as the uk and others bring in—flight as the uk and others bring in—flight bands, south korea says travel bans are the wrong approach. we'll speak to their tourism minister. 12—year—old ava white stabbed to death in an argument in liverpool city centre. four teenage boys are arrested on suspicion of her murder. how to resolve the english channel crisis? the uk and france find themselves at loggerheads as a diplomatic row breaks out. the england and wales cricket board publishes an anti—racism action plan in response to the azeem rafiq scandal, with measures including a review of dressing—room culture. and coming up in half an hour: foreign correspondents based in london give an outsider�*s view of events in the uk in dateline.

good evening. officials in belgium say they've discovered the first case in europe of a new variant of coronavirus deemed to be of huge international concern. the world health organisation has given the variant the greek name omicron. there are fears that omicron, which has been circulating in south africa, might be more transmissible — and that vaccines may be less effective against it. from midday today, the uk suspended direct flights from six countries in southern africa — and from 4am on sunday, anyone arriving here from those countries will have to quarantine at their own expense for ten days in an approved hotel. this afternoon, the european union also said that air travel to and from the six countries should be halted. with ourfirst report tonight, here's our medical

editor fergus walsh. after months of opening up, a new coronavirus variant means travel restrictions are back. at heathrow, the last flights from south africa arrived this morning. i feel extremely relieved, because, yeah, who knows how long this is going to last? we've been told we have to isolate at home, so that shouldn't be too bad. from sunday, only uk and irish residents will be allowed in from six southern african countries, and they'll have to pay to quarantine in a hotel. the travel restrictions mean catherine will miss her niece�*s wedding in south africa. it's devastating. they've held back this wedding for two years for us, so we were all going to be together, which is really important. and literally, we were off on the ninth, and now we are not. the health secretary said the new variant may pose a substantial risk to public health,

so the restrictions were necessary. i want to reassure this house that there are no detected cases of this variant in the uk at this time, but this new variant is of huge international concern. several coronavirus mutations have already made the covid pandemic worse. the alpha variant, identified in kent, drove a huge wave of hospital admissions and deaths are your last winter. the delta variant, first detected in india, was even more transmissible and is currently the dominant strain worldwide. on paper, the new variant looks worrying, with twice the number of mutations found on delta. around 30 of these are on the spike protein, the key the virus uses to unlock our cells, and these changes may help it evade our body's defences.

so far, we don't know whether the variant causes more severe disease, whether vaccines will be less effective, or whether drugs won't work. it's the sheer number and type of mutations that has scientists who are troubled. some of them have never been seen in combinations like this before, and many of them we have seen in various variants of concern so far, but it is the complexity of the mutations that we are seeing today, and the effect that it may have won both the immune response and transmissibility, that are a huge concern. the next few weeks will see scientific detective work in labs to determine the threat posed by this variant. travel bans will slow the spread but won't stop it going global if it has a competitive advantage over other variants. fergus walsh, bbc news. borisjohnson has spoken to south african president cyril ramaphosa. they discussed ways to work together

and the challenges posed globally by the new variant. we can speak now to south africa's tourism minister, lindiwe sisulu. thank you very much for speaking to us. this is obviously a tough day for south africa. it’s us. this is obviously a tough day for south africa.— us. this is obviously a tough day for south africa. it's my pleasure to be here _ for south africa. it's my pleasure to be here and _ for south africa. it's my pleasure to be here and it— for south africa. it's my pleasure to be here and it is— for south africa. it's my pleasure to be here and it is a _ for south africa. it's my pleasure to be here and it is a tough - for south africa. it's my pleasure to be here and it is a tough day l for south africa. it's my pleasure i to be here and it is a tough day and a very disappointing day for us because we have been here before and we thought we had worked our way out of the red list but unfortunately we find ourselves back in again. do you understand — find ourselves back in again. do you understand the _ find ourselves back in again. do you understand the circumstances - find ourselves back in again. do you understand the circumstances in - understand the circumstances in which countries like the uk and the european union and the last few minutes the us have imposed these bands? i minutes the us have imposed these bands? , ., ., , ., , . bands? i understand how you perceive africa as one — bands? i understand how you perceive africa as one mass _ bands? i understand how you perceive africa as one mass of— bands? i understand how you perceive africa as one mass of land _ bands? i understand how you perceivei africa as one mass of land somewhere very far away, but we in south africa have a very similar system to yours and we have a group of scientists who study the trends

