hello and welcome. the uk has again recorded its highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the pandemic began — more than 120,000. it's the third day in a row that cases have topped 100,000 — with 122,186 recorded today. a separate survey from the office for national statistics found that on december 19th, an estimated one in 35 people in the uk had coronavirus — that's1.74 million people. in london the ratio is much higher — one in 20 people were likely to have tested positive for covid. let me show you quickly the stats for the other nations. in wales it's around one in a5. scotland's rate is one in 65 and in northern ireland it's one in a0. but despite soaring cases, early findings suggest that the 0micron variant is milder than delta, and leads to less hospitalisation — the head of the uk health security agency drjenny harries called it a "glimmer of christmas hope". elsewhere, thailand has reported its first 0micron cluster — 21 infections, an outbreak traced to a belgium couple who had travelled to the country earlier in the month. in europe, italy has reintroduced mandatory face coverings outdoors; and greece is ordering people to wear facemasks both indoors and outdoors. here's our health correspondent dominic hughes. that's it, done. a christmas eve booster in basingstoke. here they are getting jabs in arms up until christmas. it was good, it made sense to do it, doing my bit for the community and everybody else. in england people will be able to get vaccinated throughout the festive break. 200,000 slots for first, second and boosterjabs are available, including on christmas day and boxing day. people are so keen to come in. there was a big rush at the beginning of the week, it slowed down a little bit but in fact people are really positive about having theirjabs. people in scotland, wales and northern ireland are being encouraged to get a jab to with vaccination centres closed over christmas until the 27th. even as the push on boosters continue, experts are mulling over the latest more hopeful research on the omicron variant, indicating it could be less severe than delta. potentially this is good news, if omicron really is less nasty, and it is certainly shaping up to look less nasty, that's fantastic, what better christmas present could we have? but at the moment the data is small, mainly across the younger population so we are holding our breath. it is a cautious welcome, still some big unknowns, particularly how older people might be affected. typically we are seeing omicron largely in young people and it's onlyjust now the cases are starting to tip into the older population, particularly in the 60 and 70 plus —year—olds. there are a number of different reasons why we need to continue to look at this data further. even if the virus causes less severe illness in most people, it is so contagious, hundreds of thousands are likely to catch it, including health service workers, raising concerns about a staffing crisis. some have already noticed shifts are getting busier. there is the increasing absence rates, the queueing at hospital, hearing our control staff call out for any ambulances available, and there just are not any left. that is taking a toll on front line staff. so the booster rolled out forges on in all sorts of settings, here in an asian restaurant in bradford, an area where vaccine hesitancy has been higher than the rest of the country so they are trying to make the process as easy as possible. we are creating access where our communities are. a restaurant is the best place for this time of year, to come and bring the vaccines to make it as easy and as accessible as we can. the latest estimate by the office for national statistics is that by last sunday more than 1.7 million people in the uk were infected with the virus, around one in 35. it may be less severe than first feared, but the numbers catching the virus mean there will still be tough weeks ahead. dominic hughes, bbc news. as we were hearing earlier, the office for national statistics found that an estimated one in 35 people in the uk had coronavirus on a single day last week — our head of statistics robert cuffe explained what those huge figures actually mean the 0ns figures tell a story, we have been kind of hearing the case for some days, but really help us to understand just how spreadable omicron is. you read the case number is there, they don't include the reinfection. the reason it is spreading so quickly is because it can evade some immunity that infection creates. so those case figures are probably a bit of an underestimate. the figures that came back from the 0ns earlier today said 1.7 million people in the uk are infected with coronavirus at the moment. a number that has gone up by about a quarter over three days shows you that no matter how you look at it, omicron is spreading very, very quickly. we see the pressure that will put on society, even if it doesn't cause any sickness at all. we heard yesterday that about one and a half percent of the nhs staff were off work due to coronavirus. that's gone up by about half in a week. so it's that kind of rate of growth and spread of omicron continues to go up, that is eventually going to put pressure on hospitals, schools and businesses as people have to isolate. it's also going to mean that the peak comes very quickly, isn't it? i mean, this is going to burn very fast indeed. yeah, i think a bit of a calculation, i have to admit, but the 0ns figures ii read is close to 200,000 every day, there are only so many doublings you can go through before you are infecting the entire population of the uk every