this is bbc news. the headlines... new figures show that covid—related absences in acute nhs trusts in england went up by more than a0 % during christmas week. in his new year's message, borisjohnson has urged people in the uk to take a covid test before celebrating tonight. and the party is already under way in new zealand — this is the scene in auckland as it sees in the new year. in other news — firefighters are battling one of the most destructive ever wildfires in the us state of colorado — more than 30,000 people have been forced to evacuate. the ymca has been offering shelter to families left homeless.

it is hundreds and hundreds of people that have come through and that number is now about 600 homes destroyed in this area. "relieved and grateful" — the victims of ghislaine maxwell have been speaking after she was convicted of grooming girls to be abused byjeffery epstein — her family say they can't accept the verdict. joe biden has again told president vladimir putin that the us and its allies will respond decisively if russia does not de—escalate tensions on his country's border with ukraine. and are you getting ready for your new year's resolutions? we ask — are they really a good thing? before we move to today's news, let's go back to that light show in the new zealand capital auckland as new zealanders welcome in the new year.

it isa it is a light show and that is because there are no fireworks this time. the traditional... hang on, there are fireworks. i was misinformed. the information was that would be no firework because i didn't want crowd to gather and there would be a light so you could watch from home, but as you can see, there are lights and fireworks. it is not the first place welcoming in 2022. the first base around the world was some specific islands, including the lime island. and that was an hour ago. now, at 11am our time, it is new zealand, the tiny pacific island of tonga and samoa

kicking off the chain of celebrations around the world and the last of all to bring in 2022 will be tiny outlying islands of the united states. this isjust about the start of it. this is auckland harbour bridge and the guy tower with a light show under way after 128 days of 2021 spent in lockdown. new figures show staff absences caused by covid at nhs acute trusts in england rose by more than 40% per cent in the week to boxing day. hospitals in northampton, sheffield and rotherham have temporarily suspended visiting due to the high number of 0micron cases. an average of more than 25,000 health workers were off sick or isolating each day. london was again the worst hit

with about 4% of staff in acute trusts absent — up by nearly 60% on the week before. borisjohnson has praised what he called the "heroic" vaccination effort across the country. the government says its met its target of offering all adults in england a boosterjab. but nhs bosses say some vaccination centres have reported that as many as 40% of people failed to turn up for booked appointments. mrjohnson has resisted calls to impose new regulations in england despite rising covid cases across the country. but there are tighter restrictions in scotland, wales, and northern ireland. with me is our health correspondentjim reed. so, gym, big levels and high levels of absence in the nhs. what impact will that be having? this of absence in the nhs. what impact will that be having?— will that be having? this is the thin that will that be having? this is the thing that help _ will that be having? this is the thing that help buses - will that be having? this is the thing that help buses are - will that be having? this is the - thing that help buses are concerned about. they say it's a bigger concern for them. the number of

people coming into hospital with covid—19 because of the disruption it can cause, so to go through the statistics again, every day, on average, in england, in the week before christmas, 25,000, just over 25,000 staff were absent. this is in acute hospital trusts because of covid—19. that is about one third of all absences now in those trusts that are down. it could be people self—isolating because they themselves have been infected, they could have to do seven days because i had a household contact in the same way. a combination of both things. if you look at the hospital, this is when it becomes clearer. if you look at the worst hit, you mentioned london so great all in three, the children's hospital in london. every day, there were 383 staff before christmas off work because of covid—19. that was up 43% on the previous week. that eight to 10% of staff that are now off every

day because of covid—19. that is concerning because there are high numbers as well in sheffield, bath and like i say, this is what they are concerned about, and there were calls yesterday to give priority access to nhs staff a lateral flow tests, there has been some concern that they have to access the tests the same way as the general public and there are some calls for them to be given priority access because if they are self—isolating due to household contacts, they need to get back to work quickly with their stats. ~ . . . back to work quickly with their stats. ~ . u, , back to work quickly with their stats. . ., stats. what can those hospitals do to deal with _ stats. what can those hospitals do to deal with absences? _ stats. what can those hospitals do i to deal with absences? presumably, there are not people that can be called on to come in. how are they working with it? is there a wider strategy to address this issue going forward? i strategy to address this issue going forward? ~ , ., ., forward? i think it is a real concern — forward? i think it is a real concern for _ forward? i think it is a real concern for hospitals - forward? i think it is a real| concern for hospitals going forward? i think it is a real- concern for hospitals going forward and you might have to see some routine treatments getting cancelled you've very soon as you mentioned in the introduction, some visiting

