tonight at ten: as rules on the wearing of face coverings in england are eased, the health secretary says the omicron variant of coronavirus is in retreat. but he argues more nhs staff in england need to bejabbed england need to be jabbed and mandatory vaccinations is the right policy. it mandatory vaccinations is the right oli . , mandatory vaccinations is the right policy. it is the professional duty of every health _ policy. it is the professional duty of every health care _ policy. it is the professional duty of every health care worker, - policy. it is the professional duty of every health care worker, of. policy. it is the professional duty of every health care worker, of ai of every health care worker, of a social care worker, to get vaccinated to not only protect themselves but most of all to protect the people that they look after everyday. there's just a week to go before the deadline for health care workers to get a firstjab, or be moved away from front—line roles. also tonight... russia readies for possible conflict over ukraine, but says there is room for further dialogue with the west. portraits go on show of some of the uk's last remaining survivors of the nazi death camps,

on this, holocaust memorial day. borisjohnson denies he personally ordered the airlift of animals out of afghanistan. it's claimed emails from officials suggest otherwise. and tributes to one of the most influential comedy writers of his generation. and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel, arsenal are looking to arrest their poor league form in wsl — can they extend their lead at the top with the win over good evening. the health secretary, sajid javid, says a new chapter in the battle against coronavirus has begun, with the omicron variant now in retreat. today in england, restrictions in place since december, have been eased, meaning face

coverings are no longer mandatory indoors in most public spaces. but some businesses are still encouraging people to wear masks, including major supermarkets and rail operators. and face coverings will remain mandatory in public spaces in scotland, wales and northern ireland. england is also diverging from the other home nations on the issue of mandatory vaccines for nhs staff, with just a week to go before the deadline for health care workers to get theirfirstjab to be able to continue in a front—line role. latest figures show just over 5% or around 77,500 workers, are still unvaccinated. sajid javid maintains the policy, is right. with the latest, here's our health editor, hugh pym. i'mjocelyn, i've been a nurse for 13 years, and i'm not going to have the second dose of the vaccine. i'm pauline, i'm a mental health nurse for nearly 20 years and i do not agree with the compulsory covid—19 vaccination. they risk losing theirjobs because they don't want the jabs.

there's been a heated debate, not least on social media. the hashtag getvaccinated trended on twitter as doctors called for their colleagues to have the jab. i would want the choice. jocelyn is a community nurse. she says it should be a question of personal freedom rather than an order by the government. isn't the best way to protect patients to get fully vaccinated? would you give up your freedom, your, you know, your god given freedom of choice for a job? i think we should have the right to choose at this stage for our body about, is it right for us individually? there is nothing more insulting to a nurse than telling her that she's, you know, causing harm to her patients. one minute, the nurses, they were being clapped for and and they had to work through it and they didn't care about all this. and then all of a sudden, oh, by the way, if you don't get a jab,

you're going to lose yourjob. with england being the only nation with a mandate, pauline is considering looking for a job in wales. but dr chintal patel, who's a gp, is not against the mandatory nhs staff vaccine. for her, your freedom to choose is lost when that decision could impact on patient safety. i think if you are unvaccinated, then there is a risk that you are potentially exposing your patients to harm. up to a third of people do not mount an immune response to the infection, and actually vaccination provides a much better immune response and also reduces the risk of transmission. so i do think those that are patient—facing should be vaccinated. most health leaders are supporting compulsory vaccines for frontline staff. at the time of the consultation a majority of nhs leaders believed that mandating the vaccine had benefits to their services, benefits to their staff and their teams, and had benefits in terms of protecting the public

against transmissibility of the virus, but also in terms of building the public�*s confidence in the services that the nhs were providing. on saturday, those against the mandate made their voices heard. maternity staff turned out in large numbers. for them, bodily autonomy is fundamental to their profession. so i was going to ask about the protest. kathryn, who's a midwife, was at the march. medical experts are strongly recommending the vaccine. isn't that enough assurance for you? i believe history has shown us that all of us should make our own decisions when it comes to our health. she says if things don't change she'll leave her hampshire trust, but worries about the impact on care. i do understand everybody wants patient safety, but during a staffing crisis, that safety will be severely compromised with less staff, and this decision will assuredly provide less staff. there's now a week to go for unvaccinated nhs staff to have first doses.

