tests. london's high court orders the ruler of dubai to pay more than $700 million in a divorce settlement to his ex—wife, princess haya ofjordan. and, we take you back to a time when mobile phones looked like this, to explain why the first ever text message has just been sold, for $120,000. hello and welcome to our viewers in the uk and around the world. within the past few hours, president biden has been setting out his plans to step up the fight against the 0micron variant in the us. the federal government will distribute 500 million free covid tests in the new year, something it's never done. it's also drafting in military personnel to support hospitals which are already feeling the pressure, as the 0micron variant takes hold. president biden again implored americans to get vaccinated but he said lockdowns are not yet on the horizon. we start our coverage of covid with this report from our washington correspondent gary 0'donoghue. more than two million people a day are travelling home for christmas through america's airports, and many of them are worried. the way i look at it is as long as we've been fully vaccinated and we're always masked up, we should be ok. but it's quite dangerous still. i don't think anything'5100% safe unless you stay in your house the entire time, so, yeah. 0micron has exploded in the united states. in the space of two weeks, it's gone from less than 1% of new cases to almost three quarters. so, for a second time in less than a month, president biden has announced more measures, extra vaccine sites and, in a change of direction, free home testing kits. i'm announcing today the federal government will purchase one half billion — that's not million, billion with a b — additional at—home rapid tests with delivery starting in january. we'll be getting these tests to americans for free. those free at—home tests won't be available until next month, so testing sites like this recreation centre are opening up all over the country. and 1,000 military, nurses and doctors are being readied in case the hospitals get overwhelmed. while cases have been rising sharply, one encouraging sign is that hospitalisations haven't gone up anything like as much as they did earlier in the pandemic. but infections amongst the unvaccinated could change all that. we've first got to get the 50 million or so people who are eligible to be vaccinated who've not gotten vaccinated. that is critical. if you want to keep the level of spread in the country as low as possible, which would get us back to some degree of normality, you've got to get those unvaccinated people vaccinated. in new york, they've seen record numbers of cases in the past few days, leading the mayor to offer a $100 incentive to those getting a boosterjab. it will not be a normal christmas once again. gary 0'donoghue, bbc news, washington. professor peter chin hong an expert in treating infectious diseases from university of california in san francisco says biden�*s measures are more of damage control than prevention. i think many people are worried that too little, too late is the theme of the speech. there's certainly things that will be good for stopgap measures, like 1000 medics and nurses, increased ppe like gloves and masks for healthcare workers, but some of them would be a little bit too late. it'll be injanuary. i think 0micron will have probably gone by the east coast by then with half a billion tests, but do realise that the country has 330 million people, so that doesn't go very far. and increasing vaccination sites would be beneficial, but again if much of it is coming injanuary, many people are worried that it wouldn't be in time for the surge that's upon us right now. professor, i know there's a lag in data between infections, hospitalisations and more severe cases, but what are the early indications telling you about the severity of omicron? the data is mixed. if you look at the south african data, it turns out that maybe in contrast to delta, when about 20% of folks get hospitalised, even if you say 2% of 0micron cases get hospitalised, that's still 2% of a larger group of people who may become infected. plus south africa may not be like other countries, and a study from the imperial college show that maybe hospitalisations may not be that different. nevertheless, you know, we are worried notjust about people coming in, but of having enough health care workers to take care of the folks. cos if you think about somebody, even if they may get a mild infection, they're on a prison sentence of covid isolation for ten days, taking them out of the workforce. so, a hospital isn't just a physical bed, it's the people taking care of the people coming in. that's a really good point. just to say that israel is now recommending a fourth vaccine for some people. does that mean that we're going to be in this sort of endless loop of vaccines every six months, and are you concerned people might just end up losing interest or the will to get vaccinated? that's such a great point. i think it depends on what your goalpost is. if your goalpost is prevention of infection, and i dare say that we're moving towards maybe accepting a mild infection or asymptomatic case more and more. versus preventing somebody from getting severely ill, using hospital resources. if you think about the latter, i would say with two doses, we are mainly there as a society. three doses as a booster, definitely there, even for older and immunocompromised individuals. but to think about prevention of infection, we'll be in this endless loop of probably getting a booster every so often. so, it all depends on where we are. i think if 0micron sneaks through the world, the vaccinated get breakthrough infection, that resulting hybrid immunity may be enough of a superpower to fend off additional variants. meanwhile, israel is the first country in the world to make a fourth covid vaccination dose widely available. people over 60 years old and medical workers will now be able to receive another jab. those eligible will be able to receive their fourth jab from three months after their third dose. israel's country's vaccination programme has been amongst the most successful in the world with third doses offered from july to combat the delta surge. the prime minister, naftali bennett, said the measure would help get through the 0micron wave that is engulfing the world and he urged israelis not to waste time in getting their latest jab. within the last hour it's been announced that quarantine for people with coronavirus is being reduced from ten days to seven in england. it comes as the prime minister borisjohnson confirms they'll be no new restrictions before christmas, but warned measures will come in soon afterwards. 