hours curtailed to try and stop incidental infections. in the press today, there is talk of potentially cutting the isolation period for staff that work in the nhs down from the seven days, before it was ten daysin the seven days, before it was ten days in england, now down to seven with lateral flow testing for a couple of days, but in other countries, in the united states for example, they have cut that down to five days and there are some calls to do the same thing in this country. at the moment, the level of staff absences is manageable, i think, but i think the concern is what happened over the next couple of weeks, because when you have got 189,000 people a day as we had yesterday testing positive in the uk, obviously, a chunk of those are going to be hospital and nhs staff and people working in other parts of the health service, 999 call operators, ambulance staff and that is a concern going forward into january. the prime minister has urged people to take a covid test before attending new year's eve parties this evening. there is continued concern over the availability of coronavirus

tests — ministers have promised millions of additional rapid test kits will be delivered to pharmacies. matt graveling reports. this is how london rang in 2020. but this year, like last, will feel very different for many people. for the second year running, london's famous new year's eve fireworks celebrations have been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. in comparison this year, restrictions have eased. there are vaccinations and tests also available. but with coronavirus infections in record numbers, how will people choose to celebrate? well, that does depend on where you are. no new restrictions have been introduced in england but the government is urging people to take a lateral flow test and celebrate outdoors, if possible. we're not as stressed about it as we used to be. also the club where we're going, you have to have a covid pass.

i feel pretty safe going there, to be honest. i've been a little bit worried. i have asthma, so it's a little bit like that's it. just be careful. would you have gone out had it not been for covid? yeah, 100%. in scotland, new rules mean many hogmanay events are cancelled. mixing is limited to three households and social distancing measures are in place in hospitality venues. it's looking 0k. it's not looking anything like we would be hoping to have at this time of year. this is when we hope, as well as the bells ringing, the tills are ringing. and that isn't happening this year. in northern ireland, only three households will be able to mix. nightclubs are closed and dancing is banned in hospitality venues. groups of no more than six can meet in pubs in wales. nightclubs are closed and indoor gatherings limited to 30 people. for some, they are taking their celebrations on the road, crossing the border into england. we've come up from bridgend to spend new year's eve in london and we're hoping to come down here and see some fireworks.

it's all banned in wales, so we've come here to enjoy it. crossing the border for new year's is legal and while the welsh government is asking people to act conscientiously, the scottish government has urged people not to travel to england to party. there are still concerns over the availability of lateral flow tests but the government has pledged that 8 million additional tests will be delivered to pharmacies by today. wales has already loaned 4 million tests to england. health secretary sajid javid has pledged that the uk supply will be tripled early next year to 300 million per month. so, the message for tonight... take a test before any celebrations and kick off the new year in a cautious and sensible way. matt graveling, bbc news. firefighters north of the us city of denver in colorado are battling what has quickly become the most destructive wildfire in the modern history of the state. at least 300 homes have been destroyed, along with a hotel and a shopping centre.

more than 30,000 people have had to evacuate, as well as patients and staff at one hospital. the us federal emergency management agency has released funds for disaster relief. get out while you can, was the message from rescue services in colorado. a state of emergency was declared as hundreds of homes were swallowed by flames and upwards of 30,000 residents were told to evacuate from the towns of superior and louisville near the rocky mountains. what are you taking with you? two kids, a dog, two cats and my husband! just saw some smoke at first - and then itjust ended up getting bigger and bigger and bigger as the wind picked up. - and pretty soon it was, like, the whole neighbourhood i was pretty much engulfed. taking to the roads, residents fleeing the flames. right now they're trying to evacuate as much as they can and trying

