this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. no new coronavirus restrictions in england before the new year — despite record numbers of cases. but the health secretary urges people to remain cautious. we will watch the situation very carefully and should, in the future, we need to act, of course, we will not hesitate to do so. america's top health body halves the recommended isolation period for americans with asymptomatic covid from ten days to five. we'll talk live to a top us epidemiologist. as covid cases increase rapidly in france, home working will become mandatory for at least three days per week where possible in other news cape town's city hall is bathed in purple light, to honour archbishop desmond tutu, south africa's anti—apartheid leader, who died on sunday.

and lost for almost a week — a happy ending for the search and rescue dog — who got lost herself in norfolk — as she's reunited today 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. scotland has seen its highest ever number of cases this christmas period, 11,030 were recorded on boxing day,

and today, there were just over 10 and a half thousand. meanwhile 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 remain cautious when celebrating new year's eve, saying the government won't hesitate to act in the future if necessary. here's our 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 at westminster to make it clear if england would follow. for the time being, it won't. and for the remainder of 2021, the message will be caution, not compulsion. there will be no further measures before the new year. we won't be taking any further measures. of course, people should remain

cautious as we approach new year celebrations, and take a lateral flow test, that makes sense. celebrate outside, if you can. have some ventilation indoors, if you can. please remain cautious. many businesses will drink to that. but at this pub in bristol, they say that even existing restrictions have hit them hard. we've already lost a very, very big trading period, already. a really key trading period. next month, it'll have little impact, because it's a quiet time of year anyway. government ministers are still worried about the effect that self—isolation as well as sickness is having on staffing levels in the nhs, which is one of the reasons they haven't completely ruled out new measures in 2022. covid is having a significant impact on staffing in our. emergency departments. the most common figure coming back at us is thati departments are reporting 20, 25% of their staff off— because of covid—related reasons at the moment, | and that's a really big deal. for emergency departments.

westminster is now on a very divergent path from the administrations in other parts of the uk. but government ministers say they are analysing the data in england, not ignoring it. the prime minister was briefed by his scientific and medical advisers today, and downing street say he saw nothing in the data that would force him to push the red button on further restrictions in england. had he done so, then mps would have been brought back here to vote on them. that's now been ruled out. you can see why borisjohnson might have been quite keen to avoid that. the ayes to the right, 369. earlier this month, 100 of his own mps rebelled against the introduction of covid passes, and he may have faced even greater resistance to any new measures before new year. the prime minister is well aware of the sentiment on the conservative backbenches. it was a massive rebellion. without hard data to support any further lockdown measures, the rebellion would only be larger.

labour is calling for the government now to publish all relevant data and scientific advice, they say to reassure the public that borisjohnson isn'tjust capitulating to his own party. there's often been a spirit of goodwill during the covid crisis but you can't entirely keep politics out of a pandemic. the us health authorities have halved the recommended isolation 0ne one of the braze is the amount of people self isolating. this next ray might be of interest here. the us health authorities have halved the recommended isolation period for people who test positive for covid nineteen, but don't exhibit 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. it comes as new york city made it compulsory for everyone aged 12 and above to be fully vaccinated against covid, in order to access indoor entertainment

and sports activities. it has also become the first us city to require vaccines for all private sector workers; jabs are already mandatory for state employees. new york city's mayor explained why the measures were being taken now. we make history in new york city. and we lead the nation with the strongest vaccine mandate anywhere, private sector vaccine mandate, reaching hundreds of thousands of businesses. and we put this mandate into action as 0micron was coming, but we had no idea it would be quite this intense, but we knew, with 0micron coming, with cold weather, it was time to do more. well, thank god we did, because these mandates have been absolutely necessary to keep this city going. the reason the city keeps going, the reason we are open when some other places are shut down, is because of our focus on vaccination, because we used mandates and incentives. we got to double down, because one thing we can all agree, and i've talked to a lot of business

