forever discharges, in the legal language, epstein and any other person or entity who could have been a defendant in the action she was bringing in florida, and in doing so that she agrees not to bring any damages claim against anyone from the beginning of time effectively up until the day of that settlement. now the reason why this is important is because the prince's lawyers are going to go into court tomorrow in new york and say the plain language in this document makes clear that even though we say her allegations against the duke of york are baseless, she can't even try to bring them because she has effectively signed away her rights to sue anyone, so this is a really important document in this case. but the document really concerns allegations around what happened in florida. and geography is quite important here, isn't it? it could be. this is the interesting thing about it because virginia giuffre�*s seem incredibly confident that this document is going to be effectively irrelevant to their case. they've already said at legal remarks for this release that when this document becomes public as it has done today, it will be seen to be "outside the four corners of her case against prince andrew". it does not cover her claims against him, and in particular she is alleging that she was abused by the duke of york in new york, in london and in the caribbean, nothing to do with florida, which is kind of the core of this case, and i think that's what's going to get argued about tomorrow. also on top of that, the duke's lawyers are bringing all sorts of motions tomorrow in new york to have it thrown out. they're say for technical reasons she can't bring that case since actually doesn't live in the us any more saying effectively the whole thing will be stopped now but she is again saying whatever this document says, we are happy for it to be unsealed because we say it is not actually stopping our case against the prince. the uk prime minister, borisjohnson, says there is no reason for further coronavirus measures in england despite the surge of coronavirus cases caused by the 0micron variant. the government insists it's determined to keep schools open. speaking at a vaccination centre, mrjohnson said current measures — including mask—wearing in secondary schools, working from home where possible and covid passes for some venues — are enough for now. 157,758 new coronavirus cases were recorded in england and scotland in the past 2a hours. 20,217 of those were in scotland, a record daily figure. data for wales and northern ireland won't come until after the new year holiday. in france, children aged six and over are required to wear facemasks on public transport, shops and in other venues. in the netherlands, the government has announced that schools will reopen next week despite cases remaining high. and in india, vaccinations have opened to 15—18—year—olds, but the country has recorded its steepest weekly surge in infections, almost tripling with 130,000 new cases registered. let's start, though, in the uk and our health correspondent catherine burns. hello, how do you do? how are you? happy new year. another day, another visit to a vaccination centre for the prime minister. how was that? easy. cos they're so good at it, you barely feel it! other parts of the nhs are really feeling it, though. we're hearing that around six trusts, including the united lincolnshire hospitals nhs trust, have declared critical incidents in the last few days. this happens when they're worried that they can't provide all of the critical services they need to. looking at the pressures on the nhs in the next couple of weeks and maybe longer, looking at the numbers of people who're going to be going into hospital, it will be absolute folly to say that this thing is all over now bar the shouting. we've got to remain cautious, we've got to stick with plan b, we've got to get boosted. in other words, no new restrictions in england at the moment. expect to hear more focus on boosterjabs, though. and nhs staff could be redeployed to help the busiest areas. it's not unusual to hear that the nhs is under pressure in january. winter always brings with it extra patients and covid is adding to that. this year, though, there's another complication — the number of staff who are off because of the virus. now it's understood several hospital chief executives in england are saying their trusts are under the greatest sustained pressure they've seen. there are now more than 111,000 patients with covid in hospitals in england. that's up almost 70% in a week. i've spoken to staff who do find treating unvaccinated patientsl who are seriously unwell, i they do see that upsetting, particularly if, as from time to time, the patient says, i "i wish i had been - vaccinated all along." so, we're not here tojudge, - we're here to treat and we'll treat whoever comes and requires our care and our attention _ there are some early encouraging signs, though. i was talking to london chief execs last week. what they were saying is they were seeing some very concerning daily increases of the numbers of people coming into hospital — 9%, 15%, 9% on the 27th, 28 and 29th of december. but interestingly, in the last two days, those numbers have dropped, the increases, to 1% and 2%. back to school this week and back to masks in classrooms for secondary pupils in