Eager to wow her pals, Cassandra then mastered wakesurfing while hitting a tennis ball on Stave Lake in Mission, British Columbia, Canada, while another clip shows her sipping coffee while reading a magazine.

LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Britain and the European Union are working hard to bridge the gaps in their negotiating positions, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday, after EU sources said they hoped for an agreement on Friday or this weekend.

Players are going to want certain things and how it works logistically and financially might be two separate things," the 31-year-old told Sky Sports. "I think the players need to be at the forefront of it.

They can stagger starting days but all pupils should be back by Monday next week. Masks have been reintroduced in secondary school classrooms, while all secondaries have been asked to provide on-site testing for students ahead of their return.

Councils across the UK are having to redistribute staff between essential services to keep everything running, and the public sector has been asked to prepare for a worst-case scenario of up to a quarter of staff off work.

Caroline Derbyshire, head of Saffron Walden County High School in Essex, said: 'Staff shortages will be a factor and there will be schools in particular parts of the country where rates have been extremely high.

Children all over the country are returning to school today and risk being turned away at the gates if they or their teachers test positive for the virus as commuters returned for the first time since Christmas.

Heads fear up to a quarter of their staff could be struck down in January and have been told to merge classes where necessary but teaching unions insist a return to online teaching at home will be inevitable for some this term despite Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi insisting face-to-face teaching will be the norm.

Gloucester meanwhile has been hit with 'terrible problems' as bin collectors work in close-knit teams and quickly pass the virus onto one another, multiplying the number of staff off sick at one time, Liberal Democrat councillor Declan Wilson said.

Chelmsford City Council confirmed 23 members of staff were absent and cancelled three days' worth of food waste collections, while North Somerset Council said they had been unable to pick up 1,000 recycling bins on New Year's Eve as crews remain 'stretched due to staff sickness'.

The Local Government Association (LGA), compare contrast words which represents councils across England, said crews have been badly impacted by the spread of the Omicron variant and called for workers be prioritised for Covid tests.