welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: most countries probably have omicron cases and it's spreading faster than previous variants. the world health organization warns the world to prepare. evenif even if omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could, once again, overwhelm unprepared health systems. noes to the left, 126. wow, cosh. in the uk, dozens of the prime minister's own mps vote against

new covid restrictions. the latest blow to boris johnson's authority. two close friends who lost their lives in the english channel migrant tragedy — we visit their home town in iraqi kurdistan. and calling time on the wild west online. british mps want big tech firms to get tough on online abuse. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news — it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. we begin in geneva. where the head of the world health organization has issued a new warning about the omicron variant of coronavirus. he said it was spreading far more quickly than any other variant. and he told countries around the world — underestimate it at your peril. here's more from him just a few hours ago.

omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variants. we are concerned that people are dismissing omicron as mild. surely we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril. even if omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could, once again, overwhelm unprepared health systems. that's the warning from the world health organization. and it comes against the backdrop of rapidly rising infection levels in europe. the uk has registered its highest daily figure since january. and in the netherlands, prime minister mark rutte has announced that schools will close at the end of this week. he said bars, theatres, and gyms will have to continue to observe the current early evening closing time rules until mid—january.

well, earlier i spoke to assistant professor melissa nolan from the university of south carolina. i asked her how omicron compares with previous variants. i think the good thing is when we think about the comparison, we think about the comparison, we had a significantly larger unvaccinated population. so what we do anticipate that omicron will take a hold we do not think it will be at the same level. we do anticipate this for the northern hemisphere in general it's going to be when we start to see respiratory infections, not just sotskova to this year, we are thinking about flu, we think there will be a significant upgrade in some sense for the holiday season, but nothing compared to where we were last year, god willing -- sars-cov-z. we were last year, god willing -- sars-cov-2._ -- sars-cov-2. that is encouraging. _ -- sars-cov-2. that is encouraging. where - -- sars-cov-z. that is| encouraging. where you -- sars-cov-z. that is - encouraging. where you are in the us we have seen infections rise recently, as they understand it, how prepared is the us for another wave? i the us foranotherwave? i think the us, you know, has

learned a lot and as have our european partners as well, and singapore. in the sense we know all about individual public state are testing for omicron so that is great. they are picking up infections and anticipating for them. at the same time we know we are really overcoming some major obstacles, in particular we are having huge fatigue with our population. so, for example, right now we are seeing that there is a larger number than we anticipated vaccinated people testing positive for omicron and we also know that a lot of our unvaccinated people are no longer seeking testing so it's hard for us to be able to really get accurate numbers of what is happening. melissa, let's talk about _ of what is happening. melissa, let's talk about vaccines, - let's talk about vaccines, because we are getting information or reports from pfizer saying two doses of its shot does protect somewhat against severe disease and hospitalisation. is that encouraging and is that information we can depend on?

absolutely. everything back to what vaccines are designed to do, it's not necessarily to prevent infection, it is to prevent infection, it is to prevent severe disease. a vaccine gives your immune system in early day warning system, if you think about it, it gives you a two, three—day advance so you can preamble and be ready in the event that you do may get infected to reduce that risk of severe disease. this isn't necessarily unique to sars-cov-2 this isn't necessarily unique to sars—cov—2 to. this isn't necessarily unique to sars-cov-2 to. if this isn't necessarily unique to sars—cov—2 to. if you think about the influenza vaccine, we typically have that every year, and even for common childhood vaccines that you get on we still recommend you get those every 5—10 years as a booster. so the fact seeing such great efficacy with the two dosa shot is really great, especially those who are boosted already we are seeing even higher levels of advocacy of the vaccine, which really brings home the point that if you're able to get that booster it is able to get that booster it is a great time to do that.

melissa, just briefly, we are seeing in south africa not as high levels of deaths as we have seen in previous waves. are you expecting that in other parts of the world?— parts of the world? also thankful _ parts of the world? also thankful we're _ parts of the world? also thankful we're not - parts of the world? also l thankful we're not seeing parts of the world? also - thankfulwe're not seeing i'm thankful we're not seeing i'm chai —— same kind of rate of mortality that we did with delta or even the high load of viral load which tells us that omicron, fortunately, shouldn't be as pathogenic, that doesn't mean that if you are unvaccinated you should be i'm worried about it, we would encourage you to get the vaccine, get your booster, if you haven't done that then please abide by other public health measures we do know that work. ~ , ., ., health measures we do know that work. ~ ., ., , ., work. melissa nolan, assistant rofessor work. melissa nolan, assistant professor of — work. melissa nolan, assistant professor of epidemiology - work. melissa nolan, assistant professor of epidemiology at l professor of epidemiology at the university of south carolina speaking to me a little earlier. we mentioned the rise in coronavirus cases in the uk. and restrictions brought in by the prime minister, borisjohnson, have prompted a major rebellion by conservative mps. the measures, such as mandatory covid passes for entertainment venues, were still approved because the opposition

