hello and welcome. concern is growing worldwide over the rapid spread of omicron variant of coronavirus. france, italy, and the united kingdom are amongst the countries to have recorded their highest ever numbers of infections. south africa, where the variant was first identified last month, has also reported a record number of daily infections. in europe, a vaccination drive for children under 12 has begun. while the british prime minister, borisjohnson, has once again been urging people to take up their offer of a boosterjab. damian grammaticas reports now on how britain is trying to respond. it's a programme that's ramping up. vaccination after vaccination. hearfrom soldiers in a cathedral. queues of people outside. orfrom a gp visiting an elderly patient at home. every rooster given matters, because the omicron variant is surging. == matters, because the omicron variant is surging.— variant is surging. -- booster. it aives variant is surging. -- booster. it gives you — variant is surging. -- booster. it gives you very _ variant is surging. -- booster. it gives you very good - it gives you very good protection, booster immunity. already can be seen in the numbers, a little over 78,000 cases yesterday. does have been relatively low, 115 on average every day for the past week, while the booster programme reached half a million a day of the same period. england's chief medical officer says choose wisely who you mix with before christmas. 1 choose wisely who you mix with before christmas.— before christmas. i really think people _ before christmas. i really think people should - before christmas. i really think people should be i think people should be prioritising those things and only those things that really matter to them, because otherwise the risk of someone getting infected at something that doesn't really matter to them and then not being able to do the things that matter to them obviously goes up. i don't think you need to be a doctor to think that, i think that is what most people are very sensibly calculating and that seems to me to be a very sensible approach, personally. the government, however, is not shutting down venues. boris johnson saw 100 of his own mps rebel against him earlier this week avenues —— new measures, bruce, he says he is not planning more.- bruce, he says he is not planning more. we are not cancelling _ planning more. we are not cancelling events, - planning more. we are not cancelling events, we - planning more. we are not cancelling events, we are i planning more. we are not i cancelling events, we are not closing hospitality, we are not cancelling people's parties or their ability to mix. what we are saying is, you know, think carefully before you go what kind of an event is it, are you likely to meet people who are vulnerable, are you going to meet loads of people you haven't met before? and get a test. ~ g ., haven't met before? and get a test. ~ , , test. mrjohnson believes those measures. _ test. mrjohnson believes those measures, like _ test. mrjohnson believes those measures, like covid _ test. mrjohnson believes those measures, like covid passes - test. mrjohnson believes those measures, like covid passes for big gatherings, are enough for now. but from the top of the nhs in england more caution. mi; nhs in england more caution. my advice nhs in england more caution. ii advice would nhs in england more caution. m1 advice would be nhs in england more caution. ij'i1 advice would be if nhs in england more caution. ii1 advice would be if you're going to go to a stadium at the we can make it one where you can get your vaccine or help out to give a vaccine, rather than, you know, going to watch a match, and to that point, if you are a role model in society, these get your vaccine, because actually it is dependent on all of us to show the way right now and to make decisions that help to protect society. decisions that help to protect socie . ., ,., decisions that help to protect socie . ., ., society. the reason for the caution. — society. the reason for the caution, no-one _ society. the reason for the caution, no-one knows - society. the reason for the caution, no-one knows yet society. the reason for the - caution, no-one knows yet how caution, no—one knows yet how the surge will impact the nhs. but the worst case scenario is of even more pressure than it's all last winter. —— saw last winter. damian grammaticas, bbc news, westminster. health officials in south korea have responded to record daily coronavirus cases there by re—imposing strict social distancing and an overnight curfew. the measures will last for two weeks from saturday. at around 7,000 cases a day, numbers are still low compared with other parts of the world. south korea has so far avoided a full lockdown and, with 80% of adults fully vaccinated, had lifted most restrictions last month. officials hope banning gatherings of more than four people, along with the curfew, will ease the pressure on hospitals and allow more people to get a boosterjab. let's take a look at how the rest of that region is responding. dr hitoshi honda is director of infectious diseases at the tokyo metropolitan tama general medical centre. thank you so much forjoining me today, doctor. asia so far has been spared any big increase in numbers yet. fewer than 50 cases, i believe, in japan at the moment. we have over 70,000 new cases a day here in britain. how seriously our asian nations taking the threat of omicron and how are they responding?