"I've just seen reports on Twitter that there was a Downing Street Christmas party on Friday night," says the Prime Minister's special adviser Ed Oldfield. "Do you recognise those reports?" The reply from Boris Johnson's then press secretary Allegra Stratton was "I went home" before laughing and later saying: "This fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced." These jokey exchanges about a Christmas party in December last year, during lockdown, continue throughout a video of a mock news conference, without media present. Obtained by ITV, the footage shows senior staff at No 10 japing about a party - which Downing Street continues to insist didn't take place - days after one was held. "Several dozen" people went to the gathering, a source previously confirmed to the BBC, when coronavirus guidance was that people shouldn't have Christmas parties.
People had "followed the rules even when that meant being separated from their families", says Labour leader Keir Starmer. "They had a right to expect that the government was doing the same. To lie and to laugh about those lies is shameful." The video was "damning and leaves the prime minister with a lot to answer for”, says the SNPs Westminster leader, Ian Blackford. The footage is "totally reprehensible", according to woman whose mother died of Covid in hospital on her own on the same night as the Downing Street party. This video hasn't just stirred criticism from opposing sides, one senior Conservative’s response is that "people prevented by the gov[ernment] from seeing loved ones at end of their life will conclude they were taken for fools" while a current serving minister has told our political editor it's appalling and a senior backbencher said it could be catastrophic for the government. "Indefensible", "catastrophic" and "astonishing" are the condemnations, says Laura Kuenssberg, not from Boris Johnson's political opponents, but from his own side. Even with an enormous majority and unrivalled political celebrity, Boris Johnson's Downing Street might be a lonely place to be this Christmas, she adds.

Although lab tests suggest the Omicron variant can partially evade the Pfizer jab, the World Health Organization says existing vaccines should still protect people from severe Covid as a result of the new strain. Initial data indicates Omicron doesn’t make anyone sicker than previous variants, according to emergencies director Dr Mike Ryan, and there’s no sign it would be better at evading vaccines than the others like Delta. "We have highly effective vaccines that have proved effective against all the variants so far, in terms of severe disease and hospitalisation, and there's no reason to expect that it wouldn't be so" for Omicron, adds Dr Ryan as researchers say there was a "very large drop" in how well the Pfizer jab's antibodies neutralised this strain. The first lab tests come after early signs suggest the variant could be more transmissible than the current Delta strain, according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman, but its ability to cause severe disease is not yet clear. The picture will become clearer in the coming weeks, says our health editor Michelle Roberts, as we gather more data from around the world on how many people are catching Omicron, how sick they are getting and whether they were vaccinated or not.

"Not being able to study feels like a death penalty," says a 15-year-old girl who wants to be a surgeon but hasn’t been able to go to school since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August. "We have nothing to do apart from housework… we are just frozen in one place," says another aged 16 with ambitions to be a doctor or a midwife. Their situation, and desperation, to get back into the classroom is felt among other teenage schoolgirls across the country who were barred from education - temporarily according to the Taliban - following the takeover. Girls won’t be allowed to go back to secondary school until a new education policy is approved in the new year, acting Deputy Education Minister Abdul Hakim Hemat confirms. However, some girls' schools are reported to have reopened after negotiating with local Taliban officials. Read the full story here.

No 10 "party clowns" splashes the Metro about the video that's emerged of senior Downing Street staff joking about holding a Christmas party. The Daily Mail describes it as "a sick joke" while revealing Downing Street is in "crisis mode" over the footage which formed part of a rehearsal for a news conference. The Daily Mirror reports on another government Christmas party last year, this time at the Department for Education, which it claims also "broke" Covid rules. The government admits this event did take place but it was "work related". The Times, meanwhile, leads with a "rift" in the cabinet over plans for vaccine passports and the Daily Telegraph reveals a work-from-home order is being drawn up for Christmas. Read the newspaper review in full here.

If you have an advent calendar, you’ll be looking forward to what’s behind the door today (if you’ve not opened it already). But what if it was the other way round and it was about giving rather than receiving? One woman's created a reverse advent calendar where you start with an empty box then add something in every day so it can eventually be given to someone in need at Christmas. Watch to find out more.
As it’s nearing Christmas you might be starting to think about what you’ll be watching over the festive period if you have some time off. There’ll be plenty to choose from because there are four times as many films and TV movies than a decade ago. This year more than 200 listed on IMDb for release have the word Christmas in the title. Here’s the full story.
And finally, if watching something isn’t your thing and listening is this one’s for you. The Christmas takeover line-up on BBC Radio 1’s been revealed. An NHS worker, a professional skateboarder and a music producer are among this year’s guest presenters. Take a look.

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