this is bbc news. the headlines at four: the government says two cases of omicron, a new variant of covid—19, have been discovered in the uk, amid fears it has a higher re—infection risk. the two individuals concerned are self isolating alongside their whole household whilst further tests and sequencing is carried out and contact tracing. the two cases are linked. two men are killed by falling trees as storm arwen hits parts of the uk with high winds, rain and snow. one of the 27 people who drowned in the channel on wednesday is named as 24—year—old maryam nuri mohammed amin from iraq. the former england cricket captain michael vaughan says he's �*sorry for all the hurt�* azeem rafiq went through during the yorkshire

racism scandal. # i like to be in america. # 0k by me in america... and the us composer and lyricist stephen sondheim, who was behind some of broadway's best known musicals, has died at the age of 91. two cases of the newly identified variant of coronavirus have been identified in the uk. the government is adding four more african countries to the red travel list. the world health organization says early evidence suggests the variant — named omicron — poses an increased re—infection risk.

the health secretary, sajid javid, has been speaking to reporters in the past hour. the two individuals concerned are self isolating alongside their whole household while further tests and sequencing is carried out. the two cases are linked. we have always been clear that we won't hesitate to take further action if that is what is required and today i can announce one thing that we are doing immediately is carrying out targeted testing and sequencing of positive cases in the two areas that are affected. secondly, we are adding four more countries to the red list from 4am on sunday and those are angola, mozambique, malawi and zambia. if anyone has travelled to these four countries or any of the other recently red listed countries in the last ten days, they must self isolate and take pcr tests. also, later today,

the prime minister will be holding a press conference with the chief scientific adviser to the government and the chief medical officer to set out further measures. lastly, this is a real reminder to us all that this pandemic is far from over and if there's one thing that everyone can be doing right now is if they are eligible, please take your vaccine, whether it is your first shot, second shot or booster, please take your vaccine. are you concerned that this new variant is in the uk now? we were concerned from the moment we first identified this new variant. as i have said, it is a deeply concerning new variant and we do need to learn more about it, but the fact we now have these two cases in the united kingdom means we do need to take further measures and that is why i have set this up today. what impact will this have on the current vaccine and booster roll—out? vaccines remain vitally important and if anything i think the importance of them,

especially the booster vaccine, is now even more important. we know this new variant is out there, we don't know enough about it yet, but what we do know, we know the protections we have, especially the vaccines, are hugely important. now that we have two cases, what discussions are you having about any potential plan b, any potential change in restrictions as we head into christmas? how does this change things? we have always been really clear that we will do whatever is necessary to protect the progress that we have made as a country, we have come a long way, especially since the summer. we will keep all this under review and if we need to take further action, we will. what can you tell us about the countries that the two people who have this variant, where have they been, where have they come from? what do you know about their movements and do you expect to be able to contain it to the two individuals? this particular case, these two cases are linked and it

has been traced to south africa. are you concerned at this point, given what we know about this variant, that we will be looking at potential changes to the status quo at the moment as we run into christmas? how should people view this, sitting at home, making their plans for christmas, thinking everything would be all right, what can you tell them about what you know about this variant and what might lie ahead in the next few weeks? everything we know, our international partners know. we have been very open and that is the right way, of course, to help people know why we are concerned and i made a statement in parliament yesterday to set out more of that information. but the one thing i would say again to anyone is we have made a lot of progress, we all want to see that protected and if anyone is sitting at home thinking, what can i do? get vaccinated. and, the prime minister will be

holding a coronavirus briefing from downing street later this afternoon. he will be joined by england's chief medical officer, professor chris whitty and the uk government's chief scientific adviser, sir patrick vallance. full coverage here on the bbc news channel from 5pm. at least two men have been killed by falling trees as storm arwen hit parts of the uk with high winds, rain and snow. the storm caused damage across scotland, northern england, the midlands and wales — with winds of nearly 100 miles an hour leaving more than 100,000 homes without power. there are further weather warnings across the uk today, as emily unia reports. storm arwen brought winds of more than 90 miles an hour to pummel the coast of north—east scotland. the met office issued a rare red weather warning,