labour party supported them. but the rebellion has left another dent in mrjohnson�*s already battered authority after allegations of christmas parties held a year ago under his watch, when the country was in lockdown. a british newspaper hasjust published another photo of what appears to be another such party thrown by conservative aides in breach of measures. a spokesman has said that senior staff "became aware of an unauthorised social gathering" organised by a candidate for london mayor and that formal disciplinary action was taken against the four staff seconded to the campaign. our deputy political editor vicky young reports on the events in parliament. a government win... the ayes to the right, 369, the noes to the left, 126. wow! ouch! but only with the help

of labour mps. that's the biggest rebellion borisjohnson has suffered a huge number of his own side ignoring his pleas, refusing to accept the case is made for more restrictions. so, the ayes have it, the ayes have it, unlock. tonight, the government was putting on a brave face. of course it is difficult, every decision has costs and consequences. everybody�*s weighing those up all the time. we have decided we need to buy time, we really do need to slow down this unbelievably transmissible virus so we can get everybody vaccinated. but labour say it's a reflection on mrjohnson and the way he governs. this is a very significant blow to the already damaged authority of the prime minister. it confirms that he's too weak to discharge basic functions of government. these public health measures would not have gone through if labour hadn't shown at the leadership that the prime minister failed to show.

after 20 months of on — off covid restrictions, many conservatives have had enough. this was just a bridge too far. vaccine passports today, what tomorrow or a week down the road? they were putting a marker down. it has been proven in scotland, vaccine passports don't work and don't stop infection. it was a cry of pain from the conservative party. no prime minister wants to rely on the opposition to get their own policies through and the prime minister spent the day trying to persuade his own mps. addressing them here in the commons, he said the government had absolutely no choice but to act and said that this variant was spreading so quickly, that the numbers that could end up in hospital would be disastrous. he wanted them to back new measures, including compulsory vaccinations for nhs staff, more masks, and covid passes or a negative test before entering large venues. earlier, the health secretary had tried to win them round. ifirmly believe in individual liberty and that the curbs should be placed on our

freedoms only in the most gravest of circumstances. it is vital we act early and in a proportional way, doing whatever we can to build our defences and to preserve greater freedom for the long—term. but there was no mistaking the anger amongst conservative mps. i am staggered by the government's approach over the last two weeks in which we have used fear to persuade people. i believe that no government should ever use fear as a tool to try and persuade its citizens. freedom is not an abstract ideology. freedom is what enables my constituents to see their family, to comfort the dying, to go to school, to go to work. that is not freedom. the liberal democrat leader, who hasjoined a growing list of mps who have, today, tested positive for covid, is questioning how effective some of the government's measures are. we think the covid id cards or passports as they are called

would give people a false sense of security because you can be double jab, boosterjabs and transmit the virus. liberal democrat support a better option to insist on negative lateral flow tests. the prime minister's authority has taken a hit in the past few weeks and his supporters worry he'll struggle to get his party and the country behind him. that was deputy political editor vicki young. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. more than 60 people have been killed in haiti after a fuel tanker exploded in the north of the country. reports say the truck was involved in an accident and people had been trying to gather leaking fuel when it ignited. prime minister ariel henry said the entire caribbean nation was grieving after the accident, as he declared three days of mourning. a court in belarus has sentenced prominent opposition activist, sergei tikhanovsky, to 18 years in prison.

according to state media, he's been sentenced for organising mass protests and inciting social hatred, during the 2020 presidential election campaign. his wife, svetlana, who now leads the opposition from exile, called the trial a sham and the judgement revenge by president lukashenko. you know, iwas you know, i was ready that the sentence would be very tough and i am not going to sit now and i am not going to sit now and count at what age as my husband to be released, of course not. i'm just asking one question to myself" what else are can do, what else can a democratic society do to release all the political prisoners who are behind bars at the moment?" a british woman has been found guilty of murdering her girlfriend's 16—month—old child. star hobson endured months of assaults and psychological harm at the hands of 28—year—old savannah brockhill. a jury at bradford crown court cleared the little girl's mother, frankie smith, of murder and manslaughter,

but convicted her of causing or allowing her daughter's death. diplomats from britain, france, and germany have warned that the 2015 iran nuclear deal is at risk of becoming "an empty shell", given the pace at which the country is accelerating its nuclear programme. they accuse tehran of taking new positions inconsistent with the agreement and wasting precious time at the talks in vienna. the french authorities have formally identified 26 people who died when their boat sank in the sea between england and mainland europe last month, in what is the crossings worst—recorded migrant tragedy. more people may still be unaccounted for. among those confirmed dead were two friends from the same town in iraqi kurdistan. the bbc�*s hanan razak spoke to their families before the news of their death

was officially confirmed. the people of this valley are in mourning once again. two close friends from the town of ranya are among those confirmed to have died last month when their boat sank in the english channel. rizwan hassan was just 18 and a carpenter. his nephew says he tried to talk him out of going. the last time he heard from rizwan was on the night of the boat crossing. rizwan told his family that he would contact them from the uk.

