england trail 3—0 in the series with one test to play. good afternoon. the education secretary has said he would support cutting the coronavirus self—isolation period from seven days to five in england if the move was recommended by experts at the uk health security agency. nadim zahawi said the reduction would help with staff absenteeism. and he denied that there were plans to stop supplying free lateral flow tests after a report in a sunday paper. our health correspondent dominic hughes has more. the good news is that booster jabs are holding fast against the omicron wave. even as new cases have surged, hospital admissions remain a long way off the peak seen this time last year. but each day, hundreds of thousands of people are having to isolate for at least seven days, so now there's a suggestion that period could be cut to five days instead. it would help with staff absenteeism, hence why i think if the experts, and i have to defer to the uk health and security agency, deem it appropriate that you can have two negative tests on consecutive days as we do now with day six and seven, then it is a good thing to keep under review. mr zahawi denied reports the government was planning to start charging for lateral flow tests, and labour's shadow chancellor said people need to be able to test regularly to stop passing on the virus. i'm very concerned by this briefing from government that lateral flow tests could be charged for any time soon. lateral flow tests are absolutely essential to keeping us protected and to keep our economy open. it's notjust isolation rules that could hit hospital staffing. by february the 3rd all nhs staff in england with direct contact with patients need to have had their first vaccine jab or risk losing theirjobs by the end of march. one nhs boss acknowledges that could affect around 10% of his workforce. we have approximately 14,000 staff... you could lose more than 1,000? in an extreme position. but i am confident, and we're already seeing a number of staff being vaccinated. the push on vaccinations and boosters, notjust for nhs staff but all of us continues. even though the omicron wave is not yet over, ministers are clearly thinking about what happens next and how we live in covid in the years to come. dominic hughes — bbc news. ina in a couple of minutes i'll be talking to thejcvi. earlier i spoke to craig beaumont from the federation of small businesses. i asked whether his members would welcome the five day isolation period, if it was recommended by health officials. it would be. it has to be safe, so we wouldn't call for public health measure, is all about public health and safety, and this would have a huge impact. we have 2 million people with covid in the uk this week, so they are isolating, and if you are a big employer, what you can do as you can move projects around, you can move teams, even in the public sector except for specialised roles, you can move civil servants around between different functions. but if you are a small business with a team of five and you lose two or three of those, it will get very rough very fast, especially for customer facing businesses, you have only got so many people to fill the hours in the day. so the self isolation aspect of this is a real issue for us, and if it can be done safely and it's a big if, we are basically looking at the us cdc, the center for disease control, which did conclude that five days was the right time period, and that is the same science, the same variant, the same sort of workforce, so we would like the uk authorities, the chief medical and scientific advisers, to take a look, because if it can be done it would be good. that is the view of the federation of small businesses. and the new covid data hasjust come of small businesses. and the new covid data has just come through of small businesses. and the new covid data hasjust come through in the last few moments. iai,472 covid infections in the last 24—hour is. 97 deaths, that is someone who dies within 28 days of a positive covid test. also in terms of the vaccination programme, more than 35.4 million people have now received their third jab, the booster, and that means that getting on for 62% of people aged 12 and over have had all three jabs. those are the latest figures, and all of this on the day where we are talking about a possible reduction in the self isolation period, and also that issue of lateral flow test as well. i'm joined now by adam finn, professor of paediatrics at the university of bristol and a member of thejoint committee on vaccination and immunisation. he's speaking to us in a personal capacity. good afternoon, professor. hello, jane, how good afternoon, professor. hello, jane. how are _ good afternoon, professor. hello, jane, how are you? _ good afternoon, professor. hello, jane, how are you? very - good afternoon, professor. hello, jane, how are you? very well, - good afternoon, professor. hello, i jane, how are you? very well, thank ou for jane, how are you? very well, thank you for your — jane, how are you? very well, thank you for your time — jane, how are you? very well, thank you for your time again. _ jane, how are you? very well, thank you for your time again. a _ jane, how are you? very well, thank you for your time again. a possible i you for your time again. a possible reduction in the self isolation period. what are your thoughts? i think nadhim zahawi was pointing out that one side of the balance here, which is that of course if people can get back to work sooner, that will help us keep services not only in health but all the other services around society going through this peak of the wave that is infecting so many people at the moment. the other side of the equation of courses that you don't want to be accelerating the wave, making it bigger and faster, by people being in circulation who have got the infection and are still infectious. we really need to see the evidence on how safe that would be, and in particular of course if we start advising people to do lateral flow tests at four or five days, may be many of them will still be positive and that won't accelerate their ability to get back to work. so i think there are several moving parts to this, and greatly the discussion will go on in the coming days. find will go on in the coming days. and strikin: will go on in the coming days. and striking when _ will go on in the coming days. and striking when you look at the most recent comments on all of this from the uk health security agency which was eight or nine days ago, but at that point they were saying they think between ten and 30% of people are still infectious on day six, and i suppose that is the point, there is still a lot of mutability. yes. is still a lot of mutability. yes, sor , i is still a lot of mutability. yes, sorry. i stopped _ is still a lot of mutability. yes, sorry, i stopped hearing - is still a lot of mutability. yes, sorry, i stopped hearing you i is still a lot of mutability. 1&1: sorry, i stopped hearing you there. are you still hearing me? i can hear ou fine. are you still hearing me? i can hear you fine- i— are you still hearing me? i can hear you fine- i was _ are you still hearing me? i can hear you fine. i was talking _ are you still hearing me? i can hear you fine. i was talking about - you fine. i was talking about comments from the uk hsa, that stat that between ten and 30% of people are still infectious of day six. yes, so the earlier you bring that forward, the higher the percentage goes. of course doing the two lateral flow tests 24—hour is a part makes the whole approach much safer than what they have been able to do in the us, where i think they really haven't got adequate supplies of the tests to be able to do it this way. but there will be a law of diminishing returns, as you move forward in time, more people will still be infectious, the lateral flow tests will still go positive and they will have to stay at home. and everything you are saying reminds us again how important being able to get hold of those lateral flow test is. it is one of those things that the federation of small businesses said to me that their members are saying you often can't get one from the website. earlier in the day we heard from the royal pharmaceutical society who said they were having a problem simply getting enough boxes out to chemists for people to go and collect them. it appears there is still an issue there. , �* ., , . appears there is still an issue there. , �* ., ., there. yes, i'm not very close to there. yes, i'm not very close to the logistics _ there. yes, i'm not very close to the logistics of _ there. yes, i'm not very close to the logistics of this _ there. yes, i'm not very close to the logistics of this but - there. yes, i'm not very close to the logistics of this but i - there. yes, i'm not very close to the logistics of this but i think i there. yes, i'm not very close to the logistics of this but i think at least at one point the issue was not so much lack of the tests is lack of capacity to distribute them. clearly in a way it is a good problem to have in a sense that it means that there is a big demand, and people are in fact using these tests, and thatis are in fact using these tests, and that is guiding what they do. but matching supply to demand is clearly challenging. matching supply to demand is clearly challenauin. , ., ., i. ., ,, matching supply to demand is clearly challenauin. , ., ., .,~ ., challenging. yes, and do you take a view on longer _ challenging. yes, and do you take a view on longer term _ challenging. yes, and do you take a view on longer term whether - challenging. yes, and do you take a view on longer term whether lateral flow tests need to remain free at the point of delivery if we are going to keep encouraging people to use them? . , ~ going to keep encouraging people to use them? ., , ,, , ., use them? certainly i think everyone is auareein use them? certainly i think everyone is agreeing at _ use them? certainly i think everyone is agreeing at the _ use them? certainly i think everyone is agreeing at the moment _ use them? certainly i think everyone is agreeing at the moment that - use them? certainly i think everyone is agreeing at the moment that in i is agreeing at the moment that in the middle of a wave like this you absolutely don't want to do anything at all that would restrict their use. up to the point that you can provide them. because they are a massively useful tool in reducing the spread of the virus around. everyone has got used to them now, and i think they are very widely accepted, and they are fantastic in that they get you an immediate result which that pcr test can't do. so we all agree that this is a really important tool alongside wearing masks and trying to avoid social contact to try to mitigate the impact of this wave at the moment, and get us through the next few weeks to a point where things are more stable.