— threat of omicron and how are they responding? yes, in japan, eseciall they responding? yes, in japan, especially in _ they responding? yes, in japan, especially in japan, _ they responding? yes, in japan, especially in japan, the - they responding? yes, in japan, especially in japan, the number| especially injapan, the number of cases of covid—19, especially due to the omicron variant, is very low, it is very stable at this moment. so we have very few numbers of cases of covid—19. my hospital is in westjapan. but in downtown tokyo there are some cases of co—ordinating with the omicron variant. so we are very concerned about this spreading and the omicron variant, because it is likely highly contagious.— because it is likely highly contaaious. ., ., contagious. throughout the successive _ contagious. throughout the successive waves _ contagious. throughout the successive waves of - contagious. throughout the successive waves of covid l contagious. throughout the i successive waves of covid we have had over the last almost two years now, case numbers and fatalities have made much lower in the east than the west, what you think, as a doctor, are the measures most significant in the fight against covid was yellow yes. this is likely, the most important thing is an increase in vaccination rates, vaccine updates among the japanese population is pretty high —— uptake. we strongly encourage people to get vaccinated, including booster shots. the second thing, it is infection control practices, especially wearing a mask in public places, which is really important. i thinkjapanese important. i think japanese people important. i thinkjapanese people like to wear a mask in the public spaces. find people like to wear a mask in the public spaces.— the public spaces. and the third factor _ the public spaces. and the third factor is _ the public spaces. and the third factor is an _ the public spaces. and the | third factor is an increasing testing density, especially for symptomatic individuals and also patients in close contact of covid—19. i think they, once they are indicated, they are better get tested, actually. it is interesting hearing you talk there. in certain countries, i'm thinking of britain, here, we do have high vaccination rates, particularly of adults. we also have mask wearing, and we do have testing, yet we have such a rapid increase in the omicron variant here. what is the difference that testing in particular can make to getting this under control?— this under control? yes, this is very interesting. - this under control? yes, this is very interesting. it - this under control? yes, this is very interesting. it is - this under control? yes, this is very interesting. it is an i is very interesting. it is an interesting situation, in general asian countries, think the instances of covid—19, including the omicron variant, including the omicron variant, including china, hong kong, and south korea has a increasing surge of covid—19, but i think it remains unclear why there is significant variation in terms of instances of cover 19 between asian countries and european countries or the us. interesting. thank you very much. dr hitoshi honda, thank you for your time.— let's get some of the day's other news. puerto rican music producer flow la movie his wife and son are among nine people killed in a plane crash in the dominican republic. the private jet was attempting an emergency landing in the capital, santo domingo, just 15 minutes after taking off en route to florida. lawyers for ghislaine maxwell will start her defence in a new york court later. she's accused of grooming underage girls for abuse by the billionaire jeffrey epstein. it's thought they will call dozens of witnesses, although it's not yet clear if the 59—year—old will take the stand herself. two children have died and several have been critically injured on the australian island of tasmania, after an inflatable castle was blown into the air by a gust of wind. police said the children, from a primary school in devonport, fell from a height of about ten metres. the influential black feminist known as bell hooks has died at the age of 69. the author, professor, poet, and activist, whose real name was gloria jean watkins, wrote some a0 books. herfirst major work ain't i a woman was published in 1981 and became widely recognised as an important feminist text. in 2004, she established the bell hooks center in kentucky as an inclusive space for historically under—represented students. president biden visited kentucky on wednesday to see for himself the damage caused by a series of deadly tornadoes. more than so many people were killed and more than 120 people are still missing. our correspondent nomia iqbal is in kentucky and sent this report. this is one of the poorest towns in the state. it has been left in apocalyptic ruins. many people are now wondering what's next. officials say 75% of the town has been destroyed. today, president biden came to see the damage for himself. i intend to do whatever it takes as long as it takes, as long as it takes to support your state, your local leaders and as you recover and rebuild because you will recover