this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. the parents of a us teenager accused of killing four students have been arrested after going on the run. south african scientists say the new coronavirus variant, omicron, appears to be spreading more than twice as quickly as the delta variant. unvaccinated mums who were severely ill with coronavirus encourage pregnant women to get their covid jab. president biden says he does not accept moscow's demands over ukraine, as russian troops mass on the border. britain is witnessing a record spike in anti—semitism — we have a special report on what's behind the rise in attacks on the jewish community.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. police in the us say they've arrested the parents of a teenager accused of killing four of his fellow students in a school shooting in the state of michigan earlier this week. james and jennifer crumbley themselves face charges of involuntary manslaughter. they went into hiding following the shooting — their lawyer says they did so for their own safety. they were found in a building in detroit. prosecutors say their 15—year—old son ethan carried out the mass shooting on tuesday with a semi—automatic pistol bought by his father. peter bowes reports. james and jennifer crumbley, accused of sharing the blame for a mass shooting allegedly carried out by their 15—year—old son. ethan crumbley has pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges and first—degree murder

after prosecutors say he shot and killed four classmates on tuesday. but prosecutors also say his parents are culpable for ignoring several warning signs. i have shared previously and i will reiterate today that gun ownership is a right and with that right comes great responsibility. based on the information and evidence i have received, today i am announcing charges against the shooter's parents, jennifer and james crumbley. it is a highly unusual move. both parents are facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter. the charges follow a dramatic sequence of events during which prosecutors say the couple committed egregious acts leading up to the shooting. these included buying a gun and making it available to their son. a teacher spotted ethan searching online the ammunition during class and alerted his mother.

prosecutors say she later exchanged text messages with her son saying, "lol, i'm not mad at you. you have to learn not to get caught." and then, hours before the shooting, the parents were called to the school where teachers found an alarming note that the 15—year—old had drawn. the note contained the following. a drawing of a semiautomatic handgun pointing at the words the thoughts won't stop, help me. in another section of the note was a drawing of a bullet with the following words above, blood everywhere. between the drawing of the gun and a bullet is a drawing of the gun and a bullet is a drawing of the gun and a bullet is a drawing of a person who appears to be shot and bleeding. next to that is a drawing of a laughing emergings emoji. the prosecutors say the teenager's parents resisted his removal from the classroom and did not check whether he had the gun. the notion that a parent could read

those words and also know their son had access a deadly weapon that they gave him is unconscionable and i think it is criminal. if found guilty, ethan crumbley faces a maximum sentence of life without parole. his parents could be sent to prison for up to 15 years. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. with me is our reporter aruna iyengar who been following this story. bring us right up to date. ethan's parents, james and jennifer, were found in detroit. they apparently submitted to police and came into custody. they had been... they had fled the scene after the killings because according to their lawyer, they felt they needed to for their own security because there are high feelings running in the area obviously, in this area of oxford in the state of michigan. the

authorities in the united states had offered a reward of $10,000 for information leading to their request. the pairfaced charges of involuntary manslaughter. they face four counts each. that is because it is felt that they committed egregious acts in allowing the situation to arise whereby ethan had access to a gun, his father apparently bought it for him as a christmas present, and then there were warnings from the school about ethan's behaviour, text messages from the school warning the parents about his behaviour but these were not taken account of. also, on the day of the shootings, apparently the school had been concerned and had contacted the parents to say that ethan had made a drawing of a gun and a picture of a bullet and basically was a call for help, but again at these were ignored and that is why the prosecutor in this case has said that the parents will be

charged with being involved in the killings. this is highly unusual and many lawyers would argue that maybe this is not the right way to go and it is the start of a slippery slope, but all be decided in court and we will see what happens. ethan denies the charges and we are yet to see what the parents will say. there is a press conference apparently which will take place later today and we will take place later today and we will see what happens then. thank ou so will see what happens then. thank you so much- _ scientists in south africa say the new omicron variant of the coronavirus appears to spread more than twice as fast as delta, which has so far been the most contagious variant. the analysis has not been peer—reviewed and the researchers say there's a lot of uncertainty. cases are being reported all over the world, including among fully vaccinated people. the imf is warning that the variant�*s emergence is likely to hinder the global economic recovery. mark lobel has the latest.