meaning there was a potential risk to life. i can barely stand up. sean, a storm chaser, filmed treacherous conditions near edinburgh for social media. pushing through. i've been hit by falling debris. that is brutal. this is portobello beach in edinburgh. i have never in all my life seen a storm like this. passengers travelling from inverness to aberdeen ended up spending the night on a train. i got on the train at elgin around three yesterday afternoon, and about five o'clock, we hit huntly and we stayed there for about 17 hours. trees blew down across the north—east of england and like the rest of the country, there was major disruption on the rail network. near rochdale, 120 lorries got stuck in snow on the m62, and there were power cuts across the north west. we've had a very high number

of incidents on the network, a high volume of faults. about 711,000 customers have had their power supply interrupted at some time, but we've restored supplies to 43,000 of those customers already. on this farm near st asaph in north wales, a shed roof blew down, damaging cars. and the bad weather also affected itv�*s i'm a celebrity, which had to be pre—recorded. a yellow weather warning for high winds across central england, scotland, wales and northern ireland remains in place until six o'clock this evening. emily unia, bbc news. as officials in france continue to try and identify the victims of this week's mass drownings in the channel, the bbc has been hearing from the family and friends of the first person known to have died. maryam nuri mohamed amin was a 24—year—old kurdish woman from northern iraq and was trying to reach the uk to be

with her partner. lucy williamson reports. it is a face that will haunt both sides of the channel. 24—year—old maryam nuri mohamed amin from northern iraq was crossing to the uk to meet her fiance. he told the bbc she had been messaging him when the boat began to lose air. in her last message she tried to reassure him that help was coming. in iraqi kurdistan herfamily�*s anger showed through their grief. translation: going to britain is very difficult. l she tried to go legally twice, she went to the embassy but the process was delayed. she was forced to go the way she did. one of her friends has also been speaking about her death. her humanity was so good, always advising me. she was like someone i looked up to for advice, so no one should try this, no one, no one deserves

to die this way. this disaster has changed little in the minds of people living in migrant camps here. they are just waiting for the right weather conditions to make the same journey. take the same risks. there's been lots of finger pointing across the channel over who is to blame for the growing crisis, european interior ministers are due to meet here tomorrow to discuss the problem but the british home secretary has been disinvited in the middle of a diplomatic feud between boris johnson and emmanuel macron. investigations have begun to identify those who died and find out why help never arrived. harder to explain after all the diplomacy, all the deterrents, the loss of 27 lives in a narrow stretch of sea. lucy williamson, bbc news, calais. the former england cricket captain michael vaughan, has spoken publicly for the first time since being accused

of racism, by his yorkshire teammate azeem rafiq. speaking to dan walker before the england and wales cricket board released a new action plan to tackle racism and discrimination, he apologised for any hurt he may have caused. michael vaughan leading england to the ashes in 2005. now he's fighting for his reputation after being accused by three asian players of making a racist comment ahead of a game for yorkshire. "too many of you lot, we need to do something about it." do you in any way remember or recognise those words? i don't. my recollection from that day — as i've said, i was a yorkshire player for 18 years. i was the first player to sign for that club that was not born in the county, so for 18 years we've gone from me being the first to sign for the club, to sachin tendulkar to be the first from overseas, to players being able to sign from other clubs. and it was my last few games,

and ijust remember it clearly that i was proud as punch that we had four asian players representing yorkshire county cricket club. it was azeem rafiq, the yorkshire whistleblower, who made the initial allegation. he has said that michael vaughan might not remember the alleged remarks because they didn't mean anything to him. yeah, that hurts. that hurts, because i've always felt that every single team that i've been involved in — the biggest praise i ever got as the england captain for six years was that i was the kind of person that really galvanised the group, got the team working together as one. i always felt that i was the person in the dressing room that really wanted everyone to feel included. michael, you said you wanted to sit down with azeem and hear his story. the chances are he could be watching you this morning. he could be watching this now. what would be your message to him? i'm sorry for the hurt