to get people going back to the east. the governor of colorado has declared a state of emergency. with no warning. gusts of 100mph, 110mph, can and have moved this fire down a football field in a matter of seconds. very little time to get out, very little time to even get the most important parts of your life. preliminarily, the reportsi were downed power lines, and we had deputies in the area who confirmed there _ were downed power lines. so, we believe that'sj what caused the fire. that assessment, and the actual. determination of that will be made for real and for final probably in the next couple of days. i it's winter in colorado and experts say recent weather conditions are to blame. we are in an extreme drought in this part of the state here, because we haven't gotten much

moisture, and so you add that with incredibly strong winds, like what we're seeing out there right now, and itjust makes an already bad situation worse in terms of fire crews trying to get a handle on the fire. those fire crews will welcome the news that snow is forecast in denver and eastern colorado in the coming hours, which it's hoped will help to control the fires. louise pilbeam, bbc news. i've been speaking to chris coker from the ymca in northern colorado, which has been offering shelter to families who have had to flee their homes. it is so bad, so much of it as platitudes come about. you say things to them like oh, it is just material stuff, you are all here and it is ok, but think of all the family history which has been lost on those houses, their childhood memories and wedding photos and christenings and all that is gone. and so it is not easy to offer any

comfort. the other thing that has been very interesting is that so many of these people were snatched from their homes and we have people that haven't left their homes in two years. they were recluses, shut—ins due to covid. some had significant health issues and the ambulances were just grabbing them from the homes and dropping them on us and then we were trying to find placements for them at other hospitals and locations. the health issues that we have seen come through the work has been significant.— through the work has been siunificant. ., ., ., through the work has been siunificant. . ., ., ., significant. can you pay more of a icture significant. can you pay more of a picture than _ significant. can you pay more of a picture than what _ significant. can you pay more of a picture than what you've - significant. can you pay more of a picture than what you've just - picture than what you've just described there? the way that it was working and obviously people coming, it sounds like some people will have needed particular medications and they didn't even have those. 140. needed particular medications and they didn't even have those. no, the da started they didn't even have those. no, the day started and _ they didn't even have those. no, the day started and i _ they didn't even have those. no, the day started and i was _ they didn't even have those. no, the day started and i was driving - they didn't even have those. no, the day started and i was driving into - day started and i was driving into boulder, my dog went mental and i was driving in and i called my friend in chicago and said it was a blustery day. iface

friend in chicago and said it was a blustery day. i face timed him and showed him the wind and he said, well, is that bad? in colorado, these are what are called the chinook winds and they come off the mountains at 5000 feet of altitude and the mountains go to 111,000 feet, and the mountains go to 111,000 feet, and so they go and gust up to 100 miles an hour when we have this. that knocked over power lines and we are in the middle of the drought, we haven't had any appreciable rain for several months and there is no snow on the ground right now. all that combined, those power lines in heavily populated areas, this morning at 9:30am or 10am, there was no fire and by 60 m, 400 homes had burned. and so it was very fast—moving and very devastating and you couldn't combat it, you just had to get people out of the way and with that being said, the police department, fire department and

ambulance services were just pulling people out of their houses, going door—to—door and trying to get people away ahead of this firestorm, literally. people away ahead of this firestorm, literall . , ., ~ ., people away ahead of this firestorm, literall . , ., ~' ., ~ ~ literally. chris coker of the ymca talkin: to literally. chris coker of the ymca talking to me _ literally. chris coker of the ymca talking to me earlier. _ the latest headlines on bbc news... new figures show that covid—related absences in acute nhs trusts in england went up by more than 40% during christmas week. in his new year's message borisjohnson has urged people in the uk to take a covid test before celebrating tonight. and in the last few minutes, the party has begun in new zealand, with a lightshow in auckland harbour. sport and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre. good morning. manchester united finish out the year in the top six — as they've done every year since 1989. they beat burnley 3—1 at old trafford last night, extending their unbeaten run under new manager ralf rangnick with a nod