ministers point to the fact that 95% have already had that firstjab. hugh pym, bbc news. some of the tightest restrictions during the pandemic have been on care homes, with very few visitors allowed inside. but from next monday, covid guidance in england will be further eased with no limits on the number of visitors. self—isolation periods will be cut and there will be changes on how to manage covid outbreaks. 0ur social affairs editor, alison holt has more. from monday, we've got unlimited visiting. at quarry house care home in bristol, they're going through details of today's announcement to make sure they are ready for monday. unlimited visiting is a welcome change, but it means having extra tests and ppe in place. should make a lot of people happy, fantastic. dorothy cook is one of the few family members who's been able to visit her sister regularly in recent weeks, so she can't wait for restrictions to be eased.

it will make things a lot easier, absolutely. she hasn't seen her nephews and nieces for a while, so that will be really good, so we can all come and take it in turns. the new guidance means from monday in care homes in england, there will be no limit on the number of visitors that residents can have. if they go out on a day trip, they'll no longer have to test or self—isolate when they return, and if there's a covid outbreak — so that means two or more staff or residents testing positive — then the length of time that the care home has to close its doors will be reduced from 28 days down to 14 days. at this care home, they believe vaccinations mean they can manage additional risk. so far, the guidance has been quite cautious on those measures, quite rightly. we're working with a vulnerable group of people in elderly care quite often with long—term conditions. but with all of those management processes we have put in place around the risk, it feels right to bring those restrictions down.

hi, mum, are you 0k? and visiting restrictions have taken their toll. kate believes her mum deteriorated when family contact was like this — behind a screen. now she's recognised as an essential caregiver, so can visit her mum whenever. she wants the role recognised in law. i've lost 18 months of her life| at a time when she needs her family around her most. so, it's vital that we get essential caregiver status put into law. - visiting restrictions have already eased in scotland. in northern ireland, up to four visitors are allowed, and in wales, decisions are based on local risk assessments. alison holt, bbc news. coronavirus cases in the uk remain stable, with nearly 97,000 recorded in the latest 24—hour period. on average, just under 91,000 new cases were reported per day in the last week.

the number of people in hospital with covid is 16,510, there were 338 deaths reported, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test, though there will be some who died of other causes. on average in the past week, 263 deaths were announced every day. 0n vaccinations, just over 37 million people have now had a boosterjab, which means 6a.5%% of those aged 12 and over, have now had three vaccine doses. hugh pym is with me. sajid javid says a new chapter in the battle against covid has opened, 0micron is in retreat. what is he basing that on? omicron is in retreat. what is he basing that on?— basing that on? yes, it's interesting _ basing that on? yes, it's interesting that - basing that on? yes, it's interesting that he's - basing that on? yes, it's i interesting that he's made basing that on? yes, it's - interesting that he's made those comments on a day when cases have continued to plateau, to level off. in england, between 80,000—90,000 a day, and with the same sort of story in scotland, wales and northern

ireland, levelling off even as all the nations of the uk are planning to ease off restrictions. now, the model is to say it's a bit difficult to see where things go from here. they'll need to monitor the data with the opening up of society around the uk. it has to be said though that in terms of serious illness, hospital admissions do continue to fall and are quite a lot below some of the worst case scenario predictions which had been made. for sajid javid there is a shorter term issue as we've been hearing about the nhs vaccine mandate in england and that deadline next week. now, government sources are saying the policy is unchanged, but they are reflecting on it and that includes looking at the possibility that's been put forward of adding boosters, so delaying the process, but not really ruling anything in or out. nhs leaders are broadly supportive of it in going ahead with it. we've learned this evening a small group of doctors say

they are planning to challenge the policy in the law courts was white hugh pym, many thanks. borisjohnson has rejected claims he personally authorised the airlift of animals to the uk from an afghan charity following the fall of kabul to the taliban. it comes after emails from officials suggested he'd intervened to help. labour says he's been "caught out lying". here's our political correspondent, damian grammaticas. they were desperate days. british citizens, afghans who'd worked with the british army, thousands at risk from the taliban who never made it out. but pen farthing did, along with his animals. dogs and cats cared for by his rescue charity were on one of the last planes out. today, borisjohnson again denied he'd had a hand in it. no, abso...and this whole thing is total rhubarb. i was very proud of what our armed services did with 0p pitting, and it was an amazing thing to move