around the world and study the mutation of the virus and advise us on a regular basis. and they discovered that in botswana, the next—door neighbour, there was a variant that was mutating for us faster than we thought and they alerted the government, and how we get involved in it is a matter that concerns us very much because we have had very good relations with high commissioners see and he helped us get through the red list the first time and there was no consultation and we are bound by the who requirements to report any significant information. find who requirements to report any significant information.— who requirements to report any significant information. and you did 'ust that. significant information. and you did just that- no _ significant information. and you did just that. no one _ significant information. and you did just that. no one would _ significant information. and you did just that. no one would suggest - significant information. and you did | just that. no one would suggest that there was any tardiness on the part of south africa but equally governments, with people travelling

from south africa or perhaps people have been on holiday in south africa or part of the tourism industry coming back, its not surprising that they will impose some restrictions until they know more about the variant and the criticism before was that they didn't do it the delta variant and as a consequence a lot of people died. well, they did put us on the red list with the delta variant. i well, they did put us on the red list with the delta variant.- list with the delta variant. i was thinkin: list with the delta variant. i was thinking more _ list with the delta variant. i was thinking more with _ list with the delta variant. i was thinking more with india - list with the delta variant. i was thinking more with india where l list with the delta variant. i was thinking more with india where it was first i then fired. do you see my point? i was first i then fired. do you see my point?— my point? i see the correlation between- _ my point? i see the correlation between- we _ my point? i see the correlation between. we have _ my point? i see the correlation between. we have had - my point? i see the correlation between. we have had very - my point? i see the correlation l between. we have had very good relations and we expected there would be a continuation of the enquiry on this matter because we are caught between the dictates of what the situation would require which is to report when we find something as dangerous as this one is. we would have expected some kind of consultation around the matter and thereafter perhaps we would

mutually agree on what is the way to get out of it or deal with it but to find ourselves waking up to being red listed is not the way we expected the british to behave towards us. i expected the british to behave towards us— towards us. i understand the frustration _ towards us. i understand the frustration at _ towards us. i understand the frustration at your _ towards us. i understand the frustration at your end - towards us. i understand the frustration at your end and i towards us. i understand the i frustration at your end and the flights, we are told, will restart again on sunday but with the condition that people will have to pay to self isolate in government approved hotels which might be a significant problem for many people given the additional costs involved if they are travelling to the uk, never mind whether other european countries. you must be worried about the impact this could have on what is approaching the peak season for foreign tourism to south africa. {iii foreign tourism to south africa. of course, and i've had a long meeting with the tourism industry and they are devastated because we put in place a recovery plan and we were hoping we were well ahead with the plan to make sure that by the time we get to the holiday season we are able to take in as much as we can.

they have suffered, billions of money lost in the lockdown and they were looking forward to get the tories coming in and right out of the blue with all the work we have been doing we find ourselves on this list — the tourists. we would like to engage the british scientists who have come to this determination about us to see if we cannot come to some kind of resolution of the matter. �* , , ., ., matter. but this is unilateral in terms of imposing _ matter. but this is unilateral in terms of imposing it, - matter. but this is unilateral in terms of imposing it, but - matter. but this is unilateral in terms of imposing it, but it - matter. but this is unilateral in terms of imposing it, but it is i matter. but this is unilateral in| terms of imposing it, but it is a measure being copied by other countries and joe biden is doing the same in the us on the european union is recommending the same to their countries as well.— is recommending the same to their countries as well. because they take their cue countries as well. because they take their one from _ countries as well. because they take their cue from britain. _ countries as well. because they take their cue from britain. they - countries as well. because they take their cue from britain. they took - their cue from britain. they took their cue from britain. they took their cue from you that we are very disappointed because we thought we would have some kind of discussion around the matter. the variant we have discovered is in belgium. and

we need to have more cohesion around the decisions of this nature because the decisions of this nature because the effect of the economy is very bad and we had hoped we would have some kind of discussions on the matter and we are still open to convincing that we have the highest percentage of people who've been vaccinated in the world. i am sorry to interrunt _ vaccinated in the world. i am sorry to interrupt you — vaccinated in the world. i am sorry to interrupt you because _ vaccinated in the world. i am sorry to interrupt you because we - vaccinated in the world. i am sorry to interrupt you because we have i vaccinated in the world. i am sorry. to interrupt you because we have to talk to somebody from the world health organization a moment and can i ask, the president was very eloquent in making the case back in the summer and the warning was that new variants would be given time to develop. and there must be some bitterness about the fact that other