from the fans to their former boss ahead of his 80th birthday. 0ur sports correspondent andy swiss reports. 0n the eve of sir alex ferguson's 80th birthday, could the current manchester united give him the perfect present? seven minutes in against burnley, and scott mctominay duly obliged. he certainly enjoyed it, but he wasn't alone. burnley�*s night soon got even worse. first jadon sancho's deflected effort doubled united's lead. and when mctominay�*s shot rebounded to cristiano ronaldo, it was 3—0 and it was surely game over. not quite, as aaron lennon pulled one back for burnley at the end of a breathless first half. after the break, it was united that threatened once more. burnley keeper wayne hennessey denying first mctominay and then edison cavani, his brilliance matched only by his bravery. but united held on for a 3—1 victory, which moves them up to sixth and which ends their year on a winning note. andy swiss, bbc news. manchester city defender joao cancelo says he suffered cuts

to the face after attempting to fight off a gang of robbers at his home. cancelo posted an image of his injuries on instagram, claiming four cowards took all his jewellery and left him with a facial injury. in a club statement manchester city said... watford's emanuel dennis will no longer be in the nigeria squad for the african nations, the reason for his absence hasn't been confirmed, he is one of four changes to the original 28 man squad and that kicks off in cameroon on sunday, 9th of january after being delayed by a year due to coronavirus. thomas tuchel has spoken out on striker romelu lukaku after he gave an interview

in which he said he was "not happy" with his situation at chelsea. the interview is understood to have taken place three weeks ago but did not go down well with tuchel, who's been speaking ahead of his side's home game against liverpool on sunday. i don't like it. of course, because it brings noise that we don't need and it is not helpful. 0n the other side, we don't want to make more out of it than actually is. you know very well how it is. it is very easy to take lines out of context, it is very easy to shorten lines, make headlines and then later realised that it headlines and then later realised thatitis headlines and then later realised that it is not so bad. and maybe not what he meant. but let's be honest, we don't like it, i don't like it, like i said because it is noise that we don't need. we need a calm environment and focus and this does

not help. australia batter travis head has tested positive for covid and will miss the fourth ashes test against england in sydney, which starts late tuesday. he'll remain in melbourne and isolate for seven days in line with health requirements. head is australia's leading run—scorer in the ashes, a series they've already won with two test matches still to play. there are doubts about whether cricket's twenty20 big bash league in australia can continue following multiple positive covid cases. today's adelaide strikers v sydney thunder game is going ahead — despite four thunder players testing positive. there's live commentary now on radio 5 live sports extra. meanwhile seven players and eight support staff at the melbourne stars have tested positive putting their next match onjanuary 2nd in serious doubt. 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. victims of ghislaine maxwell have

been speaking of their relief at the guilty verdicts in her sex trafficking trial in new york. she now faces a lengthy prison sentence after being convicted for grooming underage girls to be abused by the disgraced financier, jeffrey epstein. her family are backing an appeal against her conviction. simonjones has this report. described in court as partners in crime, running a pyramid scheme of abuse, the british former socialite ghislaine maxwell would groom underage girls for american financierjeffrey epstein. he killed himself injail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. she could spend the rest of her life behind bars, to the relief of their victims. we have a lot of work to do in this country in terms of holding people accountable, and educating about things like grooming. i didn't know when i was 16. i had no idea, i'd never heard that term — i didn't understand what was happening to me, this combination of being given gifts and positive attention

and also having this abuse and these boundary violations. ghislaine maxwell's victims say her conviction shows perpetrators of sexual abuse will face justice no matter how much power and privilege they have. in an interview with the bbc, her brother said the maxwell family supports an appeal against her conviction. no, i'm not saying that they are lying. i mean, it may well be they were victims ofjeffrey epstein but i do not accept they were victims of ghislaine. that is my position, and that's also her position. in court, the jury decided the women were telling the truth, that ghislaine maxwell was notjust a passive bystander to the crimes ofjeffrey epstein but a sexual predator in her own right. her trial is just one of the court cases in the us arising from the activities of epstein. another is a civil lawsuit by virginia giuffre, formerly known as virginia roberts, against prince andrew, alleging sexual assault.

prince andrew has always strongly denied her claims. mr maxwell, can we have a statement on behalf of the family, please? lawyers for ghislaine maxwell say they have already started work on her appeal. simon jones, bbc news. president biden has told the russian leader, vladimir putin that he must de—escalate the tensions on his country's border with ukraine or the us and its allies will respond decisively. the two men spoke by telephone for 50 minutes. the white house said the conversation was serious and substantive. gail maclellan reports. the us president made the call the russian president had requested. the conversation between two of the world's most powerful men lasted 50 minutes. afterwards, the white house released a statement.