couple of hours, so eventually it does burn itself out, and that's why the models that look at where the peak might come in terms of a figure but the 0ns figures ii read is close to 200,000 every day, we really care about, people going into hospital who are sick, that's kind of peaking injanuary— february, probably different where it's time for it to do so. well, earlier, ispoke to data journalistjohn burn—murdoch from the financial times, who gave this assessment on the covid hospitalisations happening in london. if we compare where we are right now to where we wear last winter, there are currently roughly 25% as many, so a quarter as many patients in hospital as being treated with severe covid as there were at the peak last winter. numbers are still rising, but i think based on all the data i've seen and indeed out modelling evidence i've seen him it evidence i've seen, it would be unlikely to get close to last winter's p, but if we get half as high as that, that does mean there will be a loss of life. are you in any way of tracking, because we have heard that the london mayor talking about staff shortages and all the public services. is that going to become an issue as well as more people have to isolate that actually the biggest problem is not the numbers going into hospital but the numbers in hospital who are there to treat them. this is almost a pincer movement in that sense, isn't it? we have the number of nhs staff in london hospitals who are now absent either because they have covid or a contact has it, and they are isolating. that number has risen steeply in the last couple of weeks. so, yeah, we are going to see a patient numbers. again, i don't think we will see the peak we saw last week. those numbers will continue to go up at the same time the number of people available to care for them well perhaps come down slightly. on a more positive note and taking what you said earlier, having to look at this in a regional sense, the figures for london in the 0ns survey today, one in 20 people on december the 19th having it, and presumably for days on, and it's even worse than that at the moment. does that mean that actually there will be a peak in london before the rest of the country and that will come reasonably quickly? i willjust say one thing, there, that figure of one and 20 was actually an average for that whole, and if you look at the most recent data for the 19th itself it was one in ten, so omicron really has been incredibly widespread in london. you are right, what we have seen both in the uk data and what we have already seen in south africa is that because probably of certain characteristics of omicron, including the fact that it may have a shorter period of time over which someone becomes infectious, that may lead to a much faster and steeper peak, but actually a shorter wave overall and perhaps even a peak at lower levels than we might have feared. that's promising news, as is, as you have alluded to, there is a smaller percentage on cases where we require where we require hospitalisations as we are seeing with other variants. in london the ratio is much higher — one in 20 people were likely to have tested positive for covid, the highest proportion of any region or nation in the uk. in fact, let me show you quickly the stats for the other nations. wales it's around one in a5, scotland's rate one in 65 —— the uk not the only country where omicron is spreading fast. on thursday, france reported a new record high in the number of daily infections. and in spain, where the wearing of facemasks outdoors is compulsory again, the 73,000 cases recorded on thursday were the third consecutive high in as many days. so a curfew will be in force from tonight in catalonia in northeastern spain, where residents are banned from leaving their homes between one o'clock and six in the morning. dr quique bassat is a research professor at the barcelona institute for global health, with more on what the situation is like there. we are very concerned about the situation. we are witnessing an unprecedented increase in the number of cases, with 25,000 more cases today than we had two days ago, with more than 100 points in the incidence increased between two days ago and today. with increasing pressure to the health system, we are getting warnings from the emergency departments, the intensive care units, that we are seeing many more cases being admitted. even if this new variant is predominantly less severe, because we also have a predominately very well vaccinated population, with over 80% of the population having received two or more shots, we are seeing lots of pressure to the health system and lots of cases that require hospitalisation. what is happening is that this huge increase in the number of cases, even though the new cases may be less severe, it is having a toll in the cases that end up being severe. we do recognise that the vaccine is protecting against severe disease, but because of the enormous amount of new infection that we are seeing, there is a small proportion of those infections that do require hospitalisation. so it is important that the population understands that even though we are safer with the vaccines, we are not completely safe and we are not completely protected against hospitalisation. that was an update on the situation in spain. coronavirus has thwarted many christmas plans this year, and it's continuing to wreack havoc on international travel. more than 2,000 flights around the world have been cancelled today due to staff shortages. 