parts of the world including this country did not heed the warning with sufficient speed and vigour. it just indicates that whatever it is that comes from our side of the world is not taken as seriously as you would like your world to be taken, because we did put out a plea to say, look, we are one universe, so whatever happens to one side of the globe will eventually migrate to any other part of the world and we haven't had muchjoy any other part of the world and we haven't had much joy in getting support around vaccines, but nonetheless we are producing our vaccines and we are supplying some of those vaccines to some parts of africa and we are hoping that soon we will have a fully vaccinated continent but we also hope that we will have more conversations with yourselves before any decision is taken about us.— yourselves before any decision is taken about us. minister for tourism in south africa, _ taken about us. minister for tourism in south africa, thank— taken about us. minister for tourism

in south africa, thank you _ taken about us. minister for tourism in south africa, thank you so - taken about us. minister for tourism in south africa, thank you so much i in south africa, thank you so much for speaking to us on bbc1 news. thank you. as we've been hearing, the world health organization has classed this latest mutation as a "variant of concern" and given it the name "omicron". we can speak now to dr catherine smallwood — whe is the senior emergencies officer and covid—i9 incident manager at the world health organization. thank you very much. from the information that they who has put out tonight, the first specimen was found on the ninth of november. what work has been going on since then to try and find out more about the variant? ,., ., ., ., , , ., variant? good evening, and as you sa , it's variant? good evening, and as you say. it's only a _ variant? good evening, and as you say, it's only a couple _ variant? good evening, and as you say, it's only a couple of _ variant? good evening, and as you say, it's only a couple of weeks - variant? good evening, and as you | say, it's only a couple of weeks ago that the variant really emerged on the picture and since then there was only a few days ago that it was first put on the open access sequence platforms where viruses or virus sequences are shared with four scientist to look at, so it's really this week that this has come to our attention at the international level. and there a load of work

already going on a lot of information being shared, especially from south african colleagues and i think that is something we really have to recognise and the openness and transparency and the meaningfulness of sharing this information which means we will have a global implication stop as all countries have found and learned to their cost when certain countries have not been as open about information, notjust of new variants, but case numbers and in the end a heavy price. find variants, but case numbers and in the end a heavy price.— variants, but case numbers and in the end a heavy price. and in terms ofthe the end a heavy price. and in terms of the information _ the end a heavy price. and in terms of the information supplied - the end a heavy price. and in terms of the information supplied and - of the information supplied and there's been lots of many variations and why is this been good enough to give it a name and why so many people have been anxious about it. it's particularly worrying because on its mutation profiler look

significantly different and it has 32 mutations around the spiked proteins, the area of the virus that important and when it's infectious, and some of these mutations we know about because we see them in other variants but they mutations are totally new and it's this constellation of mutations that we don't understand well yet, so that's why concern at the moment and of course we are looking at the transmission patterns in south africa where it has seemed to displace which had been dominant in all the countries. bud displace which had been dominant in all the countries.— all the countries. and case numbers risin: in all the countries. and case numbers rising in all— all the countries. and case numbers rising in all the _ all the countries. and case numbers rising in all the provinces _ all the countries. and case numbers rising in all the provinces in - all the countries. and case numbers rising in all the provinces in south i rising in all the provinces in south africa. the who also says there is preliminary evidence of the risk of

reinfection, so that is people who already had a covid?— reinfection, so that is people who already had a covid? yes, that would be and that would _ already had a covid? yes, that would be and that would be _ already had a covid? yes, that would be and that would be because - already had a covid? yes, that would be and that would be because of - already had a covid? yes, that would be and that would be because of the | be and that would be because of the mutations are mutations that are associated with immunity escape so that means people who had covid—i9 and it almost my mimi don't know it for sure that there might be a decrease in the effectiveness of the vaccine and that's not to say that they won't be effective at all that there might be a decrease as delta decrease from alpha, for example. thank you very much for being with us in copenhagen tonight. you thank you very much for being with us in copenhagen tonight.- us in copenhagen tonight. you are welcome. us in copenhagen tonight. you are welcome- the _ us in copenhagen tonight. you are welcome. the night. _ here, the government's latest coronavirus figures for the uk show there were just over 50,000 new infections recorded, anyone in a public space including a market, festival ofjew in paris

