louisa pilbeam reports.reads, countries in europe are trying to stop it by vaccinating young children. with children accounting the majority of cases in germany, spain, denmark and the netherlands, a handful of eu countries have approved vaccines for under 12s. in spain, the country's health minister said the take—up had been extraordinary. translation: the response has been extraordinary - and we are convinced that it will continue like this. as you know, 1.3 million doses arrived in our country on monday. we have about 3.3 million children in this group between 5 and 11 years of age. while children rarely get severely ill or die, infections spread quickly among young people. in hungary, 38,000 parents have registered their children for the shots so far. translation: since there - are grandparents in our family, it is safer to spend christmas with them if everyone is vaccinated. and we would like her to be able to meet other children in the family. and for the time being, i do not know a better solution tha

louisa pilbeam, bbc news.ty 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. herfamily are backing an appeal against her conviction. sanchia berg has the latest. they were painted in court as partners in crime. maxwell groomed the teenage girls, epstein abused them. he died in prison, now she faces decades 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 had never heard that term and i didn�*t understand what was happening to me, this combination of being given gifts and being given positive attention and then also having this abuse and these boundary violations. ghislaine maxwell was found guilty on five of the six charges. it was a tightly focused case, thejury deliberated for a0 hours. some lega

louisa pilbeam, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news.people killed when a trailer carrying migrants overturned in mexico were returned to guatemala on thursday. in all, 56 people were killed in the crash in chiapas state earlier this month. of the 37 guatemalan nationals identified among the victims, the remains of only 19 have so far been returned. dozens of migrants have died from violence or accidents in mexico over the past decade. a stranded boat carrying around 120 rohingya refugees from myanmar has arrived in indonesia after it was towed by the country's navy. authorities initially refused to help the boat, but local fishermen organised protests supporting the refugees. they also ferried food and water to those on board. the arduous reconstruction process is under way on the spanish island of la palma. excavators are digging their way through the solidified lava flows while engineers are working to ensure conditions are safe. the eruption of the volcano was declared over on christmas day after three long months of spewing ash and

louisa pilbeam reports. president who made the telephone call to vladimir putin at the russian�*s request. a call between two of the world's most powerful men that lasted 50 minutes. the white house released a statement following the call. 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. they also said both leaders have expressed their support for 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 militarily drills and denies planning an invasion. putin is demanding assurances from the west that ukraine will not be allowed to join the military alliance of nato�*s 30 countries, which he sees as a threat to russia. the talks are the second in recent weeks in a bid to de—escalate tensions. earlier this month, the presidents spoke via video link, but president biden tol

louisa pilbeam, bbc news.the first country to identify cases of the omicron variant of coronavirus last month. well, authorities there say all indicators suggest it has passed the peak of the fourth wave of infections. the government is lifting with immediate effect the curfew it imposed to combat the new variant. it is also easing other restrictions. the authorities said there had been an almost 30% drop in the number of new cases during the week ending on december 25. we're joined from hartford, connecticut by professor saad 0mer, director of the yale institute for global health. what does this status say, as cases in south africa are definitely falling.- cases in south africa are definitely falling. they are, so we know _ definitely falling. they are, so we know the _ definitely falling. they are, so we know the date is - high—quality quality and reliable and they have been interpreted by very seasoned south african scientists. i think this decline is real. how have they _ think this decline is real. how ha

louisa pilbeam, bbc news.hed a new yearly high — after two boys were stabbed to death yesterday within an hour of each another. one was a 16—year—old boy in hillingdon, west london. the other a 15—year—old boy, found fatally wounded in croydon in south london. 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. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds has been at the scene in west london and has been giving us the latest. police were called to an area at the other side of where the police van is, a green area of parkland, just before 830 yesterday evening. all they have said is that the 16—year—old was found suffering from what they called puncture wounds but clearly there is the potential for him to have been stabbed. two murders at the end of 2021, which have pushed the number of youth homicides or murders or manslaughter is above the level it was at in 2008 which was a previous high. this is a

louisa pilbeam, bbc news.sing after a volcanic eruption, because of strong winds and the threat of more ash. mount semeru — the biggest volcano on the island ofjava — erupted on saturday, throwing out lava and ash that killed at least 15 people. rescuers have been trying to dig through the volcanic mud to reach possible survivors before the ground cools and hardens. japan is one of the world's biggest users of coal. it's still building coal—fired power stations against the rising tide of concern about climate change. as the country has no reserves of its own, vast quantities of coal have to be imported. and yet, the tokyo government is promising to reach net carbon zero by 2050. it appears to see hydrogen as one of the key ways of achieving that — but how will they produce the hydrogen? rupert wingfield hayes has been finding out. takao saiki and his fellow activists are furious. the reason, this giant new coal—fired power station being built in their hometown. i'm totally against the burning fossil fuels beca

