one of the great problems these daysis one of the great problems these days is that everyone wants to be right and nobody wants to listen to other people s opinions. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it s newsday. it s nine in the morning in singapore, and one o clock in london where the the uk has announced record covid infection figures for the second day in a row as the world health organization says the new strain omicron is spreading at an unprecedented rate. more than 75 countries have omicron cases. a top uk health official says the variant is probably the most significant threat we ve had since the start of the pandemic. meanwhile presidentjoe biden has said that the omicron variant has now arrived in the united states. our medical editor fergus walsh starts our coverage. what do you want for christmas? for millions it is a booster. these people in newcastle today were prepared to wait for hours for a covid vaccination bus. it was a record day
one of the great problems these days is everyone wants to be right and nobody really wants to listen to other peoples opinion. it s eight in the morning in singapore, and 11pm in the uk where the uk has announced record covid infection figures for the second day in a row as the world health organisation says the new strain omicron is spreading at an unprecedented rate. more than 75 countries have omicron cases. a top uk health official says the variant is probably the most significant threat we ve had since the start of the pandemic. meanwhile in the last hour presidentjoe biden has said that the omicron variant has now arrived in the united states. our medical editor fergus walsh starts our coverage. what do you want for christmas? for millions it is a booster. these people in newcastle today were prepared to wait for hours for a covid vaccination bus. it was a record day for booster jabs, but also covid cases. boosters offer the best protection against omicron, but th
a kicking over it and the prime minister has rightly said that we made mistakes and he regrets that those mistakes happened. wales announces tighter coronavirus restrictions with the return of social distancing and nightclubs shut from december the 27th. and coming up we ll check in with our correspondents across europe as other countries bring in new restrictions to combat the threat of omicron. a 27 year old woman has been arrested on suspicion of child neglect after two sets of twin boys, aged three and four, died in a house fire in south london last night. at least 27 people are feared dead in an office building fire in the japanese city of osaka. hello, and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. here in the uk, the liberal democrats have pulled off a political shock in the north shropshire by election, taking one of the country s safest conservative seats. it follows the resignation of tory mp owen paterson, who was found to have breached parliam
winds up their case as the british socialite says she will not testify in the sex trafficking case. she denies all wrongdoing. hello and thank you for giving us your company on bbc news. hello and thank you for giving us your company on bbc news. we begin with more evidence if any were needed that the omicron strain of coronavirus is continuing to spread rapidly around the world. the headline figures are coming from europe in particular, the uk. in the last 2a hours, for a third successive day, the number of infections has reached a new record high. just over 93 thousand cases were confirmed in that time frame that s nearly 60% more than a week ago. the increase in people being treated in hospital though, is less dramatic 163 across the uk just 2%t more. it s unclear whether this means the new variant is weaker or the uk public have gained more protection. meanwhile in the us cases are jumping sharply too. america s top expert, says it s vital everyone get
a sobering warning as covid cases across the united states continue to increase, and fast. this as the cdc voted to recommend pfizer, moderna over johnson & johnson s vaccine due to side effect concerns. plus anger boiling over inside the democratic party as a key part of joe biden s agenda is now in jeopardy. and the wild and dangerous weather hammering the united states as typhoon rai barrels across the philippines. we re live for you at the world weather center. announcer: live from london, this is cnn newsroom with isa soares. welcome to the show, everyone. it is friday, december 17th. we begin this hour with a surge in covid cases across the united states and really dire warnings that things are about to get worse. officials are scrambling to stem the spread of not one, but two highly contagious variants, both delta and omicron infections are climbing fast just as the holidays are approaching. cnn s nick watt has the story for you. reporter: covid-19 case