will have to cover their mouth and nose in the decision comes as infection rates in the french capital continue to soar. canada is closing its borders to seven african nations to stop the omicrom variant on the chief medical officer says there are no signs of the new screen getting canada. and the netherlands is tightening its partial clothing lockdown as the country continues to battle a surge in infections. a girl of 12 has died after being attacked in the street by a group of teenage boys in liverpool city centre. ava white was with friends when it's thought they were involved in an argument — and she suffered what police have described as "catastrophic injuries" four boys, aged between 13—15, have been arrested on suspicion of her murder. danny savage reports. ava white was 12 years old. last night, she came into liverpool city centre as the christmas lights were switched on. she never made it home. today, police sealed off a large part of the city's shopping area,

investigating the killing of a year eight schoolgirl. any 12—year—old dying in these circumstances would be shocking. it's devastating for the family, and i think many people who have 12, i3—year—olds will be... just can't believe that has happened. as the day wore on, people came to leave flowers. some of them knew ava, many of them didn't, just shocked that such a terrible thing could happen here. she was just so small, and loving and kind. she had one of the most... she was one of the kindest people i've met. they were all so lovely. the fact that she has been took so early in life, it's not nice.

businesses in the crime scene cordon stayed closed for most of the day, but in the communities ava white was part of, people tried to sum up who she was. ava was a thoughtful, considerate girl. she looked for the positive in everything. she was a much loved member of the school community, and she just made friends with absolutely everyone. she took everyone under her wing and wasjust a genuinely nice little girl. a passer—by who saw what happened to ava tried to help. paramedics came and treated her at the scene before taking her onto to alderhey children's hospital. she died a short time later. she was a pupil here at notre dame catholic college in everton. the head teacher released a statement saying, in the moments after the attack, those responsible were seen running away. police later arrested four teenage boys aged between 13 and 15.

they are now being questioned by detectives. danny savage, bbc news, liverpool. the french president emmanuel macron has accused borisjohnson of not being serious, after the prime minister sent him a letter — which he also put on twitter — calling on france to accept the return of people making illegal crossings across the channel. france has also withdrawn an invitation to the home secretary priti patel to attend a meeting this weekend to discuss the crisis. it follows the deaths of 27 people who drowned on wednesday while trying to reach the uk. lucy williamson reports from calais. the road between paris and london is getting colder. the political distance a little whiter each day. here in the migrant camps caught between the two governments they know about barriers and communication. macron says you are not serious, is he right? he says co—operation between european partners was the riches of the migrant crisis.

borisjohnson is accused by france of using the migrant crisis for his own political ends. that again underlines it is a problem we have to fix together. last night borisjohnson sent out a series of tweets saying he'd written to emmanuel macron with a number of proposals. he treated the letter calling forjoint patrols and suggesting that all illegal migrants across the channel be returned to france. this, he said, would break the business model of the criminal gangs. france is agitated by mrjohnson's style of diplomacy and it shows. translation: i am surprised - when things are not done seriously. we do not communicate between leaders on these issues in tweets or published letters.

we are not whistle—blowers. come on. the ministers will work seriously to settle a serious issue with serious people. the tensions between france and the uk built up over a range of issues are becoming increasingly public. the home secretary priti patel wish due here in calais this weekend to discuss migration but since the tweets last night she has been designated. uk officials are in paris today to discuss the issue. as officials try to bridge the political divide, migrants here are planning day after day how to bridge the channel. like this person from sudan, queuing at a food distribution truck. he is undeterred by the deaths of 27 people in the channel this week. would he stop trying if he thought he would be sent straight back to france? this is my dream to go to the uk. if i came back to france again i would go to the uk.