15,000 people out of kabul in the way that we did. but an internal foreign office e—mail written at the time, leaked and relesaed yesterday says... campaigners for for the charity said mrjohnson agreed its staff were under threat. the prime minister understood those arguments, accepted them and did put those people on the evacuation list, working with the home secretary and the foreign secretary to get the wheels of whitehall moving. the evacuation, mrjohnson insists, was a success, it saved lives but left many others behind. so, once again, the issue is how truthful he's being now. somebody is lying about what happened during the events that led up to the evacuation of the animals from afghanistan, and i think it's become increasingly clear that the prime minister's story is not credible. he has not told the truth. the problem for borisjohnson is whether it's afghanistan or downing street parties, everything now focuses on this

one issue, his probity. and the report into the parties a not to be published until next week. —— may not be published until next week. today, he was in wales inspecting a recycling plant, reflecting perhaps on the questions — which like the items here — keep on returning. damian grammatics, bbc news. russia says there's room for further dialogue over ukraine, but warns the west still hasn't met its security guarantees, deterring future aggression. president putin is trying to stop the eastward expansion of nato, and is demanding ukraine never become a member of the alliance. so will he invade to prevent that happening? steve rosenberg reports from moscow. the world is still puzzling to piece together a picture of what vladimir putin is thinking, what he's planning, what are his intentions in ukraine and in europe? russian muscle—flexing is one piece of the

geopolitical jigsaw. military exercises and 100,000 russian troops near ukraine's border are fuelling fears of a russian invasion. so are moscow's demands. we just ask our partners in nato countries — get out. "get out from our borders. "get out from post—soviet countries, because it's threatening to russian "people, to russian citizens and time is running out." another piece of the puzzle — the kremlin had insisted ukraine be barred from joining nato, but america's rejected that demand. so now what? what happens next depends on whether america's offer to negotiate with russia on some aspects of europe's security will be enough to satisfy vladimir putin.

if it's not, if, as some fear, president putin's aim is to dismantle the european security order as it is now, then expect long—term friction between russia and the west. vladimir putin cut a lonely figure today as he remembered the world war ii siege of leningrad. across europe, there are fears of a new war, but is russia's current and very public sabre rattling really a precursor to conflict? after all, this is a leader who normally employs the element of surprise. this is one of the reasons why i do not believe that putin is going to invade ukraine, because if he really intended to start a military operation in ukraine, probably we would be the last to learn about it. at the gorky park ice festival, everyone we spoke to thought it unlikely that the cold war with ukraine and the west was about to turn hot.

"russians don't want war", she says. "we've experienced that, we know how terrifying war is." the russian public has no appetite for war. they're hoping neither do their leaders. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. 77 years ago today, the nazi concentration camp at auschwitz was liberated, after more than a million people, most of them jewish, were murdered on the site, in occupied poland. today is holocaust memorial day, and different artists have painted the portraits of some of the uk's last remaining holocaust survivors. the project was commissioned by prince charles, and the pictures have gone on display at the queen's gallery in buckingham palace. here's our royal correspondent daniela relph. lighting the darkness this evening,

for holocaust memorial day. around the uk, buildings were lit to highlight the pain of prejudice and hatred. holocaust survivors witnessed the worst of humanity. this new collection of portraits commissioned by the prince of wales is about preserving their stories. like lily, who showed the prince the auschwitz number still visible on her arm. while others spoke of their pride at their portraits. bier? pride at their portraits. very leased pride at their portraits. very pleased and _ pride at their portraits. very pleased and very _ pride at their portraits. - pleased and very honoured. like my artist, project and subject. clara painted manfred goldberg. have you been well? the painted manfred goldberg. have you been well? , , , painted manfred goldberg. have you been well? , ,, .,, been well? the process was challenging- _ been well? the process was challenging. covid - been well? the process was challenging. covid meant i been well? the process wasl challenging. covid meant the sittings began virtually before they could finally meet. she sittings began virtually before they could finally meet.— could finally meet. she wanted not onl to could finally meet. she wanted not only to paint— could finally meet. she wanted not only to paint my — could finally meet. she wanted not only to paint my likeness - could finally meet. she wanted not only to paint my likeness but - could finally meet. she wanted not only to paint my likeness but she l only to paint my likeness but she tried _ only to paint my likeness but she tried to _ only to paint my likeness but she tried to get sort of into my soul, she tried — tried to get sort of into my soul, she tried to— tried to get sort of into my soul, she tried to paint me heart and