0n those new self—isolation rules, here's the uk health secretary sajid javid. we wa nt we want to reduce the disruption to people's everyday lives caused by the pandemic, so today we will be cutting the self isolation period from ten days to seven days for those people that take a lateral flow test on day six and a seven and the result of both those tests are negative. this decision has been informed by the advice from our clinicians that the uk health security agency who have looked at this very carefully and they are very comfortable, that the protection that is provided by making this change so that people can leave isolation after day seven as long as they have taken these two lateral flow test and the results are negative, that the protection it provides is very similar to ten days of isolation without test. of course anyone who leaves up a day seven under this new procedure, they should continue to remain cautious, but we are also very clear that the very best way to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our community is to make sure you get boosted if you are eligible. i5 is to make sure you get boosted if you are eligible.— if you are eligible. is at the reality with _ if you are eligible. is at the reality with so _ if you are eligible. is at the reality with so many - if you are eligible. is at the | reality with so many people if you are eligible. is at the i reality with so many people of the capping tested positive at the capping tested positive at the moment, that this is needed in order to keep the nhs and indeed other sectors of the economy going? i indeed other sectors of the economy going?— indeed other sectors of the economy going? i think this is a very sensible, _ economy going? i think this is a very sensible, balanced - economy going? i think this is a very sensible, balanced and | a very sensible, balanced and proportionate step to take. of course this new variant is spreading very rapidly, disrupting many people's lives. is great that when people do get infected that are properly isolating, i think that clearly helps to stop, prevent infection. but it is important also to look at how we can have policies that will help to minimise that and this step again, informed by our clinicians i think the very sensible way forward. germany has become the latest european country to tighten its coronavirus restrictions, although the new measures won't come into force until after christmas. private gatherings will be limited to ten people from the 28th of december, nightclubs will be closed, and large organised events, including the bundesliga football matches, will take place behind closed doors. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. michael flynn, the a longtime adviser to former us president donald trump, is suing the congressional committee investigating the deadly january 6th attack on the us capitol. mr flynn's lawsuit alleges that a subpoena issued to him was too broad in scope, and punishes him for constitutionally protected speech he engaged in as a private citizen. it's being reported that the national hockey league, which has teams based in canada and the us, will not send its players to compete in the men's tournament at the beijing winter olympics. it's understood that the causes are disruption caused to the nhl season by the pandemic, meaning games have to be rescheduled, and concerns over infections and quarantines. the worst flooding malaysia has seen in decades has left at least 17 dead, with fears that number will rise. three days of torrential rain has partially submerged entire towns and villages, forcing 60,000 people from their homes. government agencies have been accused of failing to issue storm warnings or send enough support. what's thought to be the largest divorce settlement in british legal history has been agreed. a high courtjudge has awarded around $725 million to princess haya ofjordan, in a long—running dispute with herformer husband, the ruler of dubai. the princess, who is a7, is the sixth, and youngest, wife of sheikh mohammed. she fled to the uk from dubai, with her children, in 2019, claiming she was in fear of her life. last year, the high court in london ruled that the sheikh had illegally hacked his estranged wife's mobile phone, as well as those of her bodyguards and legal team. he has denied ever having an intention of harming the princess. 0ur security correspondent, frank gardner told us more about the settlement. this is pretty much the culmination of a very long—running court battle between one of the world's richest men, sheikh mohammed bin rashid al maktoum, who is a huge figure in the horse racing world. he is also the ruler of dubai, and the youngest of his six wives, now ex—wife, princess haya ofjordan, daughter of king hussein of jordan. as you said earlier, she fled to britain in early 2019 with her two children, saying she was terrified. a gun was placed in her room with a bullet in it. a helicopter landed on the lawn of her palace with somebody saying that he had orders to take her out to a prison in the middle the desert. all because she said she discovered what had happened to other daughters of the ruler of dubai who had been abducted. he has denied this, but the high court here in britain stood this up. it didn't probably help her case that she had an affair with her bodyguard, and when that was discovered, he was understandably very angry, wrote a poem that went public called you lived, you died, and she interpreted that as a death threat. she fled to britain where she continued to get threats from anonymous people saying we can reach you wherever. she took the case to court to try to safeguard, to put in place, which she has now got today, a huge financial settlement to safeguard her security and that of her two children, because she worries that harm will come to her and that they will be abducted. he has issued a statement saying he has only ever wished to provide the best for his children and he has nothing more to say about this case. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: trouble for the tourism industry, we'll tell you how the new 0micron variant is once again affecting visitors to thailand. the world of music has been paying tribute to george michael, who's died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well over 100 million albums in a career spanning more than three decades. the united states' troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon says it's failed in its principle objective to capture noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle| was hastily taken away. m its place. — the russian flag was hoisted over what is now— no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. | day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am's maid of the seas, nosedown in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkoder, where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karisma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines: president biden announces new measures to tackle the 0micron variant, promising free testing and 10,000 new vaccination sites. new covid guidance comes into force across england — with quarantine for infected people being reduced from ten days, to seven. foreign visitors to thailand will once again have to isolate after the government decided to halt quarantine free travel due to the spread of the 0micron variant. thailand only reopened to international travellers in november, and the move is a crushing blow to the country's tourism industry which has suffered throughout the pandemic. it comes as other countries across asia also tighten their border controls following the emergence of the new variant. earlier i spoke to gary bowerman, director of check—in asia and also an asian travel analyst. here's what he had to say about these measures. thailand about these measures. was at the forefront of thailand was at the forefront of reopening tourism in south—east asia and asia—pacific stop there were few countries in the region as open as tile and for international business, it has been open since the beginning of november and numbers were beginning to increase. perhaps not reaching the levels expected and nowhere near the levels of 2019 but there was some growth and obviously we are moving into the key season, the peak season of december january and february for thailand so for these measures to be taken now show the seriousness that thailand is taking 0micron but for the tourist industry it takes everything back a year perhaps or back to where we were a year ago. and for the industry not just in thailand but the signals that sends out across the asia pacific and southeast asia, it is gloomy right now. and as you point out this is the peak travel season for southeast asia. so given the back drop of what you have described, what is your outlook for 2022? described, what is your outlook for2022? for southeast described, what is your outlook for 2022? for southeast asia and travel companies and the travel sector? sector? that is a tough question. 0ne that is a tough question. one of the golden rules we learnt and travel over the past two years is to not make too many long—term predictions. things happen so fast in a dynamic and fluid situation. we would have to say that globally right now 0micron is in control that the coronavirus has taken control over travel again. you mentioned of course that this is the peak season so looking at the year—end christmas and new year bookings. if we could go back slightly to october and november you would remember that some countries in the region were starting to open more liberally. thailand, singapore was scaling up its vaccinated travel lanes. cambodia and the philippines, they wanted to open and they were looking at the peak season but also, of course, the lunar new year period at the beginning of february which is an important travel period across the asia pacific. that looks as if it will not happen in any numbers at all right now. countries have reinstalled travel barriers and mechanisms such as an increase in quarantine, ramping up testing for people when they return to their own countries little and when they visit another country. so the immediate future looks very bleak. beyond that we have to look at getting through the immediate period which is the northern hemisphere winter season because you would be expecting a lot of demand into southeast asia over the coming months would be from europe and north america, particularly as given that most asia—pacific source markets are closed to thailand right now. the immediate future does not look too good but we have to take it quarter by quarter. they may seem a little old—fashioned these days, but when they first pinged onto our phones, text messages were the last word in cool. now the first text ever sent has been sold for more than $120,000. it was auctioned in paris as a non—fungible token. nina nanji reports. text messaging, it's hard to imagine a world without it, but do you know when people first started texting each other? it was almost 30 years ago, in december1992. and that first message simply said, "merry christmas." now that piece of digital history has gone under the hammer. it was sold by vodafone for $120,600 in the form of a non—fungible