never be stopped. not stop never. neither disaster nor diplomacy has stopped the rhythm of these crossings. an alternative to the promises of people smugglers can feel as remote here as downing street. lucy williamson, bbc news. at 7.30pm, it's dateline london. but first, a full round up — from the bbc sport centre. i bet you are glad you are not in the studio with me tonight. i wish you well and i do feel for you. good evening. the draw for the play—offs for next year's world cup in qatar were made this afternoon, and the headlines for british fans are that if both scotland and wales win their semi—finals, then they will play each other in their final — which means only one of them can reach the tournament. scotland are at home

to ukraine whilst wales will play austria in cardiff. but there are some very good sides in the play—offs including italy and portual who could also play each other in their final. there are three finals so three teams will go through. the games will take place the end of march. wales are bidding to reach their first world cup in 64 years, while scotland have waited 2a years. if we got wales in the semifinal will be a battle of britain but one of the countries is not going to make it, so it's a tough game and i'm sure they are in a good moment but we are in a good moment as well so hopefully we both get through there in the play—off games i meet in the final in cardiff and i think that would be a fantastic occasion. staying with world cup qualifying, and it's a big night for wales and scotland women as both nations try to reach the 2023 world cup. scotland's women will be hoping to maintain their 100% start to qualifying when they kick off against ukraine in a few minutes. and wales are taking on greece — these are live pictures from a very

chilly looking parc y scarlets in llanelli. they are already a goal up. i— they are already a goal up. 1— zero, wales, currently second and trailing france to visit wales on tuesday. if they finish runners—up, they'll get a play off place. wales' women have never reached a major tournament before. still with football, and the deal to bring ralf rangnick to take temporary charge of manchester united has been agreed, but they're just finalising the small print in his move from lokomotiv moscow. the german is due to take charge for the remainder of the season, but michael carrick will still manage united for sunday's trip to chelsea. liverpool managerjurgen klopp knows rangnick well and sent this warning to other premier league teams. he will be organised and on the pitch i will think news for other teams. like all coaches in the world, we need time to train with their teams and pretty quickly will realise they have no time to train because they play

all the time so that'll it harder for him but a really good man and an outstanding coach, and if it happens we will come to england. the cardiff and scarlets rugby union teams are still trying to return to the uk before the new quarantine rules for travel from south africa come into force early on sunday morning. the two welsh regions are injohannesburg and durban respectively to play in the united rugby championship. those games have now been postponed, but officials have been trying to charter a flight to bring back almost 100 players and staff before the deadline. cardiff gave an update this evening, saying they'd secured an aircraft, but haven't been able to secure permission to fly to the uk today. 15 uk and ireland golfers have also withdrawn from the joburg open, which started on thursday. the england and wales cricket board have released their new action plan to tackle racism and discrimination

in the game. it follows the testimony by the former yorkshire bowler azeem rafiq — in which he called the english game "institutionally racist." our correspondent laura scott has the details. i spoke to one of the people whose alleged racist abuse in cricket and he welcomed the action plan but once the momentum to be maintained and today the ecb chief executive, tom harrison, said the racism and crisis that has engulfed the game has felt like an earthquake as haiti and the powerful testimony of azeem rafiq has exposed major fault lines powerful testimony of azeem rafiq has exposed majorfault lines in governance and those are the focus of the 12 action points agreed by the game today which covers a full review of the dressing room culture, removing the barriers stopping ethnically diverse players reaching professional ranks and making grounds like here at lords more welcoming for everyone and on a governance level, the bordering on diversity targets have been set for

april next year and counties who do not meet it can expect to have funding withheld. tom harrison acknowledged today that this will not be a silver bullet and won't answer all around cricket and all of its problems but it hopes it will be a good start. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories and watch the women's football live on the bbc sport website. hello there. the winds are picking up now, particularly across more northeastern parts of the uk, where we have this red wind warning from the met office — the winds for a while gusting 80—90 mph, some significant disruption and a danger to life. added and a danger to life. to that we see some snow falling added to that we see some snow falling over the higher ground in scotland and that's a noble push on the welsh hills with a mixture of rain, sleet and snow moving into the midlands and parts of southern england as well temperature is close to freezing by the end of the night on the wind is perhaps more

significant, notjust windy on the wind is perhaps more significant, not just windy across the north—east but around the western coast through the irish sea and it's a windy start everywhere on saturday and a mixture of rain but also sleet and snow over the hills gradually retreat to england and many other areas becoming brighter and more wintry showers in northern scotland and may be no better than three or 4 and while the winds will ease down, it will feel significantly colder given the strength of the wind.

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