hello and welcome to sportsday i m chetan pathak, coming up on the programme: the highs and lows of a rollercoaster day in melbourne where england are on the brink of ashes defeat. just one league win all season and fighting for survival can newcastle get a crucial three points against manchester united we ll be at st james park and in the big game in rugby union s premiership harlequins take on northampton saints at twickenham but who ll come out on top? hello and welcome to sportsday, it s rarely easy watching england play cricket in australia and fans went through almost every emotion earlier after a day of drama at the mcg. needing to win to keep alive their hopes of regaining the ashes, james anderson led an england fighback in the first couple of sessions on day two of the third test. as the aussies were limited to a first innings lead of 82. but no sooner than hopes were raised, it all went wrong with the bat again, as england crumbled to 31 for 4 at s
remembering archbishop desmond tutu south africa has begun a week of events to commemorate the anti apartheid leader, who died on sunday. hello and welcome. the uk health secretary saijd 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 develoved administrations in scotland, wales and northern ireland all implemented measures to stem the spread of the omicron variant. scotland has seen its highest ever number of cases this christmas period, 11,030 were recorded on boxing day, and today, just over ten and a half thousand. meanhile england confirmed 98,515 cases in the past day. the health secretary said 90% of covid cases in england are now thought to be the omicron variant and he urged people to be cautious with their new year s eve celebrations, saying the government won t hesitate to act in the future if necessary. here s our correspondent simonjones.
No new coronavirus restrictions are to be introduced before the new year but the health secretary says people should remain cautious. in new york fresh vaccine wills come into force. children 12 and over have to be fully vaccinated to go into indoor restaurants or leisure facilities. as infections search field by the variant. tributes are being paid from across the globe to the anti apartheid campaigner archbishop desmond tutu who died at the age of 90. a state funeral will be held on the 1st of january in cape town. there are calls for the british government to do more to help consumers deal with sharp increases in the price of gas and electricity. in the mornings that energy bills could soar by another 50% next year.