it is spreading right around the world. in south africa's province, most affected by omicron, officials now say it is the dominant variant. appearing to spread more than twice as fast as the delta variant. there is over 100 recorded cases in the uk, dozens in over 20 other countries. as day by day it emerges in more. with doubt about how it will be reacting to, stock markets fell days after it was outed. they have rebounded, but now comes this warning from the imf. we have rebounded, but now comes this warning from the imf.— warning from the imf. we are likely to see some — warning from the imf. we are likely to see some downgrades of- to see some downgrades of our october projections for global growth. october pro'ections for global urowth. , , ., , growth. scientists who first identified — growth. scientists who first identified it — growth. scientists who first identified it decided... - growth. scientists who first identified it decided... it i growth. scientists who first identified it decided... it is| growth. scientists who first - identified it decided. .. it is kind identified it decided... it is kind of like a identified it decided. .. it is kind

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quickly omicron was declared a variant of concern after it was discovered. according to the medical journal the lancet, the earliest known case is a patient in south africa who was diagnosed with covid on the 9th of november. less than four weeks on from that, pharmaceutical companies are already working on multiple contingency plans. working on multiple contingency lans. , ., . ., working on multiple contingency lans. . ., ., plans. the protection of the vaccines _ plans. the protection of the vaccines they _ plans. the protection of the vaccines they already i plans. the protection of the vaccines they already have, | plans. the protection of the i vaccines they already have, next plans. the protection of the - vaccines they already have, next is to make for example eight bivalent where you have the vaccine against the assessor strain and the new variant and the other is to make a variant and the other is to make a variant specific beast. but variant and the other is to make a variant specific beast.— variant and the other is to make a variant specific beast. but ten days since it was — variant specific beast. but ten days since it was reported _ variant specific beast. but ten days since it was reported to _ variant specific beast. but ten days since it was reported to the - variant specific beast. but ten days since it was reported to the world | since it was reported to the world health organization, big questions remain such as how infectious is it? —— variant specific boost. could that spelt the beginning of the end of the pandemic? and on a lighter

note... good question. doctors in england have been told they can defer some of the services they provide to patients, so they can concentrate on delivering covid boosterjabs instead. routine health checks for the over—75s and minor surgery could be affected. 75 new cases of the omicron variant have been identified in england, bringing the total number in the uk to 134. ministers have also launched a new campaign urging all unvaccinated pregnant women to come forward and receive their jab. lebo diseko reports. a new life amid the heartache of covid. this little boy born with the illness, and rushed to icu. his mother had to be intubated. now she's part of a government campaign encouraging pregnant women to getjabbed. i was about 32 to 33 weeks pregnant at that stage, when we both got covid.

i had a conversation with one of the consultants in icu that it would be best to ventilate me just to give my lungs a rest. but, you know, my family lived through every day. they lived through the phone calls, of being told that — excuse me, sorry — that i may not survive. when tanyiha got ill in february, vaccines weren't available to her. now that they are, the government wants all expectant women to get immunised. nearly one in five covid patients in england who are the most critically ill are unvaccinated pregnant women. of those pregnant women in hospital with symptomatic covid—19, nearly all are unvaccinated. and crucially, no vaccinated pregnant women were admitted into intensive care with covid—19 in england between february and the end of september. meanwhile, nhs england says all adults should become eligible for boosters by the middle of this month, as it tries to protect against the new variant.

i got it at the first opportunity i could. i think it's important everyone gets their vaccine, important that everyone tries to get it as quickly as possible. nobody is confident because we don't know after omicron what is going to come next, so we just hope and pray that everybody will be well. it's that concern about the unknown which is driving the push to get as many boosters done as possible. and in england and scotland, the aim is for all eligible adults to be offered one by the end of january. lebo diseko, bbc news. joining me now is drjackjacobs, a gp who has mixed thoughts about running the boosterjabs. how do you balance, then, the idea to protect people against covid it with your duty to protect people against other conditions? yes. with your duty to protect people against other conditions? yes, it is against other conditions? yes, it is a really difficult _ against other conditions? yes, it is a really difficult balance. _ against other conditions? yes, it is a really difficult balance. i - against other conditions? yes, it is a really difficult balance. i think- a really difficult balance. i think one most gps are really wrestling

with, the sort of thing that is giving us sleepless nights at the moment and getting that balance is really challenging. we are really busyin really challenging. we are really busy in general practice at the moment, i make no secret of that and that has been widely advertised. we are struggling to meet the increased demand of day—to—day work, our own backlog and also the backlog from hospitals, but at the same time, we do understand we wanted to vaccinate the population and most of us have been doing that all the way through the pandemic. it isjust now been doing that all the way through the pandemic. it is just now that the pandemic. it is just now that the workload has got to take really high point and we are struggling to work out what to do for the best. are you having to explain to older or more vulnerable patients that you may not be able to keep an eye on them as cozy as you would like in order to carry out the other life—saving job of boosterjabs? if

