from his parents in kabul during the chaos of the us withdrawal is reunited with relatives. and the duchess of cambridge at a0 three new portraits will go on display in towns where kate has lived, to celebrate her birthday. good afternoon. welcome to bbc news. the education secretary has said he would support cutting the coronavirus self isolation period from seven days to five, in england, if the move was recommended by experts at the uk health security agency. nadim zahawi said the reduction would help with staff absenteeism. and he denied that there were plans to stop supplying free lateral flow tests, after a report in a sunday paper. our health correspondent dominic hughes has more. the good news is that booster jabs are holding fast against the omicron wave. even as new cases have surged, hospital admissions remain a long way off the peak seen this time last year. but each day, hundreds of thousands of people are having to isolate for at least seven days, so now there
testing technology that didn t work. and efforts to reduce agricultural pollution in the river wye caused by excessive use of animal manure. and in sport on the bbc news channel, stuart broad s been recalled by england for the fourth ashes test, replacing olly robinson. broad s played just once in the series, which australia have already won. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. millions of pupils across england and northern ireland have gone back to school today, amid concerns about staff shortages caused by the omicron variant of covid. in england, secondary school students will have to take tests on site before they return to the classroom, and masks are being re introduced until at least the end of the month. but teaching unions are warning it s likely some year groups will be sent home to learn remotely. our correspondent jayne mccubbin reports. bell rings. this is bethany. this is kian. and this is what the start of a new term in england looks like. how wa
after complaints of shortages. 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. good morning. ending the so called loyalty premium. new rules means existing customers will pay the same price or car and home insurance as he once and it could save them billions over the next few years. manchester united ring out the year with a win. their unbeaten run under ralph rangnick continues with victory over burnley at old trafford. and with temperatures 15 degrees in parts of the uk, it is set to be the warmest temperature on record. more in 15 minutes. it s friday, the 31st of december. our main story. the prime minister has urged people to take a covid test before attending new year s eve parties this evening. no new restrictions have been introduced in england, but in scotland, wales and northern ireland tighter rules are now in place
as scotland joins wales in keeping fans away from grounds from boxing day, fears grow over the financial impact for clubs in scotland, with calls for the planned winter break to be brought forward. sausage rolls for everyone. ladbaby teams up with eltonjohn and ed sheeran, as they aim for a record four christmas number ones in a row. ijust said to them, if i just said to them, if you ijust said to them, if you are up for it, me and out and would like to join in with your one and help in any way we can. details coming up. temperatures last night failed to -10 temperatures last night failed to 10 in the highlands. rain from the west the company by strengthening winds. details throughout the programme. good morning. it s wednesday, the 22nd of december. our main story. people with covid in england can now stop self isolating after a week, following two negative lateral flow tests. the health secretary says it s to ease disruption to people s lives, and comes after the prime min
you have good reason to be concerned. you re at a high risk of getting sick and if you get sick, you re likely to spread it to others. administration s new plan comes just days before the big holiday weekend as millions of americans are preparing to gather with family and friends. the white house says it will deliver 500 million free rapid tests to homes next month. these have been in short supply for days. several drugstore chains have been struggling to keep them in stock. 1,000 military medical professionals will be deployed to facilities around the country. 20,000 new free testing sites will be established starting this week and some 10,000 popup vaccine clinics will be set up across the country. booster shots provide the strongest of protection, unfortunately, we still have tens and millions of people eligible for the booster shot who have not yet gotten it. the other day former president trump said he got his booster shot. maybe one of the few things he and i agree