and you will rebuild. you know, the scope and scale of this destruction is almost beyond belief. when you look around here, it's just almost beyond belief. these tornadoes devoured everything in their path. president biden has signed an emergency declaration for the state. it will provide funds for the emergency management agency known as fema to help with search and rescue and provide food, water and generators. but many in this town have been relying on strangers for support. sally's managed to find her wedding ring and pictures of her children. she's trying to clear up as much as she can ahead of another storm that's being forecast. we've recovered more, i think, than we first thought. �*cause at first, itjust looked like a big pile of rubble. but as you dig through, you are able to find some things, and we have found some things that were very important to us, which makes me happier than — when you think everything is gone, it's quite heartbreaking. some people say they want more thanjust their neighbours helping. i went to a shelter earlier and some volunteers there who didn't want to speak to me on camera claimed that the government response by fema has been really slow. they also say they hope the president isn'tjust here for a photo op. the president has also visited the town of mayfield, an hour away. kentucky is a republican state. how he and his democratic administration respond to the disaster will be scrutinised by conservatives, the very people he's trying to reach. nomia iqbal, kentucky. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: will there be an ashes fightback in adelaide? england are hoping to level the series down under. saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, ourwomen, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes, but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict — conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border- was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world i in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre - in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life — the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: concern's growing worldwide over the rapid spread of the omicron variant of coronavirus, with several countries recording a record number of cases. president biden has been visiting kentucky to see the devastation caused by this weekend's tornadoes. he described it as being �*almost beyond belief�*. migrants arriving in small boats in kent, in the south—east of england, are facing very poor and worsening conditions at the home office's arrival facilities in dover. that's according to inspectors and independent monitors. a highly critical report by the inspectorate of prisons says there are "significant safeguarding concerns" for children and vulnerable adults held at the dockside, despite uk government assurances that conditions would improve. the bbc�*s home editor mark easton reports. inspectors visited the tug haven arrival centre on dover in a quiet day in middle over. what they discovered has opted a call for urgent government action. 400 people including babies and small children held overnight in cold tents without sleeping facilities. some accommodated in unheated double—decker buses. inadequate care for two women said they had been raped by smugglers and another woman who claimed to have been sold into domestic servitude. unaccompanied children placed with unrelated adults prompting significant safeguarding concerns and migrants' injuries left untreated. the inspectors were told how 116—year—old girl, picked up after a perilous channel crossing remained in wet clothes for two days with undetected fuel burns on her legs and was now likely to be scarred for life. a previous inspection in september last year also revealed poor conditions at tug haven. at the time the home office assured inspectors improvements would be made with ministers blaming co—ordination problems with partner agencies. today the chief inspector of prisons charlie taylor said this was not a sufficient explanation for why one year later we still found people being held for even longer in conditions that were so inadequate. responding, the home office said that refers to controversial plans to use part of a ministry of defence space as a processing site for what they call illegal migrants from next month. ministers say it will be part of a system that is fair on those who play by the rules and firm on those who do not. mark easton, bbc news. time for all the latest sports news. hello i'm chetan pathak with your sports news. we start with football. arsenal have moved into the top four of the english premier league after beating west ham at the emirates stadium. to strengthen their chances of qualifying for next season's champions league. arsenal took the lead after half time thanks to gabriel martinelli. they missed a penalty as west ham had a man sent off, but emile smith rowe made sure of the three points with his goal late on. arsenal's women are the latest team through to the quarter—finals of the women's european champions league, but only after surviving a scare against hoffenheim. the germans had to win by a five—goal margin, and shontal hagel scored twice as they went 4—1 up with half an hour still to play. arsenal then endured a nervy last 30 minutes