that he's gone through. yorkshire county cricket club, i believe, is me. you know, that's been my life. whether i'm a player or not, i'm a senior ex—player and ex—england captain, and i believe that once you've played for yorkshire you're always a yorkshire player. i'm sorry for all the hurt that he's gone through. hopefully — time, i don't think, can ever be a healer in the situation that he's gone through. but hopefully time can be a way of us making sure that yorkshire county cricket club never goes through this situation again and never puts themselves in a position of denial that they treated a player so badly. vaughan says he wants to work with azeem rafiq to repair the damage done to cricket. he also says he regrets and is embarrassed by several posts he made on social media between 2010 and 2018, insisting he wouldn't post them now. when i look back on my 12 years on social media,

i regret many tweets. i regret the tweets that you've just read out. i apologise deeply to anyone that i offended with those tweets. since retirement, michael vaughan has covered cricket for bbc radio, but earlier this week it was revealed that he has been stood down from his role at the ashes in australia this winter. yeah, i won't be doing the ashes, which i understand. editorial at the minute, the story is all about azeem rafiq and racism in the game of cricket. i get that. ijust hope, in time, i get that chance to come back, and the one thing that i've loved more than anything since i retired is talking cricket. i love being on test match special, and hopefully in time i'll get that chance to do it again. michael vaughan�*s hopes for a return to the airwaves rest with his employers. it's his hope that he will have a role in helping to repair the damage done to cricket by this racism scandal. dan walker, bbc news.

we put the remarks made by michael vaughan in that interview to azeem rafiq, but he declined to comment. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's katherine downes. good afternoon. eddie howe�*s first match in the dugout as newcastle united manager ended in disappointment. his side lost 2—0 to arsenal in the premier league's early kick off at the emirates. it means newcastle are still bottom of the table and without a win. austin halewood reports. the latest instalment of newcastle's new starts. after overcoming coronavirus eddie howe was ready for his debut on the touchline but few stadiums strike fear in the hearts of newcastle fans like a trip to the emirates. they have lost all of their last ten matches at arsenal and right from the start, the home side were on the front foot. martin odegaard forcing an impressive save from an early free kick.

but for all of their attacking prowess, arsenal are pretty solid too at the back these days. aaron ramsdale with another outstanding save to keep it level. i mentioned that attacking prowess, it wasn't on display here. pierre—emerick aubameyang missing from all of a yard. hard to believe. with others thinking they could have done better. after the break, arsenalfinally took the lead though. bukayo saka fired across the goal and into the corner. newcastle fans thought they had a way back into it when callum wilson went down in the box. calls for a penalty were waved away and moments later, to make matters worse, to make matters arsenal were in again. gabrielle martinelli with a perfectly—weighted volley to seal the three points for the gunners. so not quite the perfect start for eddie howe and the wait for that first league win of the season goes on for newcastle. elsewhere in the premier league —

second halfs are underway in the three 3pm kick offs — aston villa looking for back to back wins under their new manager steven gerrard — they're beating crystal palace 1—0. matt targett with the goal. still goal—less between norwich and wolves. while liverpool are really putting on a show — 4—0 up at anfield against southampton and they'll go second in the table as it stands. four matches in the scottish premiership as well today. you can see the latest scores on your screen here. two for dundee against motherwell so far. and stjohnstone lead hibs1—0. ellen white scored on her 100th appearance to maintain england's winning run in women's world cup qualifying. they secured a 1—nil victory over austria at the stadium of light. england have now won all five of their qualifying matches without conceding. joe lynskey reports. the next women's world cup is in

australia and new zealand. to get their england go through sunderland in a storm. so torrential was the weather, the local train said not to travel but england look on their way to something good. they dominated austria in the first half and on 39 minutes found a way through the wall. ellen white is now close to a record. this was her 100 england goal. one more would be thejoint most by any player. that was england's 33rd goal in five qualifying games but they knew this was their biggest test. they kept their 100% record thanks to mary earps's stunning save but that was the closest austria came. and england should have had more. this win keeps them top and on course for the finals were down on that they will hope for even brighter days on the pitch and with the weather. in tennis, great britain have beaten france 2—1 in their first tie at this year's davis cup finals. dan evans was up against adrian mannrino in the first rubber, and he enjoyed