a senior white house official described the tone of the conversation as serious and substantive, but said the russian president had given no indication of what he will do regarding ukraine, but said both leaders expressed their support for continuing diplomacy. this military activity is what sparked the telephone call. russia insists around 100,000 of its tanks and troops massed on the ukraine border are there for military drills and denies an invasion is planned. president putin is demanding assurances from the west that ukraine will not be invited to join the military alliance of nato's 30 countries, which he sees as a threat to russia. talks are the second in recent weeks in a bid to de—escalate tensions. earlier this month, the spoke via video link wherejoe biden told the russian leader there would be severe economic consequences if ukraine is invaded, but ruled out us military action. bright lights in ukraine's capital,

kiev, but the country sits in the glare of a diplomatic crisis. despite the festive atmosphere, many here are still nervous of what the new year might bring. gail maclellan, bbc news. two teenage boys have been stabbed to death in london within an hour of each another. a murder investigation has been launched following the death of a 16—year—old boy in hillingdon, west london. an hour earlier, a 15—year—old boy was found fatally wounded in ashburton park in croydon. police say it's too early to say whether the two incidents, which were more than 20 miles apart, were linked. 30 teenagers have now been killed in london this year — the highest level since 2008. train passengers are being advised to alter their new year's eve plans because of planned strike action. cross country has cancelled services across england, scotland and wales and will be operating a "very limited timetable" on other routes.

southern has also announced none of its trains will run to or from london victoria until the 10th of january because of staff shortages caused by covid. it's the time for new year resolutions — but they're often quickly abandoned. so what's the best way to make lasting changes in our lives? and should we be putting so much pressure on ourselves anyway? so is it worth making a new years resolution or are we just conditioned to do it? psychologist and author susie pearl can explain. we are conditioned to do it. i think it is a very good thing to do because otherwise unless we know where we want to go, it is very difficult to get where you're planning. so, to actually think and consider what you want for the year ahead is a fantastic thing to do. it gets your brain in gear to consider what you want, and that can get you excited, more positive, and let's face it, we've all had, globally, a very difficult couple of years. this year, more than

ever, i think it is very important for us to set some really strong new year resolutions to go forward fresh. now you know. this is bbc news and it is time through weather update. it certainly doesn't feel like the end of december there are an exceptionally mild day, in fact, their warmest new year's eve on record. temperatures a few degrees above where our previous record stood at 14.8 celsius in 2011. blustery at times in the south and west, after the morning rain across england and wales, a good deal of brightness around, some sunshine and some of the best you have seen over two weeks. in parts of scotland, still got outbreaks of rain, it is patchy and temperature still above average though cooler there. highs of 16 or 17. as a going to this evening, we have got cloud and rain

in the west returning with some outbreaks of rain as we hit the midnight hour, many east areas will be dry with temperatures nine to 13 celsius. 2022 will be a warm start indeed. scotland will have rain for a while and fog and mist into the morning. temperatures lower as we start the day, dropping back a little bit from what we've seen in the nightjust gone, but still a mild day. there will be some sunshine around at times if you get out on new year's day, but we will see a band of showers push their way eastwards. very short lived, though it might last longer across southern counties and into the afternoon. some of the illustrious weather on the day. mostly dry with sunshine and mild, exceptionally mild at this stage injanuary. as we going to sunday, after another mild start, we

will see a bright start with showers developing widely, some will be thundery particularly across the north and the west of the country, temperatures dropping a little bit but still a good few degrees from where we should be this time of the year, this will change into next week, low pressure bringing rain and it works its way southward and eastward, colder air coming into the country, above average but lower temperatures for a short while. that plays out on our cities for the next week and what i need to point out is just how much those temperatures will drop relative to today.

this is bbc news, the headlines: new figures show that covid—related absences in acute nhs trusts in england went up by more than 40% during christmas week. in his new year's message borisjohnson has urged people in the uk to take a covid test before celebrating tonight. and they've already started ringing in the new year in new zealand, with a lightshow in auckland harbour. now on bbc news, review 2021, the royal year.