but hours later, he would lose his life, along with at least 26 others. also in the boat was his friend, hamad, 28. his sister says he believed that the uk promised him a brighter future. but he, too, would never make it. authorities told his family that his body was one of the 27 found. but even before this news, his family have been grieving for weeks.

many otherfamilies in the region are now expecting similar phone calls from the authorities to tell them that their missing loved ones are now confirmed dead. but despite the risks, people are still coming. an estimated 40,000 people have left the region for europe in the past year alone using illegal smuggling routes. the valley is bracing itself for more bad news. hanan razek, bbc news. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: "we must call time on the wild west online" — so say british mps who want big tech companies to do more against online abuse.

saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes, but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict — conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of foreign leaders, the presidents of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border- was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off - from the outside world in order to prevent the details - of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life — the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history, as only the second president

ever to be impeached. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani. our headlines: a fresh warning from the world health organization that the new coronavirus variant is spreading at an unprecedented rate. in the uk, a blow to prime minister borisjohnson�*s authority as dozens of his fellow mp vote against covid restrictions. well, the omicron strain has highlighted the dangers of new variants emerging from within unvaccinated populations. in papua new guinea, experts have expressed serious concerns about the possibility of a new covid variant. while the reported case rate remains low, the country has the lowest

vaccination rate of any country in south east asia. just 2.1t% of the population has received two doses of the jab. adrian prouse is head of international humanitarian programmes at the australian red cross. he explained why the current rates of vaccination are so low. there is been recent research done and it gives us the best indicator where it talks about and it is no different to what we're seeing the world in terms of two main issues that keep coming up which is people are concerned about side effects associated with getting the vaccine and also they are concerned about the long—term implications of getting the vaccine as well and the overall effectiveness of it as well. so these messages keep getting through to people and are causing hesitancy and we have seen a significant amount of hesitancy in a country like

papua new guinea.- hesitancy in a country like papua new guinea. given what ou have papua new guinea. given what you have just _ papua new guinea. given what you havejust said, _ papua new guinea. given what you have just said, at - papua new guinea. given what you have just said, at current l you have just said, at current rates, when do you expect the population to be fully vaccinated?— population to be fully vaccinated? ., , vaccinated? the lower institute are projecting _ vaccinated? the lower institute are projecting up _ vaccinated? the lower institute are projecting up to _ vaccinated? the lower institute are projecting up to 2026. - vaccinated? the lower institute are projecting up to 2026. it i are projecting up to 2026. it is scary to think about. less than 50% vaccinated in 2026 if we continue on this current trajectory so these are the fertile ground that the world health organization is talking about in terms of mutations and variants emerging.— variants emerging. precisely. how concerned _ variants emerging. precisely. how concerned are _ variants emerging. precisely. how concerned are you - variants emerging. precisely. how concerned are you about variants emerging. precisely. - how concerned are you about the emergence of new variants as a result of these low levels of vaccination? i result of these low levels of vaccination?— vaccination? i am very concerned _ vaccination? i am very concerned but - vaccination? i am very concerned but i - vaccination? i am very concerned but i am i vaccination? i am very i concerned but i am more concerned but i am more concerned about the impact it is going to have on people in papua new guinea. in 2021 there have been two waves of covid in papua new guinea and both have

stretched the health system to breaking point and so if we continue with such low levels of vaccination we will continue to be in this position where we see the health system in papua new guinea struggle and the impact that has on other vaccine preventable diseases is kind of tragic. flan vaccine preventable diseases is kind of tragic.— kind of tragic. can you describe _ kind of tragic. can you describe the _ kind of tragic. can you describe the current . kind of tragic. can you . describe the current rates kind of tragic. can you - describe the current rates i should state of severe disease and death that the current virus has caused? fits and death that the current virus has caused?- and death that the current virus has caused? as we said on the outside. _ virus has caused? as we said on the outside, testing _ virus has caused? as we said on the outside, testing per- the outside, testing per capita, testing in papua new guinea is one of the lowest end of the world so we are seeing something like 36,000 people only test positive, we have seen 586 deaths but the belief is that these numbers are in no way accurate because of the lack of testing systems and capability that exist within

papua new guinea. big tech companies should be forced to take tougher action against online crimes and abuse, according to uk mps. they've called for tighter safeguards for children and women and more action on tackling fraud and racist abuse to be made law. the committee's report said it was necessary to "call time on the wild west online". here's our media editor, amol rajan. for years, every country and particularly western democracies have grappled with how to minimise the harms of life online while reaping the benefits. many of those harms affect children, especially grooming, usually by anonymous abusers. louise, as we've agreed to call her, was targeted when just 11 years old.