a relatively straightfoward victory. winning in straight sets 7—5, 6—4. so that left british number one cameron norrie knowing that the tie would effectively be over if he managed to beat arthur rinderknech. it was another straight sets victory for great britain. they then lost the doubles rubber, but won 2—1 overall. britain will be guaranteed qualification as group winners if they beat the czech republic tomorrow. history was going to be made at twickenham this afternoon. for the first time the barbarians men's and women's rugby teams were playing a double bill on the same day — at the same ground. the men's side were due to take on samoa but that match has been cancelled — due to six confirmed covid cases in the barbarians team. but the women's match against south africa did go ahead. the babas ran in six tries to lead 38 nil at the break. it's just finished with the barbarians winning by 60 points to 5.

ronnie o'sullivan is safely through to the third round of snooker�*s uk championship. �*the rocket�* has already won this tournament more than anybody else — he's going for an eighth title in york. o'sullivan was on solid, rather than spectacular, form as he beat the world number 68 robbie williams 6—2. and the world number five kyren wilson is also through. he whitewashed jakjones of wales 6—0 in his second round match. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport more from me in the next hour. just some breaking news coming in about i'm a celebrity get me out of here. last night's show couldn't be live, they had to record it because of storm arwen. we are just hearing there will be no new episodes this

weekend because the show�*s production base has been damaged by that stormy weather. that is a statement in from itv. when the taliban swept to power in afghanistan, they inherited an economy which was heavily reliant on foreign aid — large parts of the health service were entirely funded by the world bank. all of that has now changed. staff at local clinics haven't been paid in three months, with warnings that medicines are running out. the bbc�*s world affairs editor, john simpson, travelled to a clinic in the hills south of kabul to see the impact the taliban's international isolation is having on ordinary afghans. this clinic is typical of the local health care system that was built up in the last 20 years with foreign help. not much to look at maybe, but highly effective. and then the taliban got back into power. instantly the world bank, which had been paying for almost

the whole of afghanistan's health care, cut off the flow of cash to the country. this is the result. up to nine million people could be on the verge of famine. up to 1 million children could die of malnutrition. it's a humanitarian catastrophe is what it is. with no international money coming in, clinics like this are in dire trouble. this is the pharmacy. normally the cupboards would be packed with medicines. now they are running out really fast. the collapsing economy and the foreign sanctions against the taliban mean people can't buy food. the result is malnutrition. and it is starting with the children. translation: there will be a huge health crisis. - there will be no medicine and people

will face massive problems. even health care staff will leave. the health care services will collapse. we will start to see loads of mothers and children dying. as winter approaches, the cuts which the world bank and foreign governments have introduced are having a greater and greater effect. in offices and government ministries thousands of miles away from here, serious men and women are taking decisions to try to force the taliban to behave better in government. but it's these people here right now on the ground who are paying the price for those decisions. it will take time for the outside world's financial pressure to have an effect on the taliban, if it even does. their guerrilla fighters after all, used to living rough. it is the ordinary people of afghanistan with no resources

and no protection who will suffer. john simpson, bbc news. one of musical theatre's most revered composers and lyricists, stephen sondheim, has died at the age of 91. in a career that spanned more than six decades, he created some of broadway's best known musicals — and wrote the lyrics for west side story. daniela relph has been looking back at his life. # isn't it bliss? # don't you approve? # one who keeps tearing around, one who can't move... send in the clowns, from the musical a little night music. # send in the clowns... it was stephen sondheim's only hit song — remarkably, because this was the man who revolutionised the american musical.

as a young man he learned his trade from oscar hammerstein, the lyricist who wrote shows like oklahoma and the sound of music. sondheim, too, started by doing the words — notably for leonard bernstein's music in west side story. # i like to be in america! # ok by me in america! soon he was writing his own music as well. # for a small fee in america... most of the shows that followed were hits. and then in 1970 he came up with a new idea — a musical that didn't follow an obvious plot. # phone rings, door chimes, in comes company... company was a series of vignettes featuring a dozen central characters. no two sondheim musicals were the same. i don't want to get bored writing. and you know, it's — when you hit a chord that you've hit before or a technique of using a song that you've done before — or when i do, i get very nervous. and i think "i've written that, i mustn't do that again." somebody will catch me up on it, so to speak. it's as if somebody�*s saying,