england. this brings them into line with the rest of the uk. labour says there still isn't enough focus on fresh air in classrooms, though. we've known now for 18 months that it will be essential to make sure that classrooms are properly ventilated, yet all we've seen from the government are 7000 devices to be rolled out across hundreds of thousands of classrooms across england. itjust isn't good enough. ministers will look at rules about masks in schools again at the end of the month. catherine burns, bbc news. french mps have been debating draught legislation that would require people to be vaccinated against covid—19 in order to enter public spaces such as bars, restaurants and long—distance public transport. known as the "vaccine pass", the bill is aimed at getting france's remaining 5 million unvaccinated people over the age of 12 to accept a dose. for more on the level of vaccine hestitancy in france, i've been speaking to our paris correspondent hugh schofield. one must be slightly cautious to say that they've always been vaccine—sceptic. certainly at the beginning, that was the popular belief, maybe even myth, that they would all turn into insurrectionaries and not knuckle under. but they did. it didn't take that much to make them do it. it took pressure from on top, and six months ago, macron, in the first phase of this, instituted the health pass, as it was called, which was a way of encouraging people to get vaccinated. it was the requirement to have a document on your phone or whatever which said you'd been vaccinated or had had a negative test recently in order to get access to all these things in public life. there was no huge uprising, people accepted it, and now he's pushing a little bit further, as you say. the result of that was a huge uptake in vaccination, and now, six months on, he wants to mop up the rest. there is this recalcitrant 5 million or so over 12 who are not taking it, that's about 5% of the population, and by turning the health pass into a vaccination pass — in other words, making it compulsory now to be vaccinated to get into these services — you're no longer going to be able to get in with just a negative test, that is going to put the pressure on. of course, the pressure is already on because the evidence is mounting more and more and more on those who are hesitant that, by being hesitant, they're exposing themselves to greater dangers and dangers which the rest of the population is not. so, he's pushing at a much more open or flexible door now, i would say, but there are in the country people who, as in other countries, arejust viscerally opposed to vaccination. and i guess there are some who will never change, but he thinks there are some who will change. young people in india aged between 15—18 have now become eligible for the coronavirus vaccines. it comes as the country records its sharpest ever weekly surge in infections. 0ur correspondent in mumbai yogita limaye has more. india is in the grips of another wave of covid—19. mumbai, at the moment, is the worst—affected city, accounting for a quarter of all new infections in this country. i've been speaking to doctors at both public and private hospitals who say that, for now, the number of people needing medical care is low, but it is increasing. they also warn that if a large number of people get infected very quickly, then even if a smaller percentage need hospital beds, it could still overwhelm public health infrastructure really quickly. they're reminding people of the second wave, which was devastating in this country. so many people died without even having a chance of being seen by a doctor. the other thing they are raising concern about is boosterjabs have not yet been ruled out for front—line health care workers, and many of them are falling sick, which could further affect capacity. the government has announced that these vaccinations will be rolled out next week. today, vaccines were rolled out for teenagers aged 15—18. the home—grown vaccine has been rolled out for teenagers. the other thing that's happening in the country is mass campaign rallies for upcoming regional elections where tens of thousands of people are gathering, many of them not wearing masks, many political leaders also not wearing masks on stage. we've seen that, including the prime minister, narendra modi. so doctors say the government need to get the messaging right. people need to be wearing masks and following social distancing protocols. more than 28,300 people crossed the english channel to the uk aboard small boats in 2021. that's triple the number for 2020, according to figures compiled by the bbc. the last 12 months have also seen smugglers packing more and more people aboard larger and larger dinghies, sometimes with deadly consequences. a home office minister said the government is "reforming" its approach to asylum through its new plan for immigration. well, a little earlier, i spoke to rob mcneil from the migration 0bservatory at the university of oxford. he told me that today's figures are part of a recognised pattern of rising migrant numbers to the uk. i don't think we're surprised at all. this is very much a continuation of what we've seen over the past year and very much in keeping with the data that has been over the last little while. the numbers are high, but they're not surprisingly so considering what we