as they kept hoffenheim at bay, before sealing their place in the last eight. there were also wins for barcelona, bayern munich and lyon who'd all, already made it through. manchester city legend sergio aguero says he's proud of his career after having to accept what he calls the "very difficult" reality of retiring from football at the age of 33. aguero announced the news at an emotional press conference, fewer than six months afterjoining barcelona. he was taken to hospital in october after experiencing chest problems during a 1—1 draw with alaves and says he's had to take the decision for his health. translation: i want to tell everyone — translation: i want to tell everyone that _ translation: i want to tell everyone that i _ translation: i want to tell everyone that i did - translation: | want to tell. everyone that i did everything possible to have some hope but, there wasn't very much. i'm very proud of the career i've had, very happy and they will leave now with my head held high, happy. idon't leave now with my head held high, happy. i don't know what awaits me in the next life but i know that there's a lot of people that love me, and want the best for me. formula 1's governing body says the controversial abu dhabi grand prix is "tarnishing the image" of the sport and it'll look into what happened on sunday to see what lessons can be learned. standard protocols appeared not to be followed as max verstappen beat lewis hamilton to the title. verstappen paid a visit to the english red bull racing factory in milton keynes on wednesday to celebrate his first championship with the team. mercedes say they intend to appeal against the decision to reject their initial protest against the result. racing should be won on the track and i think for the whole season we have been doing that and like i've said before, when you look at the whole season, if you take away the bad luck we should have already won the championship before that so you can also speak about that, you know, because of the bad luck you are in that position. at the end of the day, you know, we will celebrate regardless, but we at least won it on the track. but lewis hamilton's still been able to celebrate something, at windsor castle no less, where he received his knighthood from prince charles for services to motorsport. he was recognised in the 2021 new years honours list after equalling michael schumacher�*s record of seven f1 titles and took his proud mum along with him. sir lewis hamilton there. you can follow the second ashes test in adelaide on the bbc sport website, australia are without their captain pat cummins after he was identified as a close contact of a positive covid case. but from me and the team, that's all your sport for now. well, as cheetan mentioned, you can follow the latest from the second ashes test in adelaide online but if you can't wait for that, fear not. our reporter tanya dendrinos has been keeping her eye on the action, tanya, cummins would be very disappointed? absolutely, he came out so well in that first test, leading australia to a solid career there and unfortunately it is no longer any world we live in, injury and performance that players need to worry about, he's been brought to close contact of someone who tested positive to covid—19 after eating at a restaurant so it's really sad for him not to be able to play and lead the team stopper he has been tested negative but because he was deemed a close contact he will have to isolate for seven days. the good news is cricket australia think that he will be back for the boxing day test. what is really interesting here is him stepping out means that steve smith is stepping up to the lead again stopping the reason that is interesting is that this comes three years after sandpaper gate which i'm sure england fans will well and truly remember. he lost that test captaincy there and he had to serve a one—year ban as well so he's worked his way back up so he's worked his way back up so for him to be leading here now is really interesting to see what he is going to be doing. see what he is going to be doini. . , see what he is going to be doini. ., , ., , see what he is going to be doini. ., ,~ , , doing. certainly a very big moment _ doing. certainly a very big moment for— doing. certainly a very big moment for him. - doing. certainly a very big moment for him. the - doing. certainly a very big moment for him. the first doing. certainly a very big - moment for him. the first test didn't go so well did it, for england. the less said about that better. and england is out for redemption in this second test? i wont let my aussie bias for that question. definitely. is really interesting listening to joe root the england captain speak up that first test. they said they are not going into the next one demoralised, they had some positive elements in the game and they are looking to build on that and do those positive things for longer was the outcome it. he wasn't quite in dismay, he is definitely up for redemption looking for a strong showing there. australia one toss, they opted to bat so they are in there now and interestingly broad was recalled for england for this match and that seems to have been a good call, he was involved in the first scalp, that was marcus harris up for australia. butlertook that was marcus harris