— are more stable. professor adam finn, are more stable. professor adam firm, for are more stable. professor adam finn. for now. — are more stable. professor adam firm, for now, thank _ are more stable. professor adam firm, for now, thank you - are more stable. professor adam firm, for now, thank you very - are more stable. professor adam i firm, for now, thank you very much finn, for now, thank you very much indeed. firm, for now, thank you very much indeed. . ~ firm, for now, thank you very much indeed. ., ,, , ., indeed. thank you. now to _ indeed. thank you. now to australia. l the australian government has failed to have the visa hearing for tennis champion novak djokovic delayed. it will go ahead as planned late tonight british time. novak djokovic's lawyers say he has a valid medical exemption from australia's strict covid vaccination policy, because he had coronavirus last month. but lawyers for the australian government have denied claims by mr djokovic, that he'd been given an assurance he would be allowed to enter the country without being vaccinated. simonjones reports. supporters of novak djokovic gather outside the immigration detention centre in melbourne where he is staying. they want to see him on the tennis court. the countdown is on to his court case. oh, mate, i haven't slept since he's come off the plane. we are all sick to the stomach. it's a very unfortunate situation for australia. it's becoming very embarrassing. this was djokovic arriving on wednesday. his legal team said he had received a vaccine exemption to enter the country from tennis australia because he had tested positive for covid on the 16th of december. that was a day on which these pictures were taken, showing djokovic maskless at a ceremony in his home country of serbia in which he was honoured with his own postage stamps in recognition of his achievements. it's unclear whether he had taken a test at this stage. the following day, serbian media said he was pictured handing out awards to young players. it's unclear whether he knew he had covid. another player, renata voracova from the czech republic, has now left the hotel and the country after her visa was cancelled. djokovic had asked to be moved to somewhere where he could train ahead of the open. that looks unlikely, but he has been given exercise equipment and gluten—free food. one former australian foreign minister is not sympathetic. there's no way you could give him an exemption when exemptions haven't been given to people who have wanted to go to australia to see dying parents and, you know, injured relatives. there are all sorts of heart—rending stories about people not being able to see their relatives in australia. but those people aren't famous, so they don't get an exemption. but it will now be up to a judge to decide just a week before the australian open begins. simon jones, bbc news. well, sir andy murray has had his say on the matter today. he has been talking to journalists in australia. he said... the first thing is that i hope that novak is ok. i know him well, and i've always had a good relationship with him and i hope that he's ok. the second thing: it's really not good for tennis at all and i don't think it's good for anyone involved. i think it's really bad. our correspondent guy de launey is in belgrade — and i asked him whether people there were following the case closely. they are, and some of those people are right behind me and they are getting information straight from the horse's mouth. this is a support rally for the djokovic family. the family themselves have been talking, telling people here the latest that they've heard from novak djokovic. his brother george saying that he is very grateful for the support that the family have received from the people of serbia, and they're all hoping for a positive verdict from an independent court. meanwhile, novak�*s mother diana has been saying he hasn't been getting breakfast in his hotel. he'd be getting three meals a day in prison, she says, so she says it is worse than being locked up in prison. goodness. and now we are simply on a watching brief. anyone who is interested in this story is simply watching and waiting for the court to say something. this is true. you can't move this along any faster than it is going to go. but it is interesting that but debates that have been going on in the media here in serbia. i'm going to show you a couple of different front pages from opposite ends of the serbian media spectrum. you have got here a rather excitable and not entirely reputable tabloid which says australian liars! they say novak did absolutely nothing wrong, and a suitably outraged looking novak djokovic on the front. for a bit more quality, you have this one which is a much more thoughtful and says this is a political game, or was it a case of breaking the rules? we are only going to find out once we have had this court hearing in australia which will start about midnight local time in belgrade. reports from kazakhstan say 164 people have died in the violence of the last week. most of the fatalities were in the country's biggest city, almaty. the authorities say more than 5,000 people have been detained. the unrest began as a protest against the rise in fuel prices, but may have morphed into a power struggle between factions of the ruling elite. russian troops continue to guard strategic facilities. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has travelled to kazakhstan's capital. well, the capital of kazakhstan feels pretty calm, really, but after the protests and violence that erupted across much of the country last week, a state of emergency and a curfew remain in place here and nationwide. there is very little connectivity — they switch the internet on for maybe three or four hours a day, which makes it very difficult for people to actually work out what's going on here. and although things were much, much quieter here than they were in almaty, you can see security has been tightened. for example, that is the entrance to the presidential palace, which has been blocked off. president tokayev blames the terrorists and bandits for the violence, but there is a growing suggestion that violence is somehow linked to a power struggle going on within the ruling elite in kazakhstan. 22 people, including at least ten children, have died in their cars in pakistan when they became stranded in a snowstorm which saw up to five feet of snowfall in a few hours. thousands were trapped in a popular hilltop village murree after they'd travelled to see the snowfall. all survivors have now reportedly reached safety. local authorities have been criticised for their slow response to calls for help. farhatjaved is in murree and sent this report about the rescue operation. more than 5000 people have been rescued here in this camp, temporary established by the pakistan army. there are five more such camps with roughly the same number of tourists who have been rescued. that whole rescue and relief operations started yesterday when thousands of tourists were found trapped in a snowstorm in the small town of murree which is just a few miles from the capital islamabad and a famous tourist destination in pakistan. video went viral where eight family members could be lying dead in their car, and after that many other such videos popped up, and so far 22 people have been declared dead. their bodies have been retrieved and the police have confirmed that eight of them were frozen to death. translation: we of them were frozen to death. translation:— of them were frozen to death. translation: ~ ., ., , ., translation: we left home at 4pm and sent the translation: we left home at 4pm and spent the whole — translation: we left home at 4pm and spent the whole night _ translation: we left home at 4pm and spent the whole night in _ translation: we left home at 4pm and spent the whole night in our _ translation: we left home at 4pm and spent the whole night in our car. - translation: we left home at 4pm and spent the whole night in our car. i - spent the whole night in our car. i could _ spent the whole night in our car. i could sense — spent the whole night in our car. i could sense death everywhere. i can't _ could sense death everywhere. i can't explain in words what i was going _ can't explain in words what i was going through then. we were praying for god _ going through then. we were praying for god to _ going through then. we were praying for god to help us.— for god to help us. those who have died include — for god to help us. those who have died include women _ for god to help us. those who have died include women and _ for god to help us. those who have died include women and children i for god to help us. those who have i died include women and children and those who were rescued were brought here into these camps and were given food and blankets. we have spoken to some of them, who shared their experience when they had to spend the night in freezing temperatures inside their cars. farhat javed there in north—eastern pakistan. let's pause with the news now. sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. good afternoon. we start with the football. it's tradition for the fa cup third round to spring a surprise or two — with smaller teams causing an upset. we've seen a few this weekend. league one morecambe were close to downing tottenham this afternoon. the third—tier side took a surprise first half lead against premier league opposition, at the tottenham hotspur stadium. the ball falling nicely for captain anthony o'conner here. with around 15 minutes to go, spurs upped the ante — harry winks got the equaliser. and lucas moura put them ahead in the closing stages. fellow substitute harry kane made it three late on too. 3—1 to spurs, but morecambe can come away with their heads held high. and it started so well for shrewsbury against liverpool at anfield. daniel