already knew. and i think what we do know about this is this is something which has really kind of ballooned after both the period of real lockdown in 2020, even though numbers went up in 2020 compared to 2019, and also after a lot of much tougher much tougher enforcement measures were put in place in the port of calais, the traditional route people used it to access the uk. so these arrivals, this is an ongoing trend and i don't think it's looking likely to change very quickly. small boats we call them, but they do seem to be getting bigger and bigger, these dinghies, and sometimes with fatal consequences as we saw quite recently, a mass drowning. and this is a political bone of contention as well between the british government and the french government and the british don't think the french are really doing enough to stop this wave of dinghies coming across. the challenge we have here is this has been an ongoing problem for more than 20 years now. in various different ways. the small boats is a relatively new part of this equation, but irregular arrivals from northern france into the uk is something which has been going on for a very long time. and i think a key thing that we have here is evidence that even though the government has spent really substantial sums of money and put an enormous amount of work into securing various different routes to stop people coming in the backs of lorries and what have you, we see it is very difficult to enforce your way out of these irregular arrivals. basically the more that you do to try and stop people coming one way, the more you create or push people towards progressively more and more risky ways of doing things, which creates a demand for smugglers as well. firefighters in south africa say a blaze that devastated the houses of parliament in cape town on sunday has restarted after previously reporting that the flames had been brought under control. the bbc�*s southern africa correspondent nomsa maseko reports. 2a hours after a blaze tore through south africa's parliament, firefighters are still putting out hotspots. the damage is said to be extensive. the roof of the national assembly, which is the main debating chamber, collapsed and the room was gutted. a team of experts is combing through the scene. we can confirm that one of the biggest losses that the people of south africa have suffered in this fire is the complete burning down of the national assembly chamber, a set of crucial plenary settings of the national assembly and joint sittings of the two houses, the national assembly and the national council of provinces. historical and venerable artefacts survived the fire. before today, they could not gain access to the fire scene. the temperature inside of the building is still 100 degrees celsius, down from what it was yesterday, at over 400 degrees celsius. but what they've done in the meantime is to use a drone that they are putting inside the building to assist the structure of the building. a suspect who was arrested yesterday is due to appear in court tomorrow. the south african government has said if it is found that his actions were deliberate, then the fire he allegedly started will be seen as a direct attack on the state. nomsa maseko, bbc news, cape town. let's get more on our top story. virginia giuffre agreed not to sue anyone connected to the sex offender jeffrey epstein who could be described as a "potential defendant", according to a damages settlement in 2009. the document, disclosed by a new york court, reveals the financier paid her $500,000 to end her claim. ms giuffre is suing the duke of york in a civil case for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager. prince andrew has consistently denied the claims. let's speak to the prominent us lawyer lisa bloom, who has represented eight women who say they were abused byjeffrey epstein. thank you very much for being with us. we have had this document unsealed finally by the new york court, a document from way back in 2009. what do you make of it? because prince andrew's lawyers seem to be regarding it as a trump card, really. i to be regarding it as a trump card, reall . ., ., , ., really. i have done hundreds of settlement _ really. i have done hundreds of settlement agreements - really. i have done hundreds of settlement agreements in - really. i have done hundreds of. settlement agreements in sexual harassment and sexual assault cases over 35 years of my practice, and this is one of the most bizarre pieces of a settlement agreement i have ever seen. i mean, the language that she cannot sue anyone who could have been a potential defendant in her case againstjeffrey epstein but was not, it means that she is now waving claims against any wrong that just does not make sense. i would never allow this kind of language in any of my settlement agreements for my clients, but there it is. now, i think it is in copper handsomely vague. we have a couple of ways to look at it. one is that when language in the contract is vague, it has construed against the draughter, which means i'm sure it was epstein�*s attorneys who wrote this language and if it is unclear, it should be construed against them. could prince andrew have been a defendant back into thousand nine? maybe, but in the same case as jeffrey epstein? maybe not. ijust cannot believe that a court would say, well, anyone who has