soul, _ she tried to paint me heart and soul, and — she tried to paint me heart and soul, and looking at my portrait people — soul, and looking at my portrait people tell me that they can see it in the _ people tell me that they can see it in the way— people tell me that they can see it in the way she has painted my eyes. those _ in the way she has painted my eyes. those eyes — in the way she has painted my eyes. those eyes saw the brutality of nazi labour camps, where manfred was sent with his family. one they hit —— one day his younger brother herman was taken by ss guards and manfred never saw him again. he taken by ss guards and manfred never saw him again-— saw him again. he did describe it as hell on earth _ saw him again. he did describe it as hell on earth and _ saw him again. he did describe it as hell on earth and it _ saw him again. he did describe it as hell on earth and it was _ saw him again. he did describe it as hell on earth and it was very - saw him again. he did describe it as hell on earth and it was very hard i hell on earth and it was very hard for me to imagine what it must have been like. it was very harrowing but i feel that was really important, to go there and to realise how dark it had been in order to realise what a bright light manfred is. so had been in order to realise what a bright light manfred is.— bright light manfred is. so much is in the detail— bright light manfred is. so much is in the detail of— bright light manfred is. so much is in the detail of each _ bright light manfred is. so much is in the detail of each portrait. - bright light manfred is. so much is in the detail of each portrait. he . in the detail of each portrait. he rests his hand on his left arm, the arm that bears his auschwitz number. and lily is painted with a gold pendant which he hid in the heel of

a shoe while at auschwitz. she still wears it today. i a shoe while at auschwitz. she still wears it today-— a shoe while at auschwitz. she still wears it today. i thought we owed it to these remarkable _ wears it today. i thought we owed it to these remarkable people - wears it today. i thought we owed it to these remarkable people just - wears it today. i thought we owed it to these remarkable people just to l to these remarkable people just to remember— to these remarkable people just to rememberthem _ to these remarkable people just to rememberthem in— to these remarkable people just to remember them in this _ to these remarkable people just to remember them in this way. - to these remarkable people just to remember them in this way. there to these remarkable people just to . rememberthem in this way. there is something _ rememberthem in this way. there is something very — rememberthem in this way. there is something very special— rememberthem in this way. there is something very special about - rememberthem in this way. there is something very special about the - something very special about the portrait— something very special about the portrait and — something very special about the portrait and about _ something very special about the portrait and about the _ something very special about the portrait and about the artist's - something very special about the| portrait and about the artist's eye in bringing — portrait and about the artist's eye in bringing out— portrait and about the artist's eye in bringing out the _ portrait and about the artist's eye in bringing out the real— portrait and about the artist's eye| in bringing out the real underlying character — in bringing out the real underlying character. fill— in bringing out the real underlying character. �* ., , ., ., character. all the portraits are now on display- — character. all the portraits are now on display. rachel— character. all the portraits are now on display. rachel leavy, - character. all the portraits are now on display. rachel leavy, aric- on display. rachel leavy, aric hirsch. lily ebert, ziggy shipper and manfred goldberg. a prince's commission so that we all remember. daniela relph, bbc news, the queens at gallery at buckingham palace.