leaders about this, covid is bad for humans, it's bad for our health, but it's also bad for business. joining me now is dr syra madad, infectious disease epidemiologist at harvard belfer centre. syra is also senior director of the system wide special pathogens programme in new york city health and hospitals. lovely to have you with us. i went to talk about new york and a second, but i want to get to these changes on the cdc advice and guidance, because it's of interest to us here in the uk. 0ne because it's of interest to us here in the uk. one of the concerns, of course for all countries is the number of doctors and nurses who are having to isolate and hospitals. do you think this approach, cutting the amount of time the isolate, having it, effectively, could be the way to go? it, effectively, could be the way to io? �* , ~ it, effectively, could be the way to io? �* , , ~ ., it, effectively, could be the way to go? absolutely. we are seeing staff shortaes go? absolutely. we are seeing staff shortages around _ go? absolutely. we are seeing staff shortages around the _ go? absolutely. we are seeing staff shortages around the nation - go? absolutely. we are seeing staff shortages around the nation at - go? absolutely. we are seeing staff shortages around the nation at a - shortages around the nation at a time where cases are increasing at

an alarming rate. so when we are looking at the science, this is not just based on non—science —based approach is commenced based on science and data, which show is that you can safely type isolation periods in half if you are asymptomatic and added tests based strategy to get to see if they can return to work. i think that's very important because we want to make sure that as people come in for health care needs, they have that health care needs, they have that health care worker there at their beds by providing that care, so it's important that this has happened. it's even now important that the cdc has opened it up to the general public, obviously more provisions and safety measures, but this is a good sign because it's following the science. ., ., ., ., ., , science. prior to have that advisory is --eole science. prior to have that advisory is peeple who _ science. prior to have that advisory is people who have _ science. prior to have that advisory is people who have got _ science. prior to have that advisory is people who have got their - science. prior to have that advisory. is people who have got their booster shot do not need to quarantine if they are exposed to someone with the omicron variance, but they should wear a mask for ten days after exposure, which like the mayor was saying there, it's about keeping people in the economy where sensible. . , . sensible. that is correct. absolutely. _ sensible. that is correct. absolutely. we - sensible. that is correct. absolutely. we want - sensible. that is correct. absolutely. we want to l sensible. that is correct. - absolutely. we want to make sure that we have sustainable and

flexible policies in place that people can abide by. when you are asking people to isolate for ten days, if they are positive and have a break their infection, that is really hard, but if you are able to follow science and show that you are most contagious within that five day period and are able to safely return to normal activities in the general public with a mask on, i think that's a really great call. when i look across _ that's a really great call. when i look across europe _ that's a really great call. when i look across europe to _ that's a really great call. when i look across europe to my - that's a really great call. when i look across europe to my get i that's a really great call. when i | look across europe to my get the sense that governments are starting to harden their approach to vaccine mandates. you are starting to see that they are in new york. families going out to her taking children out with them now have to ensure that children are vaccinated. do you see a 0—tolerance approach developing their new york city? i a 0-tolerance approach developing their new york city?— their new york city? i think for his ci tends their new york city? i think for his city tends to _ their new york city? i think for his city tends to be — their new york city? i think for his city tends to be the _ their new york city? i think for his city tends to be the model - their new york city? i think for his city tends to be the model for - their new york city? i think for his city tends to be the model for the | city tends to be the model for the rest of the nation and also ready for the rest of the world. what happens in terms of a public health policy here is usually early because we tend to be the of anything going on, we were the epicentre and comfort first hit the us and again

we are the epicentre as we look at omicron cases significantly increasing. the public health policies that tend to be rolled out here are good models because we try to follow the signs and do what is best for the public, and we know vaccine mandates were, and as we look at children, we are seeing an astounding rise in cases in hospitalisation in the paediatric population. we know vaccines work. anyway we can protect our children so they can resume normal lives, i think that is a plus. $5 so they can resume normal lives, i think that is a plus.— think that is a plus. as you say, it's about _ think that is a plus. as you say, it's about exporting it _ think that is a plus. as you say, it's about exporting it to other i it's about exporting it to other states in the country, the problem is that 40% of donald trump supporters are still in vaccinated. doesn't help that over the christmas period the former president seems to have changed his view on vaccines and boosters. you have changed his view on vaccines and boosters— and boosters. you know, i think it is a vaccine _ and boosters. you know, i think it is a vaccine first _ and boosters. you know, i think it is a vaccine first approach, - and boosters. you know, i think it is a vaccine first approach, but. is a vaccine first approach, but it's not a vaccine on the approach, so he certainly emphasised the need for vaccinating everybody, especially those that are on vaccinated and then boosting those who are fully vaccinated and ensure