louisa pilbeam, bbc news. but around the world many new year�*s celebrations are cancelled or scaled back due to concerns over covid. china is attempting to stick to a zero covid strategy ahead of its lunar new year celebrations and the beijing winter olympics. one in 30 people in the uk were estimated to have tested positive for covid heading into christmas — a new record high for infections. 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. sanchia berg has the latest. they were painted in court as partners in crime. maxwell groomed the teenage girls, epstein abused them. he died in prison, now she faces decades behind bars, to the relief of their victims. we have a lot of work to do in this country in terms of holding people acc

louisa pilbeam reports.supporters at their stadium for their game against solihull on boxing day. the club say they are disappointed at the welsh government's decision to hold all sports events behind closed doors but understand why the announcement has been made. the same day, cardiff versus scarlets in the united rugby championship is closed to fans. the welsh grand national at chepstow the following day will also be held with no spectators, despite more than 6,000 advanced ticket sales. every sport at every level in wales will be impacted from amateur to professional, indoors and out, with no end date confirmed. in a statement, the welsh government said the decision was made after latest figures showed the number of confirmed cases of omicron rising steeply. they've announced a £3 million fund to support clubs and venues. louisa pilbeam, bbc news. welsh sport moving behind closed doors from boxing day but around 400,000 fans still expected to attend premier league matches on the same day. yesterday, premi

louisa pilbeam, bbc news. could see herjailed for the rest of her life. one of the creators of the oxford astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine urges the world to invest more to prepare forfuture pandemics — saying the next one could be even worse. a ten—year strategy for tackling drug misuse in england and wales — a crackdown on criminal gangs, and a warning to recreational users that they could lose their passports or driving licences. nigeria moves onto the uk's red list for travel, meaning anybody arriving from the country must isolate in an approved hotel for ten days. a british teenager who survived a crocodile attack in zambia speaks for the first time about her ordeal. and coming up — if you live in wales, your household is going to get a free tree to try to help to tackle carbon emissions. a new stage of the grenfell inquiry — starting shortly — will look at the question of how flammable cladding came to be used in an industry that appeared to be as highly regulated as construction. in 2017 72 people were k

louisa pilbeam, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather.ions in _ philippines. very quiet in the uk. atrocious conditions in the - atrocious conditions in the philippines. we have satellite imagery, a category five hurricane making landfall in the southern philippines with winds at 170 mph. the same area head over eight years ago by a typhoon, one of the strongest storms on record across the world. that is happening over there. potential devastation over there. potential devastation over the next few days. in the uk, it is very quiet. there will be plenty of cloud over the next few days and most places will stay right. high pressure in charge. thick cloud in the north of scotland, outbreaks of rain, cloud breaks in eastern scotland and england. sunny spells continuing, brighter day in the south west and south west wales, with sunny spells, a fairly gory day and temperature is ten to 12 degrees. 0vernight, mild, some breaks in the cloud in north—east scotland and north—east england. these areas susceptible to frost in the morning. mist and f

louisa pilbeam has the story. a mother and her calf frolicking off the coast of georgia.hale is entangled in fishing rope — she has been for months but remarkably still managed to give birth. it is a very odd and first—ever seen situation when a mother is entangled in fishing gear and potentially lethally entangled and yet she gives birth to a calf, so now we have to worry about two whales. snow cone, as she's nicknamed, has already had an epicjourney travelling 1300 miles through her annual migration while entangled. she was first seen caught up in fishing gear off plymouth harbor, in massachusetts, in march. by may she was near the coast of new brunswick, canada. while at the start of december, she was spotted with her newborn near cumberland island, georgia. right whale calves swim incredibly close to their mothers, making for a near—impossible task for disentanglement responders. but saving this pair is critical for the entire species. i guess the most outstanding trait is they are one of the rarest large mammals on earth. we know they are on the brink of extinction,

louisa pilbeam, bbc news. time for a little bit of light relief.in lapland calls itself the official home town of santa claus and he really is honestly, truly the real thing. notjust a man in a fake beard. father christmas, hoping this year of all years, he can bring some joy to the world. i have been hearing worrying news around the globe about the well—being and coping of children and young people. now it's time to turn these worries into plenty of goodwill. visitor numbers obviously took a big hit in the last two years as the pandemic took hold, santa's business representative says people are coming back but they have to take precautions. translation: the guests are required to have corona passports when they i arrive in finland. we ask all our guests to show their corona passport at the reception desk and after that, they are free to take part in all the activities. but, of course, the most important people here are the children. do you like santa? te gusta santa claus? si! in a few days' time, after the dry run, father christmas will be back o