wronged virginia, who was associated with epstein, is now released from liability. i mean, that would fly in the face of what our laws are now trying to do, which is open up claims for sexual abuse victims, 11 to come forward even years later and bring perpetrators to justice. to come forward even years later and bring perpetrators tojustice. d0 bring perpetrators to “ustice. do ou bring perpetrators tojustice. do you think geography could be a key element here? because this concerns the united states, this agreement, backin the united states, this agreement, back in 2009, and it was an agreement worth $500,000 us we are told, but some of the allegations against prince andrew concern what happened allegedly in london and the caribbean, not in the us. weill. happened allegedly in london and the caribbean, not in the us.— caribbean, not in the us. well, that certainly is — caribbean, not in the us. well, that certainly is helpful— caribbean, not in the us. well, that certainly is helpful to _ caribbean, not in the us. well, that certainly is helpfulto her, _ caribbean, not in the us. well, that certainly is helpfulto her, and - caribbean, not in the us. well, that certainly is helpfulto her, and i - certainly is helpful to her, and i think she can make that argument. i also notice that in the document that was released which i have read carefully, there is no signature on the line forjeffrey epstein and nor is there a line for a notary signature from him. so i assume they're probably a fully executed agreement somewhere, but that's something thatjumps out at agreement somewhere, but that's something that jumps out at you right away to. find something that “umps out at you right away to._ something that “umps out at you right away to. something that “umps out at you riaht awa to. �* ., , right away to. and the 'udge who is acresidin right away to. and the 'udge who is presiding o_ right away to. and the 'udge who is presiding over the _ right away to. and the judge who is presiding over the civil _ right away to. and the judge who is presiding over the civil case - right away to. and the judge who is presiding over the civil case is - presiding over the civil case is going to be holding a video teleconference tomorrow, on tuesday, when a request from the duke poss 's legal team is going to be heard. they are currently going to be using this unsealed document. what do you think is going to go to the judge's mind and when might we get some sort of decision from the judge? 50. i of decision from the 'udge? so, i expect the t of decision from the 'udge? so, i expect the judge — of decision from the 'udge? so, i expect the judge is _ of decision from the judge? so, i expect the judge is going - of decision from the judge? 55>, i expect the judge is going to look of decision from the judge? str, i expect the judge is going to look at this as does this clearly released prince andrew from any further claims or is ambiguous? i think it is ambiguous. we want contract to clearly specify who is released from a lawsuit and who is not. normally anybody released would be named, so it will be jeffrey epstein, anybody released would be named, so it will bejeffrey epstein, for example, is named, ora it will bejeffrey epstein, for example, is named, or a specific category a person like attorneys, agents, accountants, that kind of thing. of course prince andrew was none of that campus whether the judge is going to have to decide is this clear or is it vague? i think it's vague, and if it's vacant with a what do i do with it? do i allow prince andrew to escape liability because of this vague language? i would be very surprised if the judge does that and in terms of timing, thejudge can take does that and in terms of timing, the judge can take as long as the judge wants. sometimesjudges the judge can take as long as the judge wants. sometimes judges decide things right away and sometimes it takes weeks for them to make a decision. i takes weeks for them to make a decision. ., .,. takes weeks for them to make a decision. ., , decision. i mean, the document says that ms. giuffre _ decision. i mean, the document says that ms. giuffre agreed _ decision. i mean, the document says that ms. giuffre agreed to _ decision. i mean, the document says that ms. giuffre agreed to release, l that ms. giuffre agreed to release, satisfy or forever discharge epstein orany satisfy or forever discharge epstein or any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant. are you saying that's almost too broad a scope when you say it's vague, to general? i think it is too broad. if someone else injeffrey epstein�*s world harm to virginia and she now wants to seekjustice, are they all released? if some of the cost or physical injury or if somebody hurt her, i mean, everybody is released, any other potential defendants? i mean, it's extraordinary language that i am sure epstein�*s fleet of high—profile attorneys put in there, perhaps it escaped her attorneys of the time and they did not think it was nifty or perhaps they did notice it and they decided it was edible, i don't know. but it is really extraordinary language, and ijust extraordinary language, and i just don't extraordinary language, and ijust don't see a judge releasing prince andrew because he is not named specifically. andrew because he is not named specifically-— specifically. well, we shall see what happens _ specifically. well, we shall see what happens with _ specifically. well, we shall see what happens with that - specifically. well, we shall see what happens with thatjudge, | specifically. well, we shall see i what happens with thatjudge, we specifically. well, we shall see - what happens with thatjudge, we are not quite sure when but we will watch it very carefully. lisa bloom, thank you so much.