welcome to hardtalk from new york. i m stephen sackur. this city has always had an outsize influence on american culture. the buzz in this nation comes from right here in terms of the arts, entertainment, publishing, the media, but what happens in new york when america s political culture is riven with division? well, my guest today is the great american novelist, new york resident, paul auster. if america is experiencing a culture war, is he ready to fight? paul auster, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it is a pleasure to be in your home, your writing study is just below us, the floor below. just tell me, does it matter to you when you are writing what is going on in the world outside yourfront door? does it affect your writing? well, it depends on what you mean. if there s a fire engine screeching in front of my door, it will interrupt my concentration, and i might go out and see what s going on. but if there s a distant war going on in another place and i know about it, i m
and missing for almost a week a happy ending for the search and rescue dog who got lost herself as she s reunited with her owner. the uk health secretary sajid javid has ruled out introducing any new covid restrictions in england before the new year. ministers had been under pressure to respond to rising infection levels after the devolved administrations in scotland, wales and northern ireland all implemented measures to stem the spread of the omicron variant. the health secretary said 90% of covid cases in england are now thought to be the omicron variant and he urged people to remain cautious when celebrating new year s eve, saying the government won t hesitate to act in the future if necessary. here s our political correspondent ian watson. with a record number of covid cases recorded on christmas day, there were fears of a rather bleaker new year. scotland, wales and northern ireland have all imposed further restrictions. so there was pressure on the government a
there ve been emergency talks between the business secretary, kwasi kwarteng, and the uk s energy industry, to try to resolve the ongoing crisis caused by rising wholesale gas prices. energy companies have warned that bills could go up by 50 per cent next year without government action. theo leggett reports. a midwinter meeting, at a time when the energy industry is battling a deep economic chill. the cost of gas on european wholesale markets has been hitting record levels, and suppliers say consumers will end up paying a heavy price. energy companies themselves have already been badly hit. more than two dozen have gone out of business since the summer, and more casualties are expected. that s because, so far, they have had to absorb most of the extra costs themselves. it s a situation that won t last. household gas and electricity bills are capped by the energy regulator, ofcom, but with wholesale prices at their current levels, it seems inevitable the cap will be raised in
0micron infections continue to soar in many parts of the world, and that is triggering some very different responses from governments and authorities. after seeing a record high of more than 100,000 new cases on saturday, france has announced tougher restrictions. remote working is now compulsory and public gatherings have been cut to 2,000 people for indoor events. in contrast, in the uk, with cases also reaching record highs, health secretary sajid javid has said there will be no further measures before the new year, but of course people should remain cautious. and in the us, where joe biden s top medical advisor dr anthony fauci has warned that there could easily be 500,000 cases a day in the coming weeks, the centers for disease control has halved the recommended isolation time for people with asymptomatic infections, from ten to five days. we ll have the details on that change in the us and the science behind it in a minute, but first we start with the new measures in
The uk health secretary, sajid javid, has confirmed that no further covid measures will be introduced in england before the new year, but he urged people to remain cautious . the announcement puts england out of step with the other devolved uk nations, who have introduced tougher measures. the us health authorities have halved the recommended isolation period for people who test positive for covid 19 without exhibiting symptoms. the centers for disease control now says that infected but asymptomatic people should stay home for five days and wear a mask around others for a further five. france has become the latest european country to tighten restrictions in the face of rapidly rising cases, but the government stopped short of imposing a curfew. employees have been told to work from home for three or four days a week where possible. now on bbc news, it s time for hardtalk.