louisa pilbeam reports.ads, countries in europe are trying to stop it vaccinating young children. with children accounting the majority of cases in germany, spain, denmark and the netherlands, a handful of eu countries have approved vaccines for under 12's. in spain the health minister says the take—up has been extraordinary. translation: the res - onse extraordinary. translation: tue: response has extraordinary. translation: tte: response has been extraordinary and we are convinced that it will continue like this. as you know, 1.3 million doses arrive in our country on monday. we have about 3.3 million children in the group between five and 11 of age. in the group between five and 11 of ace. ., in the group between five and 11 ofaae. ., ., ,~ 11 of age. not many children aet 11 of age. not many children get severely _ 11 of age. not many children get severely ill— 11 of age. not many children get severely ill or _ 11 of age. not many children get severely ill or died. - 11 of age. not many children get seve

louisa pilbeam, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. drift over towards east anglia and the safest way that will be slow to clear. behind it sunshine and showers, some of the sharers heavy with heel next then. north—west scotland seeing some wintering s. then. north—west scotland seeing some wintering 5. tonight some of the sharers will fade but we hang onto quite a few across the north west. there is the risk of ice on untreated surfaces and then we see the arrival of the storm coming in across ireland. it is going to bring with it widespread gales and the strongest gusts will be around the coasts and also destructive snow for parts of scotland and northern england. some of that getting down to lower levels. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: a ten—year strategy for tackling drug misuse in england and wales — a promise that more criminal gangs will be brokem up, and a warning to poeple who take deugs socially or at the weekend that they could lose their passports or driving licences. a warning from one of the creators of the astra

louisa pilbeam reports. get out while you can, was the message from rescue services in colorado. 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, iiomph, 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 caus

louisa pilbeam, bbc news.finances of some of the uk's biggest care home companies should be investigated by the competitions watchdog, that's according to the former health and social care secretaryjeremy hunt. he made the comments as part of a panorama investigation looking at whether complex company structures are causing too much money to leak away from frontline care. here's our social affairs editor alison holt. what was it like growing up here? lovely, everybody knew everybody. tess grew up in cannock in staffordshire. her mum died when she was young so her dad mick was at the heart of the family. it's more than a year since he died in a care home nearby, and she's been left with many questions about the care he received and the company that ran the home. four days in, five days in, the cracks start to appear. his bed was never made. the toilet area was shocking. my dad is walking in the urine, so my dad should be walking in that. my dad is walking in the urine, so my dad shouldn't be walking in that. th

louisa pilbeam, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor.here at the moment it is quite blustery. a mixture of clear spells and showers into the evening rush—hour and it's going to start to feel chilly. already dropping below freezing in some parts of north—east scotland. a night ahead. a mixture of rain and hail and sleet and snow will gradually fade away and they could be some icy conditions in the morning as temperatures widely drop to freezing or below for the start of the tuesday morning commute. this is the first sign of the storm, strengthening winds and heavy rain across ireland. some of the biggest impact will be around these irish sea coasts. gail is developing elsewhere with rain and turning into sleet and snow across the pennines and parts of southern scotland. it will be a cold day. winds continue to strengthen into tuesday evening but snow could have an impact in northern england and southern scotland. hello, this is bbc news with me, rebecca jones. the headlines: a ten—year strategy for tackling drug misuse in england and wale

louisa pilbeam, bbc news.sterjabs will be available at nearly 3,000 locations across the country this weekend. yesterday saw a record number of daily covid cases for a third day in a row. all four nations are meeting this weekend to discuss the response to the spread of the 0micron variant. 0ur reporter ben boulos is at a vaccination centre in north london which is staying open for 2h hours. ben how busy has it been? this is one of the centre staying open for 2h hours, so there has been talk of jabs open for 2h hours, so there has been talk ofjabs being available for at least 16 hours a day in centres? yes, it is quite extraordinary at this surgery in north london. they are carrying out what they call a 24—hour jabathon, are carrying out what they call a 24—hourjabathon, they are trying to rouse community spirit and get people to come in and get their booster doses. below, francesca and annette have been here throughout the night since they began this at six o'clock yesterday evening, they have had a steady st