so, i really, really was after that attention and validation from someone in my life and abusers have recognised these kind of things, they recognise vulnerable people. this abuse stole my teenage years away from me. she is now working with the nspcc to improve child safety online. i really think there needs to be a massive push for online safety for children because it's just not acceptable and there are so many different ways that kids can fall into the traps or these places where there are predators. it shouldn't be up to kids to keep themselves safe on the internet. an important report today by a joint committee on the draft online safety bill which is due, finally, to go through parliament next year, contains recommendations likely to be followed. it suggests minimum safety standards in british law policed by the regulator, ofcom. new offences to make cyberflashing,

which is the sending of explicit pictures or any promotion of suicide or self—harm illegal. and there will be exemptions for quality publishers to protect freedom of speech. my youngest daughter died... having heard from ian russell, whose teenage daughter molly took her own life after seeing self—harm images on instagram, the committee also recommends bereaved parents should be able to access their dead children's account. the key focus of these recommendations is to transfer power from silicon valley to elected officials closer to home, and to make what's illegal off—line also illegal online. this baroness has campaigned for a safe internet for years. i think we have seen over a period of time that the desire for growth has not been mitigated by an equal and opposite desire to keep either individuals or society safe, and we have just seen so many bad outcomes and, you know, the tech sector has failed to deal with them by itself.

regulating technology is very hard, which is why it's taking so long to implement new rules, but the era of self—regulation is over. amol rajan, bbc news. now to malta, which has become the first country in europe to legalise the personal use of cannabis. residents celebrated in the streets with lawmakers after the measure passed parliament. the legislation will also allow adults to grow up to four plants at home or possess up to seven grams — although smoking in public will still be illegal. and finally, think unesco—protected status and ancient monuments may come to mind. but how about this: (music playing). congolese rumba — one of the most popular musical genres in africa — hasjust been added to the un agency's cultural heritage list. it is the culmination of campaigning by two countries — the democratic republic of congo and neighbouring congo—brazzaville.

you have been watching newsday. that's all for now, stay with bbc news. hello. well, the key message in the weather forecast is that the weather is going to be very settled over the next few days. a big area of high pressure is going to establish itself across the uk, and that means settled conditions, i think, in the run—up to christmas. and on the satellite picture, you can see that area of high pressure across spain, portugal and france. it's building here and it's extending northwards. and as it extends northwards, it's going to push the fronts away to the north as well. but for the time being, we still have quite a few isobars — these pressure lines — so a stronger wind and a weather front close to northern ireland and across western parts of scotland and the north, as well, during the course of wednesday. so, here, it will be

at times cloudy, but it's mild with that cloudy, rainy weather, around 8—9 degrees celsius. to the south of that, very mild, too. ten degrees, but it is dry. now, the cloud cover on wednesday will vary considerably across the uk. we still have that weakening weather front in the north west here, so dribs and drabs of rain. and at the very least, it will be cloudy, but plenty of bright if not even sunny weather around merseyside, parts of the midlands, lincolnshire, also northern and eastern parts of scotland. in the south, we have thicker cloud because it's drifting in from the southern climes here. now, this high pressure really will be in place across the uk by thursday. you can see the weather fronts have been pushed to the north, so that means it's drying out right across the uk. still a little bit of rain maybe early in the morning, flirting with the very far north—west of scotland and the northern isles, but you can see the bulk of the country is dry on thursday. and again, a lot of variation in the cloud cover, but wherever you will be on thursday, i think the temperature will be more or less the same, around 10—12 degrees celsius.

now, this is what we call a blocking high, and this happens when the jet stream sort of wraps around it in the shape of the greek letter omega. so, you can just about make out that omega shape. when that happens in the atmosphere, things don't tend to move around an awful lot. they get sort of locked in, so that's why that high pressure will lock itself in, across this part of the world, across our shores. so, very little change is expected as we head through friday, through the weekend and into next week as well. that's it from me.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour straight after this programme. this week, what will it take to keep us all safe? will machines lead us into war? how do we stop killer robots from becoming a reality? and can the victims speak louder than the survivors? theme music