i do not do those checks now i will have to have a backlog in three or four months' time, i think a lot of gps, despite the offer being made, going to continue to some of these checks as best we can. at the end of the day, we are doctors, we want to care for people, we are often very connected with the communities we work in and these are just really difficult decisions. teiiii work in and these are 'ust really difficult decisions._ difficult decisions. tell us your work of an _ difficult decisions. tell us your work of an average _ difficult decisions. tell us your work of an average day - difficult decisions. tell us your work of an average day as i difficult decisions. tell us your i work of an average day as winter approaches in your surgery. mast work of an average day as winter approaches in your surgery. most of us et in approaches in your surgery. most of us get in for — approaches in your surgery. most of us get in for about _ approaches in your surgery. most of us get in for about eight _ approaches in your surgery. most of us get in for about eight o'clock i us get in for about eight o'clock and wejust start us get in for about eight o'clock and we just start the day then. it is a combination of phone calls, responding to letters, admin, face—to—face, we have quite a lot of meeting through the day, various meetings with other colleagues, multidisciplinary meetings, we meet the hospice and we are also training, so training medical students, doctors, nurses andjustly practice as a whole is extraordinarily busy. particularly

front line reception staff are constantly being faced with a barrage of phone calls from all sorts of things, patients that want to be seen, patients that are confused about vaccination campaign, so we are just busy. most of us start at eight and out there till half seven and that is a fairly normal day for a gp.- half seven and that is a fairly normal day for a gp. how is the booster programme _ normal day for a gp. how is the booster programme going i normal day for a gp. how is the booster programme going on i normal day for a gp. how is the i booster programme going on your surgery? we booster programme going on your sure ? ~ ., , booster programme going on your sure ? ~ . , ., surgery? we have been doing the booster campaign, _ surgery? we have been doing the booster campaign, we _ surgery? we have been doing the booster campaign, we have i surgery? we have been doing the booster campaign, we have been| surgery? we have been doing the i booster campaign, we have beenjust getting our way through it in our own way, fitting it around all the other stuff we are trying to do. we have actually thought about stepping away from the booster campaign because we are very keen to focus on the complicated corner we are trying to do and that is what we want to do, we are aware there is a backlog out there and there are people that need to be seen. obviously there have been some new proposals made to us. it will take a bit of time i think to dojust us. it will take a bit of time i think to do just that and work out exactly what it means for the workload in general practice. it is welcome, because there is some recognition now that we cannot do everything to everyone all of the time, but each practice and each

sort of public network will have to come to their own decision about how to proceed. come to their own decision about how to roceed. ., ., come to their own decision about how to roceed. ., ,, , ., come to their own decision about how to roceed. ., ,, i. ,., come to their own decision about how to roceed. ., ,, i. . come to their own decision about how to roceed. ., ,, . ., to proceed. thank you so much for “oinin to proceed. thank you so much for joining us- — to proceed. thank you so much for joining us. thank _ to proceed. thank you so much for joining us. thank you. _ the headlines on bbc news: the parents of a us teenager accused of killing four students have been arrested after going on the run. south african scientists say the new coronavirus variant omicron appears to be spreading more than twice as fast as the delta variant. unvaccinated british mums who were severely ill with coronavirus encourage pregnant women to get their covid jab in the uk. president biden has said he does not accept moscow's demands over ukraine. a video conference is expected to take place between mr biden and president putin in the next few days to discuss the build up of more than 94,000 russian troops near ukraine's border. mr putin wants guarantees that nato won't expand any further to the east or deploy weapons systems near russian territory. let's speak now to james nixey,

director of chatham house's russia, eurasia and europe programmes. thanks so much forjoining us. around 94,000 russian troops are on the border with ukraine. what are they doing?— the border with ukraine. what are the doin? ,~ ., they doing? well, they are a sabre rattling and _ they doing? well, they are a sabre rattling and they _ they doing? well, they are a sabre rattling and they are _ they doing? well, they are a sabre rattling and they are making i they doing? well, they are a sabre rattling and they are making a i rattling and they are making a statement and they are getting our attention. the fact of the matter is that although president biden and president putin met injune and geneva and it was cordial and useful, perhaps, then it could not overcome the fact that the two site have fundamental differences about how the world it should be ordered and specifically whether there should be the set of buffer state between russia and nato countries if you like and there is no real getting over that. they have upped the ante and in stockholm last week there was a specific proposal on the table that nato should not be expanded any further and the west disagrees. expanded any further and the west disarees. ~ ., , , .,