— two sets of twin boys — who were aged three and four — later died in hospital. 0ur reporter louisa pilbeamldren. they were taken to hospital and they were pronounced dead. now, i've been hearing from neighbours about what these children were like. they've told me that they were happy children, they were sweet—natured, they were popular and well—known in this area. and one story was that they liked to stroke one of the neighbour's dogs here on the road. we've also heard about the impact that this has been having on the emergency services. the london fire commissioner andy roe said the deaths had left everyone numb with profound sadness. the cause of the fire is not yet known and it will be investigated. warnings about the new 0micron variant have prompted many people to cancel christmas dinners and parties — and that's having a devastating effect on hospitality venues across the uk. the chancellor has cut short a visit to the us for crisis talks with businesses leaders, who've been hit by cancellations. they're demanding more finanical support from government. our business correspondent ben

louisa pilbeam reports.xham famously had the support of hollywood with owner ryan reynolds but there will be no supporters at the stadium for the game against solihull on boxing day. the club say they are disappointed at the welsh government's decision to hold all sports events behind closed doors but understand why the announcement has been made. the same day, cardiff against scarlets in the united rugby championship is closed to fans. the welsh grand national at chepstow the following day will also be held with no spectators, despite more than 6000 advanced ticket sales. every sport at every level in wales will be impacted from amateur to professional, indoors and out, with no end date confirmed. in a statement, the welsh government said the decision was made after latest figures showed the number of confirmed cases of 0micron rising steeply. they have announced a £3 million fund to support clubs and venues. the queen has cancelled her traditional christmas in sandringham, amid concerns about rising levels

louisa pilbeam, bbc news. lucky to be alive and we wish her the best.er police officers who photographed the bodies of two murdered sisters nicole smallman and bibaa henry have each been jailed for two years and nine months. deninaffer and jamie lewis took and shared the pictures while they were guarding the murder scene. helena wilkinson reports. well, lewis and jaffer came to the old bailey here this morning. they walked in through the front door, but this evening they are not walking out of court. they are going to prison, because the judge here has sentenced them each to two years and nine months in prison. now, in his sentencing remarks, thejudge told the pair that their conduct was appalling and inexplicable. the officers at the time had been assigned to guard the crime scene where the bodies of the sisters were found, but instead they left the court and, they took photographs of the bodies of the sisters. lewis superimposed his face on one of the photographs. inside court, the mother of the sisters, mina smallman, was listening to that sentence b

louisa pilbeam is there for us this morning.ildren were like from people here. they told me they were happy, popular children. and they were well known here. as you say, an awful incident. just a week before christmas. people here waking up to this awful news.— owain's here with a look at the weather. how is it looking? we have high pressure in charge today and the next couple of days which means we will have a dry, settled story. we might have the odd spot of drizzle where the cloud is thick enough but if you like dry weather that is on the cards the next couple of days. we have a lot of cloud around us might having the dry weather and high pressure across the uk. breezy in southern and south—western parts. if you look at the graphics, there is a lot of cloud. we have seen patches of fog in the north of england, down through east yorkshire and lincolnshire this morning which will be slow to clear. clear spells across scotland, western fringes of wales, south—west england. temperatures ranging between 6—10. tonight, the return o

louisa pilbeam, bbc news. let's get more on this now from the retail expert, kate hardcastle.the calendar we used to— those big points on the calendar we used to work for, towards, have very much _ used to work for, towards, have very much to— used to work for, towards, have very much to change now. retail is very different — much to change now. retail is very different. we have seen a huge shift online _ different. we have seen a huge shift online from — different. we have seen a huge shift online from consumers. it was on the rise anyway— online from consumers. it was on the rise anyway prior to covid, but covid — rise anyway prior to covid, but covid has _ rise anyway prior to covid, but covid has been the enabler of online channels _ covid has been the enabler of online channels. we have seen people shop much _ channels. we have seen people shop much more _ channels. we have seen people shop much more emotionally, very different— much more emotionally, very different factors being involved. and when we hear about the concerns of some _ and when we hear about the concerns o

louisa pilbeam, bbc news. another birth.? i'm working. i'm suffocating. how does it compare to your experiences of motherhood? i've always felt that i'm a better mummy when i feel creatively fulfilled. so i'm very lucky i get to do both things. i love myjob. and i get to have lots of time my children. but when young leda, you know, it doesn't feel like her partner is as appreciative of her brain and her ability, as of his own. and that's when things start to go a bit wrong. i can really understand why she's, you know, she's at the end of her tether. she's not being seen and heard. yeah. that's when anyone, any parent, feels that if they can't do thejob, you know. get up! mummy, get up! this film is already doing well at awards. it's just won four at the gothams, including best picture. you got best performance. maggie had to accept it for you. so, you've flown from the states to the uk since then. did you remember her trophy? ohi — 0 h, my god, maggie| it's really heavy, i'm telling you! it was like you could work out. whoa,