that we have mask sign at indoor public spaces. so these are all important measures that we need to do coupling together,.— do coupling together,. lovely to have ou do coupling together,. lovely to have you in _ do coupling together,. lovely to have you in the _ do coupling together,. lovely to have you in the programme. - do coupling together,. lovely to i have you in the programme. thank do coupling together,. lovely to - have you in the programme. thank you for coming on. have you in the programme. thank you for coming on-— the french government has announced new measures, to deal with a spike in covid infections. working from home will become obligatory again where possible, for at least three days a week — although schools will open on schedule in the first week of january. there are also no plans to impose an evening curfew, but there will be limits on the size of audiences for indoor and outdoor events. 0ur correspondent hugh schofield told us the latest. there was a cabinet meeting, a special cabinet meeting, this afternoon convened by president macron at a distance. he's down in the south of france and he spoke via video link with his government up in paris, because of, as you were saying, the huge growth of omicron—related covid, and they're projecting a really very, very sharp increase in the data.

even maybe they're talking about 250,000 cases a day by early january. it's the same, of course, here as it is in other european countries, and what's interesting is that, so far, this unprecedented wave of covid has not been followed by the kind of crisis in the hospitals that we've had with previous waves. they draw some cautious optimism from that, but they're also very worried, which is why they are instituting these new measures to try and slow down the rate. there's nothing drastic here. people had been talking about curfews, maybe particularly on new year's eve. there's no new year's eve curfew. people had been talking about delaying the start of the school term next monday. no, that's not going to happen. that is going to remain the day that school reopens after christmas holidays. but there are these other measures, for example, new limits to the number of people at stadiums

— 5,000 at football matches and so on, 2,000 for indoor events — this new push on home working, mandatory three days a week, maybe four if possible for companies, and a new rule about consuming drinks and food at bars and restaurants. you can only do that sitting down. that's a return to a rule we had before. this is all for three weeks. so it's not a drastic change, but it is a change which will make people, the hope is, think twice about going out, think twice about their behaviour, think twice about maybe some of the habits of covering up and so on which they've dropped and lost in the last month, where we've seen people beginning to think that it was all over, but it obviously isn't. let's get some of the day's other news. these politicians trying to pick their way to the crisis. let's get some of the day's other news. a frenchman held in iran for more

than 18 months on espionage charges has begun a hunger strike to protest at his detention conditions benjamin briere, 36, was arrested in iran last may, allegedly while flying a drone and taking photographs in a prohibited area. he denies the accusations. geologists in iceland are warning that a series of tremors near the capital reykjavik could signal that a new volcanic eruption is on the way. thousands of mini quakes have been recorded in recent days — experts say the cause is magma moving beneath the earth's surface. talks aimed at salvaging the 2015 iran nuclear deal have resumed in vienna. negotiations restarted in november after a five—month hiatus following the election of iran's new ultra—conservative president ebrahim raisi. the hope is to bring the us back into the fold, after it withdrew from the accord in 2018 under then president donald trump. south africa has begun a week of events to commemorate the life of archbishop desmond tutu. the anti—apartheid leader died on sunday, aged 90.

the bells of cape town's st george's cathedral, where he was archbishop for 10 years, will toll for 10 minutes every day at noon — until friday. table mountain and the city hall in cape town will be lit up in purple every night ahead of his funeral on the first of january. purple to represent the colour of his clerical robes. here are the pictures from earlier today of south african president cyril ramaphosa arriving at the archbishop's residence, to to offer condolences to his widow leah and the other family members. 0ur correspondent nomsa maseko is in cape town — outside st george's cathedral. earlier she described what people have been saying to her about desmond tutu. people are reflecting about archbishop desmond tutu as a man who was small in stature but had a big heart. after all, he was the man who was chosen by nelson mandela

to head the reconciliation process here back in 1994, when south africa became a democracy. a lot of people speak about the man who played a prominent role in ensuring that south africa does indeed become a democracy. so he wasn'tjust respected here in this country, but all over the world, and also with world leaders having paid their own tribute, speaking about the man, describing desmond tutu as a moral compass not just for south africa, but also for them in their respective countries. a reminder of our top stories. no new covid restrictions are to be introduced in england before the new year, despite a record number of cases on christmas day. america's top health body has halved the recommended isolation period for asymptomatic americans with covid—19 from ten days to five.