a teenager has been arrested after twojewish men were attacked in north london. the police say they're treating it as a hate crime. it happened last night in haringey. one man suffered bruising and a fractured bone in his hand, while the other was injured in the eye. an 18—year—old man is being held on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford is here. what more do we know about what happened? what more do we know about what ha ened? , , what more do we know about what hauened? , , , ., happened? firstly there has been a ve stron: happened? firstly there has been a very strong reaction _ happened? firstly there has been a very strong reaction going - happened? firstly there has been a very strong reaction going back- happened? firstly there has been a very strong reaction going back to i very strong reaction going back to the very top of politics. prime minister borisjohnson said he was appalled by the despicable footage, saying it was a terrible reminder on holocaust memorial day that such prejudice is not consigned to history, and that we must stamp out anti—semitism. the labour shadow foreign secretary david lammy, local mp, also said the incident was appalling. what you saw in that footage was two nine leaving a bakery at about ten to ten last night, they seemed to be closing up the shop —— two men. a man passes, suddenly throws three punches, then

a pause and he starts throwing one of the men to the ground and pummelling the other man. both men ended up in hospital, one with a broken nose and fractured wrist. an 18—year—old was arrested nearby and remains in custody. he has not at this point —— they have not at this point been charged, clive. this point -- they have not at this point been charged, clive.- point been charged, clive. daniel sandford, thank _ point been charged, clive. daniel sandford, thank you. _ a man has beenjailed for two months after admitting being involved in an assault on england's chief medical officer, professor sir chris whitty. jonathan chew originally denied accosting sir chris, who was seen in mobile phone footage trying to escape after the attack. an estate agent, lewis hughes, has already been given a suspended jail term for the assault in central london last year. the government is providing funding of £100 million to help develop the planned nuclear plant, sizewell c, in suffolk. it's the latest stage in efforts to build the £20 billion pound reactor on the east coast of england. sizewell c would be a near replica of another plant being built at hinkly point in somerset and could provide power to six million homes.

our business editor, simonjack, has more details. is this the answer to soaring gas bills? the government thinks in part it is and wants to replicate this plant under construction in somerset here at sizewell in suffolk, and today it committed £100 million of taxpayers' money to help make that happen. i think that in terms of getting decarbonised, local, secure, affordable energy, this is a fabulous investment. this will take a decade to build, it'll be paid for by adding money to people's bills. we have a cost—of—energy and cost—of—living crisis right now. i'm speaking with the prime minister, with the treasury, with the chancellor about how we can mitigate that impact, and there will be announcements in due course. the company that wants to build here say it will bring proven economic benefits to the region and the uk. you can see when you look at hinckley the impact it's having on more than 2,500 suppliers across the uk, and it'sjust brilliant for training people

and giving them skills, and those skills are actually useful for the whole construction industry and the whole net zero electricity industry. sizewell c has not had final approval, but the government has committed to approving one new station this parliament, and this investment shows their commitment to this site. soaring gas prices are a short—term problem, but they also make a powerful argument, ministers argue, for long—term, large—scale nuclear. but it's not an argument that washes with everyone. the business secretary got a chilly reception today. sizewell c is the wrong project in the wrong place. it's far too slow, risky and expensive to address our climate emergency, and let's remember this would be the biggest construction site in europe for well over a decade right next to protected landscapes. millions of consumers will see energy bills rise by 50% when the price cap rises in april, exactly the same time as a £12 billion tax rise takes effect. the business secretary said the government had

discussed delaying that, but are pressing ahead. that's how we'll get the revenue to pay for the backlog and to pay for a sustainable social care system. so no u—turn on the tax rise? no u—turn. while progress towards a new plant here inches forwards, a squeeze on incomes that will change the economic and political weather is accelerating towards us. simonjack, bbc news, suffolk. leading figures from the world of comedy have been paying their tributes to barry cryer, who's died at the age of 86. john cleese said he'd never met a "kinder, more cheerful man", while rob brydon said knowing him was a "life—enhancing pleasure." barry cryer was one of the most influential writers of his generation, and wrote for comedy giants including bob hope, morecambe and wise and kenny everett. he was also known to millions for his role on the long—running bbc radio 4 show, i'm sorry i haven't a clue. david sillito looks back at his life.