udoh giving the league one side the lead, and what a way to celebrate — taking some inspiration from cristiano ronaldo perhaps! it didn't take long for a second—string liverpool side to pull level then take the lead. roberto firmino with the third here, before fabinho got his second of the game, to make it 4—1 tojurgen klopp's side. here's a check on the results in the rest of the day's matches. luton beat harrogate 4—0 in the early kick—off. premier league strugglers norwich won at charlton. wins also for stoke, west ham and wolves. the game between cardiff and preston has gone to extra time. the late kick—off is between nottingham forest and arsenal. birmingham have pulled off the shock of the season, beating league leaders arsenal in the wsl. libby smith put them ahead afterjust three minutes with this effort, before viatriki sarri doubled that lead just before the half—time break. it's their first victory of the season while arsenal suffer their first defeat. birmingham are now out of the relegation zone and manchester city thrashed brighton 6—0 to secure a third consecutive victory. vicky losada had the pick of the goals. city leapfrog brighton into fifth in the table. so, confirmation of those results, then — and that loss for leicester at reading means they prop up the table this evening. it was nervy, it was tense, but england got the job done in sydney. they hung on for a draw in the fourth ashes test against australia, who were bearing down on another victory. the result ends australia's hopes of a 5—0 whitewash. england survived with just one wicket in hand and managed to salvage some pride. here's captainjoe root. coming into the game, i spoke a lot about putting pride back into english cricket and into the test performances, and i think fight and desire and character shown today and throughout the five games so days has done that in a small weight the position we found ourselves in. in coming into the game, i spoke a lot about putting pride back into english cricket and into the test performances, and i think fight and desire and character shown today and throughout the five games so days has done that in a small weight the position we found ourselves in. in this game, to sit here and having had a draw, at the start of today, it was always going to take a good performance and really proud of the way the guys dug in and managed to do that. in and managed to do that. firstly it was a lot of fun. having runs _ firstly it was a lot of fun. having runs on— firstly it was a lot of fun. having runs on the _ firstly it was a lot of fun. having runs on the board meant we could get creative. _ runs on the board meant we could get creative. and — runs on the board meant we could get creative, and we were looking for wickets — creative, and we were looking for wickets so — creative, and we were looking for wickets. so it was a lot of fun, probably— wickets. so it was a lot of fun, probably the hardest thing to do is try and _ probably the hardest thing to do is try and choose amongst our bowlers that we _ try and choose amongst our bowlers that we have plus maybe marnus, but phil was _ that we have plus maybe marnus, but phil was able to make quite a few calls, _ phil was able to make quite a few calls, some came off, some didn't, but it— calls, some came off, some didn't, but it was— calls, some came off, some didn't, but it was good fun. and don't forget snooker�*s masters is under way at alexandra palace. the world's top 16 players are competing and you can watch it all on the bbc. china's yan bingtao, the champion, is currently up against mark williams in the first round. watch it live on the bbc sport website. bingtao is 5—3 down on that one, so could be going out early on. gavin, thank you very much. more from him later in the afternoon. an afghan baby who was handed over a wall to soldiers at kabul airport during last summer's evacuation has been reunited with his family. the boy disappeared in the mayhem at the airport as thousands of people tried to flee afghanistan when the taliban took over. our correspondent greg mckenzie has the details. reunited after a frantic five—month search, baby sohail was just two months old when he was handed over to soldiers at kabul airport in august, as thousands of people rushed to leave afghanistan as it fell to the taliban. translation: today is a historical day for us as i receive my grandson in front of the media, i am so grateful. in the confusion and chaos of the american evacuation of afghanistan, it was a local taxi driver who discovered the baby alone, took him home to raise as his own. translation: | entered | the airport and saw a baby was lying down on the ground in a very bad condition. i looked around and showed this child to many people. i couldn't find anyone related to him. i called my wife at home and decided to take the child home. but after more than seven weeks of negotiations and pleas, and a brief detention by taliban police, the baby was handed back to his jubilant grandfather and other relatives still in kabul. it is now hoped baby sohail will travel to america to be reunited with the rest of his family, who have since been resettled and are currently living in michigan. the