up for australia. butler took an absolutely stunning catch of a broad ball so we willjust have to see if they can continue building on that and a again won't put my bias and on what i would like the result to be quite and i know you've not been able to watch the last half hour or so preparing for our interview but how did everything start off? because just as we were preparing to come to end a sort of kick documented in a? it was a bit of a slower start compared to the first test, the first ball in the last match somebody without stopping the last day checkedit without stopping the last day checked it was one 20 so let's see if they can pick up a little bit more as it goes on, in adelaide it will be afternoon, as it goes on there. sports reporter, cricket reporter, i think we are going to be hearing from you about wales and the next hour, so yeah, i will let you know when we got more sports news, thanks very much, tania. now, the remarkable tale of an endangered north atlantic right whale who's given birth — against all odds. louisa pilbeam has the story. a mother and her calf frolicking off the coast of georgia. it is a majestic sight but if you look a little closer, you will notice this north atlantic right whale 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, may be something around 330 animals remaining, so the calves of these animals are the future, and that is largely why the situation with snow cone is so compelling. snow cone and her calf will continue to be closely monitored with many challenges and a long journey north ahead. we've got the business news coming up very shortly, we're going to be talking about what a slightly aggressive stance from the federal reserve �*s for inflation in the us and also we are going to be taking a look at what might happen today with the bank of england with their policy decision as well. that will be met they uk time today. so all of that coming up. go and make a cup of tea. i will see you in about five minutes. bye bye. hello there. temperatures were as high as 14 degrees on wednesday, and the rest of the week will stay mild. i suspect many of us, though, will continue to see cloudy skies like this. there was some sunshine, though, across a good part of yorkshire and lincolnshire on wednesday, but these areas with those clearer skies are starting a bit colder on thursday morning. mild elsewhere underneath that blanket of cloud. could be some mist and fog patches with those clearer skies across parts of northern england, even down into norfolk as well. we'll see those mist and fog patches lifting, and the best of the sunshine more likely to be to the east of the pennines, in the north—east of england. a lot of cloud around elsewhere. there's a bit of rain and drizzle across northern parts of scotland, becoming more confined towards the northern isles. whether you've got the cloud or not, though, it's still a mild day for the time of year. temperatures widely in double figures once again. now, high pressure is building in across the uk. that's why it's so quiet, but that high pressure is bringing with it a good deal of cloud. now, the cloud could just be thick enough to give one or two spots of drizzle across more southern parts of the uk, whereas again a mild start on friday. a little bit chillier across some eastern parts of scotland, the north—east of england, perhaps even into the north west of wales, where there could be a few breaks overnight. but as you can see, not a great deal of sunshine on offer on friday. the winds are light in most places, just picking up a touch there in the far south—west of england. and again, it's mild. 8—9 degrees more typically across northern parts of england and scotland. this time temperatures are starting to ebb away just a little. this weekend, though, we're going to hang on to the cloudy skies for most of the country. a lot of dry weather around as well, of course. limited amounts of sunshine means a limited amount of frost. it will be turning a bit colder as the weekend goes on. you can see we may have some sunshine across the north—east of scotland, perhaps west wales, into the far south—west of england, where there's a bit more breeze on saturday. but otherwise, it looks cloudy once again. and we may just sneak those temperatures across southern parts in particular into double figures. there's the area of high pressure. it's really taking a shine to the uk. it's not going to move very far at all during this weekend. so, again, the winds are likely to be light, but as you can see again it looks like it's going to be quite cloudy. that cloud could be quite low as well, so some mist and some fog potentially over some higher parts of the uk. and those temperatures beginning to drop away a little bit. it will feel a little bit chillier on sunday. this is bbc news, with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. inflation alert. the federal reserve signals more aggressive interest rate rises and speeds up its exit from stimulus measures. dilemma for the bank of england. caught between omicron and inflation, will the uk become the first major economy to raise the cost of borrowing? turkey's currency crisis deepens. is the central bank about to make it worse? plus, high hopes for denmark, as parliament clears the production and export of cannabis for medical use.