token, or nft. nfts are a type of digital asset that has surged in popularity this year, with nft artwork selling for millions of dollars. the buyer, whose identity was not disclosed, will receive the replica of the original communication protocol that transmitted the sms. vodafone says it plans to donate its proceeds from the sale to the united nations refugee agency. nina nanji, bbc news. who would ever have thought that a text message could be that a text message could be that valuable. what will they think of next? an inspirational story for you now, of a life transformed. adeoye fawaz�*s life has changed since he recently won the chess in slums tournament in lagos. the 19—year—old bus conductor, who was living under a bridge in 0shodi, a surburb in lagos, has now become a popular face in the country after winning the chess competition. the bbc�*s daniel henry picks up adeoye's story about the competition that's transfomed his life and others like him. translation: i want to use chess to change my life - and become a star. i want people to know me. adeoye fawaz is 19 years old, and he's a chess champion in nigeria's largest city, lagos. translation: i learned tailoring hard living - with my parents, but i later came to lagos to seek a better life. i became a bus conductor and started living under the oshodi bridge. adeoye and many of his friends learned to play the game from a group called chess in slums. tunde daniel organised the chess tournament. i started thinking about them, about those boys that have been neglected on the streets and left to fend for themselves and are evolving to criminals, con artists and drugs. chess in slums have trained 500 children and helped 100 of them to go back to school in nigeria and burkina faso. translation: the first time - they came, we thought they came for something else, but as time went by, we understood they had good plans for us. i want people to understand that there is no one born without a talent. since adeoye won the tournament, his story has been trending on social media. many nigerians are contributing to the group to sustain their project. around $58,000 has been donated so far. we don'tjust want to stop here. there's still so much more to do. we still need to get all of them off the streets, you know, and get them back to school. translation: i don't want to | live under the bridge any more. i want to live in a decent place. i don't want to join louts any more. what a remarkable story there of a life transformed through chess. i have tried playing chess. i have tried playing chess with my 11—year—old daughter from time to time and she is far more proficient than me. i wish i started earlier in life but, as they say, it is never too late to learn. portuguese adventurer francisco lufinha has successfully crossed the atlantic in a boat powered only by kites. he completed the 4,000 mile crossing from lisbon to the caribbean island of martinique, injust under seven weeks. the power needed onboard his small tri—maran was generated using solar power with lufinha steering, using remote controls that positioned an array of kites. some kites have exploded and i have now three standard kites, 27 metre kites and 125 made a big one and now we are using the seven metre small kite but it is fine. we are moving at about 12 miles from 10—15 which is, which is ok. iam i am impressed that the co—ordination involved in all of that, notjust co—ordination involved in all of that, not just the fact that he travelled around the world under kite power. just before we go, an amazing survival story to bring you now from madagascar, where a government minister managed to swim to shore when his helicopter crashed, after spending 12 hours in the water. serge gelle, the secretary of state for police, was one of two survivors from the crash, which happened during a mission to inspect the site of a shipwreck. he apparently used one of the helicopter�*s seats as a flotation device. he said in this video, posted on twitter, that he managed to keep going because he told himself that his time to die hadn't come yet. words to live by indeed as we all try to make it through the pandemic. thank you so much for watching and stay with bbc news. hello again. well, we're going to see some changes in our weather pattern through wednesday as this area of cloud that's just out now, i think it may well start off with rather murky conditions across much of the country, a few mist and fog patches over the hills, and rain. well, that rain's going to be heavier, particularly swinging across northern ireland, northern england, into parts of scotland as well. very mild in the south, 13 degrees, but we're starting to get some colder air spreading into the far north of the uk. and for christmas eve, we'll continue to have those kind of temperature contrasts. another weather front, this one concentrating rain across northern ireland, wales and the south—west of england, still with mild air here. further north, we've got those chillier conditions with wintry showers beginning to spread in across the northern isles. and for saturday, which of course is christmas day, we're going to have this battle zone somewhere across the uk. now, this is not set in stone. it could move a little bit further southwards perhaps over the next few days. for the north of the uk, we may well see a few snow showers, that is a possibility. the south—west more likely to see cloudy skies, grey conditions, rain and mild weather. and there's a small chance we could see something a little bit more disruptive, but itjust depends where this boundary ends up being. at the moment, it's here. cold air to the north, milder in the south west, but watch this space. this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hours straight after this programme. this week: getting set for the metaverse, but what should we wear? where should we go? what are the latest specs? and how far and how high could we get? the victoria and albert museum in london is a treasure trove