into space than ever before a revolutionary telescope is due to blast off over the coming hours. hello and welcome to bbc news. for much of the world christmas day has begun and in england volunteers are working at covid vaccination sites today as the push to offer every adult a booster by the end of the month continues. nhs england says thousands of first, second and boosterjabs will be given on christmas day as part of its response to the omicron variant threat. the number of people getting their firstjab of the covid 19 vaccine rose by around 46% in the week up to december 21. the nhs says about 60% of adults have now received a boosterjab in the uk, with a record number of vaccinations taking place in the last seven days. the largest increase was seen among young people, with an 85% increase in first doses for those aged 18 and 2a and a 71% increase in first doses for those aged 25 to 30. our reporter emily unia is at a london pharmacy where some patients are already wa
hello and welcome to bbc news. and a merry christmas if you are celebrating. and a merry christmas if you are celebrating. families and communities have been marking christmas day across the globe despite varying levels of coronavirus related restrictions. in england, thousands of people are expected to get boosterjabs today. the number of coronavirus cases hit a record high across the uk yesterday. more than 122,000 new infections were reported. the health secretary sajid javid has urged people to make the booster part of their christmas this year. meanwhile, the number of people getting their firstjab of the covid 19 vaccine rose by around 46% in the week up to december 21. the nhs says about 60% of adults have now received a boosterjab in the uk, with a record number of vaccinations taking place in the last seven days. the largest increase was seen among young people, with an 85% increase in first doses for those aged 18 and 2a and a 71% increase in first doses for those a
hello, and welcome to bbc news. let s take you live to the vatican because pope francis is delivering is traditional christmas day urbi et orbi speech to the world from st peter s square. he will be addressing the city and the world and of course, you can see there everyone gathering in the square listening to this triumph music. the faithful gathered to hear the leader of the roman catholic church. in this all important address. let s listen. translation: finlayson yellow he came like a whisper, like a murmur of a gentle breeze to fill with wonder at the heart of every man and woman who was open to this mystery. the word became flesh in order to dialogue with us. god does not desire to carry on a monologue rather odd dialogue. god himself father, son and holy spirit is dialogue and internal infinite communion of love. by internal infinite communion of love. by coming into the world, the person of the world made flesh, jesus, god shows us the way of encountering dialogue and
hello, and welcome to bbc news. a revolutionary telescope which is aiming to detect some of the earliest stars and galaxies in the universe is due to head off into space in the next few minutes. we will be following the launch of the james webb space telescope from this point which is the launch pan in french guiana. nasa s james webb space instrument, which has cost £10 billion, will be released from a rocket 26 minutes after blast off. our science editor, rebecca morelle reports. stunning images revealing the beauty of our universe, but we ve only seen a tiny fraction of it. now, a new astronomy mission is set to revolutionise our view. this is the james webb space telescope. it s a successor to hubble, but 100 times more powerful. after three decades in the making and a cost of $10 billion, it is finally ready to launch. we ve never attempted anything like that in space before. we are going to be entering a whole new regime of astrophysics! a new frontier! and that is wha
the telescope that will delve deeper into the universe than ever before will be launched into orbit within hours. and breakfast regulars hughie and freddie find out how the money they ve raised is bringing christmas cheer to children in hospital. and while it remains a dream for another year for and while it remains a dream for another yearfor many of and while it remains a dream for another year for many of us, for one or two it is already a white christmas and there is still more snow in the forecast. join me for all of the details here on your christmas day breakfast. good morning. it s christmas day, 25th december. our main story: the queen s televised christmas day message is expected to be a very personal one the first since her husband, prince philip, died in april at the age of 99. the queen will spend the day at windsor castle after deciding not to travel to sandringham for her traditional family gathering. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. the que