expanded any further and the west disarees. ~ ., ,, ., , ., , , disagrees. would russia seriously invade eastern _ disagrees. would russia seriously invade eastern ukraine _ disagrees. would russia seriously invade eastern ukraine whether. invade eastern ukraine whether russian speakers or would it invade other parts of ukraine? it is already in — other parts of ukraine? it is already in eastern _ other parts of ukraine? it 3 already in eastern ukraine and has annexed crimea, but will it going further with 94,000 troops? it is a possibility, it is not currently structured that way but it can be made to do so. given the right provocations, either antagonised provocations, either antagonised provocations, the lead up provocations, the lead up provocations if you like, in 2008 when the war started in the country was invaded, it is not totally inconceivable, but at the same time russia has decided it gets what it once with muscularity far more than it does with diplomacy and so it is trying its muscularity right now. what moves then does president biden have in all of this? he what moves then does president biden have in all of this?— have in all of this? he does have a weaker hand. _ have in all of this? he does have a weaker hand, treats _ have in all of this? he does have a weaker hand, treats are _ have in all of this? he does have a j weaker hand, treats are numbered have in all of this? he does have a i weaker hand, treats are numbered and russia is more committed to muscular

troops than the west as. that said, we do not have an empty hand. quite clearly, one can it ramp up sanctions, specific sanctions, we could start sectioning russian sovereign debt, we could prevent certain sectors, notably the energy sector and one can make sure that the defences and resilience of these sandwich states, states like ukraine, are reinforced with western training, money and indeed weaponry. briefly, is there a danger of inadvertent or accidental conflict? again, nothing is impossible, certainly wars have started that way in the past and i think we are quite a long way from that in a sense that these countries are at the moment this is still a spat and we have seen so many of these over the years. it is true that the tenure undertone of russian statements, peter �*s statements himself, changed

in recent weeks and months and we had to be very wary of that but i think we are a long way from any even accidental shooting and there is a lot more that can be done really on a diplomatic scale and reinforcement scale before we even remotely get to that point. —— putin's statements himself. here in the uk, during the first six months of 2021, there was a record spike in anti—semitism. the community security trust, the charity which monitors anti—jewish incidents in the uk, now estimates that 2021 will be "the worst year on record." our reporter tom brada has been investigating what's behind the issue in a documentary for the bbc. i'm tom and i am a bbc journalist who also happens to be british and jewish. i'm proud of who i am, but the past year has been complicated and sometimes frightening. let's break that. he's bleep jewish. in the first six months of 2021, there was a record spike in anti—semitism.

from controversy around the middle east, to conspiracy theories and the toxic environment of social media, manyjewish people manyjewish people are questioning how safe it is to express who they are. i want to out what is going on and i'm starting in burnley where ashley was the victim of an extreme example of anti—semitism. in march 2020, ashley was attacked by three menjust outside his home. the assault took place in front of his mum. they were going where that blue car is now, but it was a different coloured car then, and started shouting, "dirtyjew, look at that dirtyjew," and then one of them came onto the driveway and started attacking me and i was full of blood and still with the adrenaline pumping. how long were you dealing with the physical injuries? about three or four weeks. and any mental injuries of the back of it? ptsd. it took me a while to go back outside again. quite a lot of people in burnley actually came to me

and said are you ok? do you need anything? stuff like that. it was really heart—warming. what does yourjewish identity mean to you? everything, absolutely everything. it is my life, really. and how does it make you feel that something you hold clearly so dear to you, something you love about yourself, is something that other people uses a target? it hurts me a lot, because at the end of the day, what we all want is to just live our lives in peace. never gonna happen, though. one harmful stereotype people hold aboutjews is that we are a monolithic group who think, feel and even look the same way, but that is far from the truth. i'm meeting up with the nadine, a blackjewish woman who last year confronted the grime artist wiley after he posted an anti—semitic rant on twitter. ijust think it just demonstrated the complexity of what it can be like being a jewish black person. it is a lot easier to recognise if someone calls me the n word or someone says something derogatory about my skin colour to know

that it is racist versus if someone makes a comment like, "oh, you know, jews run the media," it is not as overt in some ways, but i also think they manifest themselves differently and i think in the 215t century. you do not have the structural socioeconomic intergenerational inequality that you see within black communities, as in the same in the jewish community, but that does not mean that, you know, the threat levels are not serious. see, ijust don't think people have a very solid understanding of what anti—semitism is, because i don't think we are taught about it very well. there are many elements behind what drives racism and specifically anti—semitism, but there is also a familiar pattern that whenever israel is in the news, there is a spike in anti—semitism here in the uk. it all happened very quickly. obviously, it is petrifying. i do not think that whatever is going on in the world in terms of the fighting and the, you know, do you believe in this side, do you believe in that side,