case has once again highlighted the real plight of many parents who were separated from their children during the hasty evacuation efforts and the withdrawal of us forces from afghanistan after a 20—year war. greg mckenzie, bbc news. the time isjust the time is just coming up to 25 minutes past four. it's usually one of the biggest nights in film, but this evening's golden globes ceremony will be held without a—list stars — and it's not being shown on tv. the event is being boycotted after it emerged that the organisers, the hollywood foreign press association, hadn't had a single black member for nearly 20 years. the awards will be announced via social media. our entertainment correspondent colin paterson reports. # it all began tonight... tonight, west side story is one of the big favourites to win at the golden globes. but none of its stars or its director, steven spielberg, will be there. the same goes for belfast, which is tied for the most nominations — seven. we're looking to cleanse the community. you wouldn't want to be the odd one out in this street. touch my family and i'll kill you. it is based on the childhood of its director, sir kenneth branagh, who has never won a golden globe. if he does tonight, the way he will find out is on his computer. it is doubtful that he will even care. the golden globes are normally a star—studded event, but they have been beset with problems for the past year. an los angeles times expose revealed that they have not had a single black voter for almost two decades, and there are accusations of unethical practices. this prompted tom cruise to send back the three golden globes he had won. the rights holders, nbc, said they would not broadcast the ceremony, and despite radical changes being introduced, hollywood en masse decided to boycott the event. this week, the golden globes announced that the ceremony at the beverly hilton hotel in los angeles will be a private event and will not be live—streamed, with winners simply being announced on social media. this prompted us talk show host conan o'brien to ask: and ricky gervais, who has hosted the golden globes five times, has even suggested there is a chance this could be the last time they are held. you're the number one topic ahead of tater tots, and the pope followed you... as to who could win, when it comes to the tv categories, there could be a procession for succession. the media family drama series has the most nominations, with five. is he going to watch? could we make a note in the minutes that he is watching us? but with no—one able to watch the globes and with things as they are, it is fully expected that tonight's winners will not even acknowledge that they have won. i'm a good guy. i'm better than you. supermarket chain morrisons will scrap �*use by�* dates on most of its milk in a move it says will stop millions of pints being poured down the sink. instead, the retailer will display �*best before' dates on 90% of its own—brand milk products. the recycling charity, wrap, says morrisons will be the first retailer to make the move. the change will happen later this month. the actor danny dyer will leave eastenders later this year, the bbc has confirmed. dyer, whojoined the show in 2013 and plays the queen vic pub landlord, is not quitting immediately, with the bbc promising "plenty of explosive drama" before he goes. the 44—year—old won three national television awards for serial drama performance for playing mick carter. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. we have seen some welcome sunshine across much of the uk this evening. it will turn cold quickly tonight, a few showers to move away then we will have clearer skies for a while, more cloud coming in from the west, from the atlantic, bringing rain into western areas. by the end of the night, temperatures lifting across the eastern side of the uk, could be an early frost in eastern areas, especially around aberdeenshire. with that cloud coming in, cloudierfor tomorrow, rain or drizzle moving eastwards. most of the wet weather in the north—west with stronger wind, northern and western parts of scotland. temperatures higher than today for the eastern side, making eight celsius, then the west double figures, could make 13 in northern ireland. not a great deal of rain to come, weatherfront moving down across the uk weak, but will linger and keep more cloud on tuesday in the far south, otherwise those places will see some sunshine. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the education secretary for england backs reducing the covid isolation period from seven days to five. the australian government did not give assurances to novak djokovic that he could enter the country without a vaccination, according to documents filed before tomorrow's court hearing. russian troops arrive in kazakhstan — there is relative calm there, after six days of violence that killed 164 people. an afghan baby, separated from his parents in kabul during the chaos of the us withdrawal, is reunited with relatives. now on bbc news, punk and clean rivers campaigner fergal sharkey talks to the bbc�*s climate editor, justin rowlatt, about how he ended up the champion of britain's waterways.