garden with staff, during the first national lockdown. number 10 says, it was a work meeting . but how are other countries coping with the omicron variant, in the run up to christmas? we ll take a closer look. also this lunchtime. the red cross says its complete carnage, in some coastal areas of the philippines, after typhoon rai kills more than 300 people. warding off a lonely christmas. virtual reality carols, for those unable to go to church. and australia demolish england to go 2 0 up in the ashes. and coming up on the bbc news channel, tottenham are out of the europa conference league after uefa ruled they forfeited their match against rennes. that game was called off following a covid outbreak.