should affect anyone's medical care, that is happening, and i would never use someone's beliefs or religion or ethnicity or anything to decide how i am going to treat them. tom brada reporting there. an italian man in the north—western city of biella has been reported to police for attending his covid vaccination appointment with a fake arm made out of silicone. chanting: no green pass, no green pass. these have been the scenes in ports and cities across italy for several weeks. thousands protesting against the vaccination certificate known as the green pass. it is mandatory for all workers in the country, not to everyone's liking. but one man in his 50s went a step further. in his desperation to get the certificate while avoiding the vaccine, he turned up for the shot with a fake arm covering his real arm,

hoping the nurse would not notice. but when the nurse rolled up his sleeve, she found his skin rubbery, cold and the pigment too light. the man, reportedly a medical worker, who has been suspended from his job for not having the vaccine, then tried to persuade her to turn a blind eye. translation: he gave me a half smile and asked me to pretend i didn't - know anything and to give me the vaccine anyway, but seeing my reaction and still smiling, he uncovered his chest and i could see he was wearing a black shirt. he said, "do you think i have a body like that?" and i realised that he was wearing a silicon body suit. the silicon body suit the nurse is talking about would have looked something like this. there are several of them online for sale, some costing nearly $500. local media suggest that this incident may not have been a one—off, pointing to a now—deleted post on social media in which this picture was featured with the caption, "if i go with this,

will they notice?" it is not clear whether the same man was behind the post, but after discovering his ploy in the hospital, the nurse called the police. translation: the man has been| reported to police because it must be a signal for everyone. it was a surreal trick the man thought would work, but one that could potentially land him in a whole lot of trouble. sodaba haidare, bbc news. you're watching bbc news. microchipping pet cats is to be made mandatory in the uk under new government rules. owners will have to microchip their cats by the time the felines are 20 weeks old, or risk a a £500 fine. or risk a £500 fine. it's aimed at ensuring that the pet can be returned home if they stray or get stolen. fiona lamdin reports. seven—year—old scarab went missing in truro just days after his owner moved house.

scarab just completely disappeared, so i was quite concerned, and i was really worried for him because, yeah, it was nearly a whole year. if it was not for the microchip, i would never have got him home. but 11 months later, the pair were reunited, as luckily he had been microchipped as a kitten. with the microchip they found out i was his owner and got him home to me. i burst into tears when i got the call, ijust couldn't believe it. he was so thrilled to come home, he wouldn't leave me alone for 24 hours, he was constantly rubbing his face on me and fussing at me. now there are plans in the coming year to get all pet cats chipped. it is going to be mandatory that all owners chip their cats once they are 20 weeks of age. we really, really welcome the idea. we get a lot of stray or injured cats that are brought in by members of the public. about half the time they are chipped, which means we can reunite them really quickly with their owners. and for those who don't,

they could face a fine. if you are checked by an authorised person and found not to have a microchip, then you will be given 21 days to rectify that, and we would strongly advise for all the good reasons, you know, getting your animal microchipped and we know the average cost of that is about £17, it is well worth doing, otherwise after 21 days it precedes to become a criminal offence. so what does the procedure which costs about £20 involve? it is really simple, theyjust come in and we can do it in a consultation. it isjust an injection underneath the scruff of their neck. it is done really quickly and often doesn't cause them any discomfort at all and it is over very, very quickly. each chip has a unique serial number which will link to a pet database where owners' contact details are stored. there are thought to be 10.8 million cats in the uk, and while scarab and jane had a happy reunion, for the other 2.8 million, who are currently unchipped, the ending is not always a happy one. fiona lamdin, bbc news.

now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. we have quite a mixture of weather around today. are some of us it will stay quite cloudy without breaks a bone, but others will see some sunshine. we have seen some of that earlier in the day. —— with outbreaks of rain. telling increasingly wet through the day. cod and for some snow because they have around, particularly so in the highlands, ken and southern open, could he ate few centimetres but quite high up, a few hundred metres elevation also. clearer skies for scotland and northern england allows a touch of frost and risk of icy stretches to take us into sunday. sunday stays quite cardiff is to scotland, eastern areas of england. tablets of rain on and off. the best of the bright weather will be

further west, although they could be scattered showers. pretty chilly for most but turning a tad rather fair southern wales and south—west england.