the cost of global shipping has risen dramatically this year, as supply chains around the world battle with the impact of the covid pandemic. it's led to frustrating delays for businesses struggling to meet consumer demand, but also to tens of billions of pounds of profits for shipping companies. 0ur global trade correspondent chris morris reports. on a misty morning in leedsjust before christmas, at long last, a container arrives, all the way from china. cheering. this family—run business develops and designs fun gifts, and this is the busiest time of year. 90% of their stock is made in china. it helps keep consumer prices down. but nearly all deliveries in 2021 have been late. several containers, full of christmas gifts, won't get here untiljanuary. if we don't get this stock to them today, the order�*s gone. it's been a year of good business, but increasing delays and rising costs.

it was delayed three weeks getting out of china. it was delayed another month on the sea. so you can see there that we've lost, for a seasonal business... you know, this is stock that people can't buy, until the last minute. it really hurts for a small business like ours. this is where the container came from, ningbo, nearshanghai. the trouble is, there aren't enough empty containers in china to meet the demand for sending goods around the world. covid shutdowns and delays have put global supply chains out of kilter. we already know it's a sensitive system. the evergiven, the ship that blocked the suez canal for six days in march, caused massive backlogs, but it's covid that's done the real damage. container lines are run like train lines. they have schedules, and they're meant to call at fixed times for fixed durations, and that'sjust not happening, because they can't.

and the of sending shipping containers by sea has risen dramatically. it has absolutely gone crazy this year. so if you're looking at short—term freight rates from asia to europe, you're looking at a 366% increase. longer—term rates, locked in 12 months in advance, have gone up even more. the shipping container industry is on course to make vast record profits this year. ports are working longer hours to keep trade moving. more ships are on order. but it will take time for things to settle down. the huge disruption caused by covid—19 has exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains. in some ways, they've held up remarkably well, given the scale of the pandemic, but it's been a reminder for all of us of how dependent we've become on getting shipping containers delivered around the world on schedule. one option is to increase local production. they're starting to do a bit of that here in leeds. but don't expect globalisation to retreat any time soon. this is still a hyper connected world, and now 0micron is creating more challenges for the supply chains we take for granted. chris morris, bbc news. more now on covid in the uk

and the english premier league has announced 103 new coronavirus cases among club players and staff — the highest weekly number recorded since testing figures were first circulated in may last year. the league has also confirmed it has reverted to emergency measures following a raft of top—flight postponements. here's the bbc sport's chetan pathak, speaking earlier. the premier league could have come to a pause, but the clubs met last monday to discuss the busy fixture list which has already seen a number of postponements in december, but it was decided to keep going, even though some managers were against that. the rest of the major european football leagues are all in the usual winter breaks at the moment. in scotland, we have seen the premiership brought forward because of covid.

it started after yesterday's matches. spectator numbers have been capped. wales has imposed restrictions. nothing in england, the premier league is trying to continue as normal, despite, as you say, a record premier league players and testing positive for covid including boxing day. the liverpool manager was asked about this earlier before tomorrow's trip. he's long voiced his frustrations about the number of games traditionally played during christmas and new year, but given that the coronavirus cases, he says it's not right that so many games are being played after boxing day, especially when it means some teams are playing just 48 hours after their last game. it's a great fixture. everyone loves it, it's great for the people and players. really good for everybody. after that, we do not stop discussing, because if we don't discuss it, it stays like this, maybe it stays anyways like this, but the players need help and help needs to come from other areas,

this case, the coaches and players, we have to deal with all of this, which is why we are pretty clear about that. jurgen klopp there, captainjordan henderson gabriela camara is a star in the culinary world, a mexican chef running successful restaurants in both her home country and in the united states. she's been a "masterclass" instructor and an advisor to the mexican president. camara also insists food can be a tool for social good. she's been speaking to the bbc about the intersection of cooking and cultural identity. my name is gabriela camara. i am a chef here in mexico city. my start in that restauranter was in 1998 when i open my first restaurant. it was sort of serendipitous but has become an institution in the city.