# i know a fat old policeman # he's always on our street...# barry cryer, a mainstay of radio's i'm sorry i haven't a clue, but that was only the beginning. what a lovely audience! morecambe and wise... never mind, they'll do. kenny everett, les dawson, frankie howard, the two ronnies — he wrote for them all, and on radio 4, a 50 year comedy partnership with graeme garden. he was very convivial, very funny, loved telling jokes. and he loved to laugh, and he loved the sound of laughter. born in leeds, he'd started out in stand—up at the city varieties, but he was primarily a writer, working with everyone from danny la rue, jack benny and bob hope to the satire of rory bremner. i was very lucky when i started the bbc in �*87, they said "oh, barry cryer is going to write for you." that's incredible, because he'd written, as you said, morcambe and wise and two ronnies, but he wrote satirical sketches for us as well. he just had such a variety and a versatility. in the �*60s, the comedy writer occasionally appeared on the screen, here pouring the wine in the famous

four yorkshiremen sketch. very passable, not bad at all. all right. good evening, ladies and gentlemen... in the �*70s and �*80s, he was a regular on tv, but this stalwart of old school comedy was also a generous friend to the next generation. i'm thoroughly enjoying this job. i love to see a young comedian make it, it's when more than one does, i get nervous. he was genuinely one of those people who could, well, light up a cigarette and a room at exactly the same time. he was just a joy to be around, and he had ajoke for every single occasion. even if he told you the same one six times, it would remain funny throughout. # my short—term memory�*s shot to pieces # and i'll tell you something else # my short—term memory�*s shot to pieces...# it was, he said, a life dogged by good luck. and he wasjoking until the end. he found most days always

with a newjoke, but i knew he wasn't feeling too good cos he said to me the last time he called, "giles, i could go any minute now, you know. "these days i don't even dare buy a green banana." he was funny to the last. barry cryer — a friendly, generous cornerstone of british comedy. # ha—ha—ha. # applause barry cryer, who's died at the age of 86. that's it. now on bbc one time for the news where you are. have a very good night. good evening. most of us saw a bit of blue sky around on thursday, and with those clear skies as we head through this evening and overnight, temperatures are falling fairly quickly. so, certainly a touch of frost around for many areas tonight and a few pockets of mist and fog here and there, too. the winds are falling light through the rest of this evening. we've got those clear skies, so you can see a bit of fogginess developing, particularly parts of england and wales, too. for scotland and northern ireland, the breeze is picking up from the northwest,

a bit more cloud moving in, keeping temperatures around 4 degrees here. but for many of us, we're close to freezing, if not a few degrees below in more rural spots. heading on into friday, then — high pressure sits to the south of the uk. we've got weather fronts moving in from the northwest — quite a few isobars on the map in the north — and the winds are coming in from a south—westerly direction, rotating around that area of high pressure, so bringing that pretty mild air, that warm front moving across the uk. we'lljust hang onto the cooler conditions for parts of southeast england and east anglia. 0nce mist and fog clears away from the south and east, some sunny spells here. elsewhere, a fairly cloudy day, outbreaks of rain heaviest across northern and western scotland, but perhaps a few splashes further south close to some of these irish sea coasts. 10—11 degrees for most of us, a little bit cooler for east anglia, as that mist and fog will be a little bit slow to clear away. now, moving through friday night and on into saturday — still, high pressure sets to the south and more weather fronts

move in from the atlantic towards the northwest. it'll be quite a windy day on saturday. here's this fairly narrow band of patchy rain, you can see, pushing south across the uk, followed by clearer skies with blustery showers as well. so, it's going to be mild in the south, 13—14 degrees, but turning colder from the north with those showers. little bit wintry over the higher ground, and you will notice the strength of the wind on saturday. blustery wherever you are, 30 mph gusts in the south, but 60 mph towards western isles. a blustery sort of day. sunday, we have the next area of low pressure driving in rain initially for northern ireland, into scotland and perhaps fairly heavy snow over the mountains for a time on sunday. further south should be staying dry. a cooler day compared to saturday with temperatures across the board between 5—10 degrees. into next week in the south, it stays largely dry and settled, but further north and west, with outbreaks of rain, and things turning colder towards the end of next week. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines — the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, says russia's main security concerns over ukraine have not been met by the united states, but mr lavrov says there is room to continue dialogue. six months since the taliban swept to power in afghanistan, the country's economy is close to collapse, with millions facing an ongoing threat of terrorism and looming starvation. joe biden has confirmed that he will make an african—american woman his first nomination to the supreme court. the president said a decision will be announced by the end of february. 0n holocaust memorial day, survivors of the nazi concentration camp at auschwitz are among those who have gathered there to mark the anniversary of its liberation in 1945.