"wait a minute, you did that in that show." into the woods was based on fairy stories like jack and the beanstalk. sondheim's music was rhythmically complicated and harmonically sophisticated. # we've no time to sit and dither. # while her withers wither with her. # and no—one keeps a cow for a friend... that's one of my favourite things about a sondheim musical, is the material that you learn is some of the most complex series of notes put together that you can learn, and so you feel such a sense of accomplishment when you finally get to — when you've arrived at a place where you realise i've got it. i've figured out how to sing this sondheim lyric and sing this beautiful phrase that he wrote. # i thought that you'd want what i want, sorry, my dear... for his admirers, stephen sondheim produced some of the most sophisticated and thoughtful musicals ever written.

# quick, send in the clowns. # don't bother, they're here. a reminder that in about 30 minutes, we're expecting the prime minister to holding a coronavirus briefing from downing street. he will be joined by england's chief medical officer, professor chris whitty and the uk government's chief scientific adviser, sir patrick vallance. full coverage here on the bbc news channel from just before 5pm. now on bbc news, it's time for the media show.

welcome to this week's edition of the media show and this time around we will try and understand why some political stories have long lasting impact and others, even those which feel hugely important at the time, do not. to help us look at this we will speak to the bbc�*s steve rosenberg, our moscow correspondent. we will also consider the new editor of the daily mail, how much control will he have over which political stories in the uk last notjust for a day or two but for much longer. and of course we have got to talk about peppa pig. also if you saw boris johnson's speech about peppa pig. also if you saw borisjohnson�*s speech at about peppa pig. also if you saw boris johnson's speech at the about peppa pig. also if you saw borisjohnson�*s speech at the cbi which featured peppa pig. let's begin by talking to the deputy political editor at itv news. i wonder how itv covered that story?

we certainly did cover peppa pig and i can imagine that my itv colleague in northumberland who was there was watching as we all were, slightly through his hands at that speech. not only at peppa pig but a few things and he had an opportunity straight after that interview to ask the prime minister questions. it was his turn to ask the questions and you will remember he spoke to the nation in a way when he put to the prime minister, are you ok? it is amazing how that sentiment has carried us through the week in news terms, even up to today with keir starmer using it in the house of commons and some of the headlines along the way, not good for downing street. ., , , ., , , street. you will be staying with us throu~h street. you will be staying with us through the _ street. you will be staying with us through the addition. _ street. you will be staying with us through the addition. we - street. you will be staying with us through the addition. we will - street. you will be staying with us through the addition. we will also | through the addition. we will also talk about that peppa pig cbi speech with joe twyman. talk about that peppa pig cbi speech withjoe twyman. a well—known pollster, he will help us gauge how we understand how loss of coverage

does or doesn't translate into something longer lasting. before we get to that, let's hear from aiko presenter katie. she has been interviewing the new culture secretary leading tories. we will release that as a podcaster you can listen to the whole interview but here is some of it where she talks about her plans to take on online harm. we are looking at and considering making _ we are looking at and considering making someone in an organisation, criminally— making someone in an organisation, criminally responsible. that is something we are considering including in this bill. they have had notice, they have fair warning. this bill_ had notice, they have fair warning. this bill is— had notice, they have fair warning. this bill is coming, abide by your terms _ this bill is coming, abide by your terms and — this bill is coming, abide by your terms and conditions now, remove your harmful algorithms now. 20,000 engineers _ your harmful algorithms now. 20,000 engineers you put under the matter verse. _ engineers you put under the matter verse. put — engineers you put under the matter verse, put them on facebook to make it safer— verse, put them on facebook to make it safer for— verse, put them on facebook to make it safer for young people to go to,

now _ it safer for young people to go to, now. .,. ,., ., " it safer for young people to go to, now. .. ,., ., ~ .,