i have since opened quite a few restaurants, 15, to be exact. in mexico, we have not only incredible ingredients, but gastronomy as a cultural heritage, that we are very much into protecting, now that food has become such a hip pain and worthy into protecting, now that food has become such a hip thing and worthy of travel and worthy of visits from foreigners to mexico, and worthy of mexicans cooking abroad our incredible food. i feel very proud to be presenting the world with a sophistication that most people who are not familiar with mexican food are really surprised by. i do believe mexican gastronomy is way up there with indian, chinese, french, italian, wonderful cuisines. restaurants, i believe, have become an engine of social change because chefs have gotten

so much attention and food has gotten so much attention. i believe, especially after the pandemic, we have realised how major in our health what we eat is. so i think that combined with how much attention food has, how social media has become such a, you know, food has become an eye candy for social media and for travel and it's an attraction, and chefs, we have sort of become personalities that we didn't used to be. restau ra nts restaurants have become places where we think about how we live and the way that we live. i've been very lucky to be able to observe this magnificence cultural heritage that we have in mexico through food and ingredients and traditions. that most people don't know of, so when they come to mexico, not only do they discover, you know, how colourful

and beautiful and extraordinarily attractive in terms of aesthetics mexico is, but also how delicious and sophisticated and complex it's flavours are. indeed so. a specialist search and rescue dog that's been missing for nearly a week was today found safe and well. juno was last seen during a walk near great yarmouth in norfolk. her owner's been out looking for her every day, has barely slept, here he is just moments after a very emotional reunion — describing how he is feeling. emotional back there, as he probably got on camera. you know, i'm just terribly humbled by what people are willing to deal for people in their community. that's what this rescue is all about. a, community. that's what this rescue is all about-— is all about. a happy christmas sto . is all about. a happy christmas story- more — is all about. a happy christmas story. more sadly, _ the canadian filmmaker jean—marc vallee, whose work included the oscar—winning film dallas buyers club and

the young victoria has died at the age of 58. the montreal born filmmaker also won an emmy award for his work. hello there. the big weather story for the rest of this week, and of course that means the rest of this year, is all about exceptionally high temperatures. this chart shows the temperature compared with the average. as these deep red colours spread northwards across the chart, that shows that temperatures will be significantly higher than we'd expect them to be at this time of year. daytime highs of 16—17 degrees, some very mild nights. there will be some rain at times as well, and during tuesday, it's this area of low pressure responsible for bringing some wet weather. and on the southern flank of that low, also some quite windy weather. so, as our area of low pressure slides eastwards, we will see outbreaks of rain

through the morning across parts of england and wales. a lot of mist and murk and low cloud around as well. should brighten up from the west. northern ireland and scotland certainly turning brighter by the afternoon. 0nce any early fog has lifted, there should be quite a lot of sunshine around. relatively light winds in the north, but down towards the south, particularly for western and southern coasts, we're likely to see gusts of 40—50, maybe 55 mph. and still quite a split in temperatures for the time being. 5—6 degrees in northern scotland, 12—13 in southern england. then as we head through tuesday night into the early part of wednesday, a drier, quieter interlude before another band of rain swings its way in from the west. a little bit chilly again across northern parts of scotland, very mild down towards wales and the south west of england. and for wednesday, that band of rain associated with the frontal system will continue to journey its way north—eastwards, so we will see some wet weather for a time on wednesday. clearing many areas quite quickly. that rain lingering, though, for a good part of the afternoon in northern scotland. behind it, there will be some spells of sunshine, some areas of cloud, too. but some increasingly mild conditions, 15—16 degrees in the south, 13 there for belfast,

ten in glasgow. the milder air is journeying northwards. it will continue to do so on thursday. quite a cloudy day for many, some mist and murk, some rain especially in the west. best chance of any sunshine in eastern parts, but highs of 16 or maybe 17 degrees. but even northern scotland will be up into double digits by this stage. another quite windy day in prospect. for friday, new year's eve, a lot of cloud around, some rain, especially in the west. best of any sunshine in the east, and still milder than it should be for the end of december. highs of 11—16 degrees.

this is bbc news. the headlines — no new covid restrictions are to be introduced in england before the new year despite a record number of cases on christmas day. the government says people should remain cautious and that the situation is being monitored carefully. america's top health body has halved the recommended isolation period for americans with asymptomatic covid from ten days to five. it comes as a surge in cases causes travel chaos and threatens wider social disruption. france has become the latest european country to tighten restrictions in the face of rapidly rising cases. employees are being told to work from home at least three days a week where possible. cape town's city hall has been bathed in purple light to honour archbishop desmond tutu, south africa's anti—apartheid leader, who died on sunday.