0n the first christmas in two years that australians could travel between states over the holidays, more than 100 domestic flights from sydney and melbourne to other cities were cancelled, as were hundreds of us flights, with united airlines saying that 0micron cases had had a "direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation." passengers flying with delta and lufthansa have also been affected the uk government is going to relax immigration rules so that social care workers from abroad can help alleviate staff shortages in britain. the temporary measures are expected to take effect in the new year and will be in place for at least 12 months. care providers are experiencing high vacancy rates and turnover, and pressure on staffing is being made worse by the recent spread of 0micron. at least 39 people have been killed after a packed ferry caught fire in southern bangladesh. the ferry had sailed from the capital, dhaka, and was bound for the southern town of barguna, with hundreds of passengers on board. at the time of the fire, the ferry was near the town othalakati. bbc�*s akbar hossein reports from dhaka. the fire is believed to have started in the engine room at around three o'clock in the morning, when most of the passengers were sleeping. it spread quickly as the ferry travelled along the sugandha river in the early hours of friday. the fire went on for hours before it was doused. as many as 500 people were reportedly on board. some of the victims drowned afterjumping into the water. translation: my father, | myself, my six-month-old nephew and my sister were travelling together. when the fire broke out, i gave the baby to a man, he was trying to save the baby, but now we can't find them. please, let us know if you learn their whereabouts. i was on the first floor of the ferry. suddenly, the rear side caught fire. the engine had problems earlier. the ferry's windows had curtains, and these curtains trapped the smoke, which killed most of the people. ferry accidents are not uncommon in bangladesh, with mishaps blamed on poor maintenance, lax safety standards and overcrowding. the accident was the latest in a string of similar incidents in the delta country — hundreds have drowned in the country's rivers in the past ten years — but the fire that engulfed this ferry adds a new layer of horror to the story. akbar hossein, bbc news, dhaka. the former south korean president, park geun—hye, is to be granted a presidential pardon. ms park — the country's first female president — was impeached and removed from office in 2017 after widespread public protests over her deals with big korean businesses. she was subsequentlyjailed for 22 years on corruption charges. christmas eve celebrations are under way in the west bank city of bethlehem, but the hoteliers who were hoping for an influx of tourists will be disappointed by the re—introduction of anti—covid measures. israel's borders have been closed to international travellers because of the pandemic and only a small number of people attended the procession, to the birthplace ofjesus. tom bateman sent this report. in manger square, they wait for the biggest night of the year — a christmas procession that will follow the route believed to have been taken by mary and joseph. it's a march of faith. but this season's greetings are mainly between the locals. the scout bands are a fixture of christmas in manger square and you can feel the energy. but what is missing are the international visitors and pilgrims that would usually be thronging the square here, and that is a devastating blow for the second year running because bethlehem needs tourism to keep surviving. the glimmers of tourism restarting last month have gone derailed by border closures due to the new covid variant. people trying to find joy and happiness from nothing. so it's very interesting, very impressive to see such a gathering. bethlehem is relying definitely on tourism. since the beginning of the year 2020, everything is closed, all hotels are empty. it's very, very difficult - for people, especially those who are working in tourism sector. they are selling somei of the land to houses. the characters of christmas come to life. in this factory, ibrahim is the only worker here today. normally, he'd be joined by four more. for palestinian christians in this part of the west bank, life's been a challenge, says nabeel, whose family has run this shop for decades. we could keep our workers till the moment, but i don't know. you know, it's hard. i have two shops, one is here, the one on the manger square. it's been like 2a months, zero income. it's sad, it's not normal to see bethlehem this way. but at christmas, there's always light to look up to. as this town celebrates, it remains a year of hope against the odds. tom bateman, bbc news, bethlehem. the final preparations are under way for the launch of a space telescope that could transform our understanding of the universe. a rocket carrying the james webb space telescope will take off from french guiana on christmas day. it's the successor to the hubble space telescope — and it's designed to look deeper into the universe than ever before. i'm joined now by doctor megan argo who's a senior lecturer in astronomy at the university of central lancashire. welcome to the programme. so tell us first about how this is different from the hubble space telescope. well, it's bigger, for a start, the mirror is much bigger than the mirror is much bigger than the mirror on the hubble space telescope, so that makes it more sensitive, so we will be able to see fainter things in the universe that the hubble telescope hasn't been able to show us. it's also working on a slightly different part of the spectrum from a slightly different part of late, hubble was working with the visible part of the spectrum, but this next one is focusing on the infrared part of the spectrum which is considered be more difficult to do observations and from the earth because our... gets in the way, so putting the big infrared telescope in space is the best way to observe this part of the spectrum. it's been six months to get to its destination. why have they chosen to put it where it's going to? what is the significance of that spot? 50 going to? what is the significance of that spot?