— the five permanent members of the un security council have issued a rare joint statement pledging to prevent the spread of atomic weapons and ensure a nuclear war is never fought. the five — china, france, russia, the uk and the us — will be part of a major review of a key nuclear treaty later this year. in their statement, they agreed a nuclear war couldn't be won and must never be fought. now, wrap up warm for this next story as a winter storm in washington made for a very snowy arrivalfor us presidentjoe biden. air force one landed back atjoint base andrews as a snowstorm brings the us capital to a standstill. even the truck transporting the stairs had to be manually pushed by airport staff as they struggled through the biting wind. the turbulent winter weather left the president stuck on the tarmac for 30 minutes. you've been watching bbc news. i'm 0lly foster with the latest from the bbc sport centre. there has been one game in the premier league tonight. in the last few minutes, the final whistle has gone at old trafford, where wolves have beaten manchester united 1—0. wolves were playing for the first time in two weeks and had the best chance in the first half. ruben neves saw his effort tipped over by david de gea. united really should have scored after the break. bruno fernandes came off the bench and rattled the wolves crossbar. wolves also hit the woodwork with this ramain saiss free kick. but it wasjoao moutinho who came up with the winner inside the last ten minutes. wolves moving up to eighth in the table, united stay seventh. that's their first defeat under interim manager ralf rangnick. just two out of five scheduled championship games took place today due to covid postponements. derby boss wayne rooney didn't travel to reading. he tested negative for coronavirus but had cold—like symptoms, so stayed at home as a precaution as his side salvaged a draw in injury time. reading hadn't played a competitive game for 23 days. two goals from junior hoilett had them looking good for a win with only five minutes to go. but a mistake from reading keeper luke southwood gifted derby a goal. colin kazim—richards pulled one back. and then in the 91st minute, curtis davies equalised for derby. they're still bottom, but unbeaten in four and are still 11 points behind reading, who are fourth—bottom. that other game in the championship was at stoke. and despite taking the lead, their push for the play—offs has been dented after losing 2—1 to preston. andrew hughes with the winner in the last ten minutes. the fourth ashes test starts tomorrow night in sydney. england have already lost the series, and preparations have been badly hampered by a number of covid issues with most of their coaching staff in isolation. we've heard from joe root today. he'll become england's longest serving test captain when he skippers the side for a 60th time, but his leadership has been questioned after their performances so far in australia. i'll look at the future at the end of this tour. i don't think i can afford to throw any more energy into anything else than the games themselves right now. we want to give people back home something to shout about, to show how much we care about this team, how much we care about test cricket, how desperate we are to do well. and, as i say, to win out here would be, these last two games, would be a really big step forward from, especially off the back of the first three games. the wickets tumbled on the first day of the second test between south africa and india injohannesberg. the tourists won the toss and batted first. with virat kohli out injured, kl rahul is leading the side, and he made 50 before being dismissed to leave india on 116—5. that was one of four wickets for marco jansen. there wasn't much resistance from the tail, as they were eventually bowled out for 202. in response, south africa lost the early wicket of aidan markram, trapped by mohammed shami for seven as they reached 35—1 at stumps. that's all the sport for now. don't forget, the pdc world darts final between michael smith and peter wright gets under way in the next hour. all the build—up and all the other sports news can be found on the bbc sport website. lots of reaction coming up i'm sure to united's defeat this evening to wolves but for me, that is all for now. cheers, 0lly. 0lly foster with all the sport. this is bbc news. the headlines: a legal document which prince andrew's lawyer believes could stop a civil case against him in the us has been made public. the duke of york has consistenly denied sexually assaulting virginia giuffre when she was 17. the prime minister rules out further covid measures in england for now, despite the ongoing rise in 0micron infections. more than 28,300 people crossed the channel to the uk on board small boats in 2021 — triple the number for 2020. a devastating fire that swept through south africa's houses of parliament in cape town has restarted.