— of that spot? 50 that particular sot is of that spot? 50 that particular spot is called _ of that spot? 50 that particular spot is called the _ of that spot? so that particular spot is called the second - of that spot? so that particular spot is called the second lunch | spot is called the second lunch point commits a gravitationally stable point in the solar system where the gravitational pull of the sun and the other, almost effectively cancel each each other out. the reason we are putting it there rather than into orbit is mainly because the earth is really quite warm. anything that's warm and infrared radiation can affect the type of observations that the telescope is trying to do, seemed very faint infrared objects in the distant universe the last thing you want is a massive source of radiation right next door which is what the earth essentially is. so they are putting telescopes 1/2—million kilometres away from the earth can it much cooler and take better observations. so that's the main reason for putting it where it's going to be be. haifa main reason for putting it where it's going to be be.— main reason for putting it where it's going to be be. now you have to kee the it's going to be be. now you have to keep the camera — it's going to be be. now you have to keep the camera still. _ it's going to be be. now you have to keep the camera still. how- it's going to be be. now you have to keep the camera still. how do - it's going to be be. now you have to keep the camera still. how do they l keep the camera still. how do they keep the camera still. how do they keep this particular lens stale when it is out there in the middle of space? it is out there in the middle of sace? �* , ., ., it is out there in the middle of sace? �*, ., ., , ., it is out there in the middle of sace? �*, ., ., , .. ., space? it's going to be a challenge. with a camera. _ space? it's going to be a challenge. with a camera, you've _ space? it's going to be a challenge. with a camera, you've got - space? it's going to be a challenge. with a camera, you've got other. with a camera, you've got other things to me that weather, wind, your own movements of your own body to contend with, but if you have a telescope like this in space, there is no wind and space, because there is no wind and space, because there is no wind and space, because there is no atmosphere. in space, it's a lot simpler to keep a telescope still. it is very, very cold out there, which is much betterfor infrared instruments, so that's also going to help. there are, in terms of how long it takes to get images, there are lots and lots of calibration steps that have to be donein calibration steps that have to be done in sequence before they can start taking observations. lots of calibration, checks that they have to do, and apple process, the whole process of doing the unfurling of the spacecraft itself because it's pulled it up like origami. 0nce the spacecraft itself because it's pulled it up like origami. once it gets into space, it has to unfold and that process itself is going to take two weeks. then there are all these checks and calibration procedures to do before they start taking astronomical data, so it's a long process and there will be held off a lot of people very, very nervous tomorrow hoping everything goes as planned once and launches. is looking beyond our universe. how far beyond? it’s is looking beyond our universe. how far beyond?— far beyond? it's not looking beyond our universe. _ far beyond? it's not looking beyond our universe, it's _ far beyond? it's not looking beyond our universe, it's looking _ far beyond? it's not looking beyond our universe, it's looking beyond i our universe, it's looking beyond our universe, it's looking beyond our own galaxy. so our galaxy, the milky way, plus all sorts of planets and dust and gas, and there are 100,000 million galaxies out there in the universe, some of them are quite a long way from our own galaxy, from the milky way, and if he doesn't need a sensitive telescope, and that's what the james webb will give us. so we will be able to see hopefully right back to the formation of things like the very first stars and galaxies as they formed after the big bang billions of years ago, and that's the thing at the moment we just don't have the sensitivity to be able to see commits of the james webb will be the first time we stood a good chance of being able to see the very first formation of those stars and galaxies after the big bang, and that is really exciting. it is very exciting. it sets off from french guiana on christmas day. thank you very much indeed for joining us. the queen is expected to give a very personal christmas message tomorrow — her first since the death of her husband, prince philip. she will speak beside a framed photograph of the couple taken during their diamond wedding anniversary in 2007 — and will wear the same sapphire brooch that she wore on her honeymoon. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. for the queen, forced for a second year by covid to spend christmas at windsor rather than hosting herfamily at sandringham, this will be a moment to reflect on a year marked by sadness. her christmas broadcast, a still from which has been issued by buckingham palace, is expected to be a very personal one. prominently on the desk beside her, a photograph of her and prince philip taken in 2007 when they celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary. philip's death last april, two months short of his 100th birthday and after 73 years of marriage, was the emotional low point of the year for the monarch. apart from a reference to him in her address to the cop 26 conference, the queen has not so far spoken publicly about how much he meant to her. her broadcast may be an opportunity for her to do so. within the royal family, mindful that this will be the queen's first christmas without her husband, arrangements have been changed so that she won't be alone. clarence house has confirmed that the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall willjoin her at windsor on christmas day. other members of the family may also be there. but absent, of course, will be the duke and duchess of sussex. from their home in california, they've issued this photograph wishing their supporters happy holidays. it shows harry and meghan with their son archie and their daughter lilibet, pictured for the first time. and so, at the end of a year touched by personal sadness, and some family tensions, thoughts will start to look ahead to next year and the celebrations to mark the queen's 70 years on the throne. uppermost in the minds of the palace planners, of course, will be the question of the queen's health. it's always a sensitive matter. it has particular significance after the recent concerns, and given that next year is the year of her platinum jubilee. the queen will certainly want to be involved in thejubilee as fully as possible, and there will be another event of special significance to her — a service of thanksgiving for the life of the duke of edinburgh, which, it has been announced, will take place at westminster abbey in the spring. nicholas witchell, bbc news. president biden and the first lady have been marking the festive season with a christmas tradition. a short while ago they paid a surprise visit to patients and families at the children's national hospital in washington. dr biden chose to read the book "0laf's night before christmas" starring the popular character from the film frozen. let's go to the vatican now — where pope francis is leading mass on christmas eve at st. peter's basilica. pope francis will be presiding, of course. a little earlier than the midnight mass around europe tonight, in fact, it was moved to this time last year because of the pandemic. 0f last year because of the pandemic. of course, to my the pope will be on the balcony for the christmas message to the world. you are watching bbc news. hello. not everybody wants a white christmas, believe it or not, some would preferjust some crisper winter sunshine. there won't be much of that on offer this weekend, but it is northern scotland that has seen some today and will again for christmas day. furthest away from weather fronts coming in from the southwest with my old atlantic air. it is the case throughout the christmas weekend that the further the southwest recommended milder the weather will be, the northeast you are, even though you may well see some sunshine, it will feel coldest year. as we get him into tonight, it's the clear skies which become widespread across scotland, they will deliver the lowest temperatures quite a hard frost settling into places, especially in the highlands. as we look to england, wales and northern ireland into cloud, mist, fog, outbreaks of rain, this is where temperatures will be staying above freezing, maybe a few spots in the far north of england could see temperatures getting close to freezing for a touch of frost. christmas day then, scotland after that cold frosty start sees some sunshine. northern ireland, england, wales here with cloud and outbreaks of rain edging further north and east weather in northern ireland during the afternoon. we could see snow developing towards no dona and the peak district later in the day. it is mild in the far southwest. it's rather chilly elsewhere and a freshening breeze. coldest scotland despite the sunshine. and your saturday night, christmas day night into boxing day, this wet weather pushes north and meets cold air. particularly in northern england and southern scotland and especially the higher ground, we get some snow out of that. he started blowing around in strong winds as well because this is where we clearly got the coldest weather going into boxing day. that snow may be relatively low as we start off on boxing day, but the higher accumulations will be over the hills, what's left of this system delivering some mostly held snow as a pushes further north across scotland during boxing day. behind it, plenty of cloud around, a few showers, the brighter skies in the far southwest where it is still mild. elsewhere, it's still on the chilly side. now, as we go through the week ahead, there will be some significant changes on the way. the battle between mild and cold air, it's a mild air that will win out, some spots becoming very mild but also wet and windy. we millions around the world face travel instructions over christmas as the surgeon 0micron zeus cancelled due to his staff shortages. at least 39 people have been killed. many of the passengers have severe burns. the former south korean president is to be granted a pardon by the government.