the headlines: the british socialite ghislaine maxwell has been found guilty of grooming and trafficking teenage girls for sexual abuse. the jury in new york found the 60—year—old guilty on five out of six charges connected with procuring victims and facilitating the abuse. the verdict was reached after five days of deliberation. maxwell procured the girls for the late us financier and convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. she faces the rest of her life behind bars with the most serious of the counts carrying a possible prison sentence of a0 years. maxwell's defence team say they will appeal the verdict. record numbers of coronavirus infections have been recorded by several european countries with the omicron variant fuelling a surge in cases. the world health organization says the virus is straining health care systems around the world, warning that the omicron and delta variants were causing "a tsunami" of cases.

now on bbc news, click celebrates christmas in style with a host of christmas—related gadgets and a look back at some of their highlights of the year. it's clickmas! and here comes your festive feast of fun. we've got games, music, drinks... it's a water bottle. ..and gifts. and we'll even help you clean up afterwards. # merry clickmas, everybody! welcome to clickmas 2021,

which is already looking more expensive than clickmas 2020. well, at least it's not a virtual party. but have we got a clickmas for you! they say it looks more expensive — it will do once we switch on the clickmas lights. would you care to do the honours? i've always dreamt of being asked to turn on the christmas lights and i'm going to go one better than that. are you ready? definitely. five, four, three, two, one... ta—da! oh, my life! it's even a clickmas laser! 7 what could possibly go wrong?! and that is the best handwriting on click. by the way, have you bought all your christmas presents? not yet. i've still got to get some smellies for my dad and smellies for my mum. do your whole family smell? they do, but i want them to smell better. i have a solution for you, but you will have to come with me to a christmas market. come this way. 0k.

i have to warn you, the salesman is a bit of a wheeler dealer, though. rollup, rollup! i recognise that trader. it's only nick kwek! hello, spencer! merry clickmas. and to you. what on earth have you got? well, this is the world's first artificially intelligent smart perfume. have a sniff of that. it smells like a mum, but not my mum. it's very strong. the idea behind the ninu is that it's one size fits all. because the last thing you want on christmas day is when you open up a perfume, and you don't like the smell of it. with this thing, you can choose what you want it to smell like. really?! you control it through a bluetooth connected app. how does that work, then? well, inside, there are three different canisters, each with its own unique scent, and depending what you select on the app, then it mixes each together to create your own bespoke whiff. and it can create up to 100 different combinations for every can.

sounds like a good deal. so, do you reckon your mum's present is sorted? well, unfortunately, this isjust a prototype. it won't be hitting the shops until next spring. well, what are you here for then?! a slight problem, but maybe i can fix it. does your mother like click? of course she does. she's my mum, she's a viewer. exactly. so she may enjoy our highlights from this year. it was the year that started with a virtual consumer electronic show with all the fanfare and frolics of... ..sitting in a room alone. laughs but there were still smart pillows and smart earrings, smart blenders and smart masks... very topical. but we did get out and about. we went to ireland, iceland, finland and dubai—land. honestly, this is the greatest projection i've ever seen. we also saw virtual reality being used with life—changing results. it helped to guide this family through their decision

on whether to operate on 6—month—old baby archie. the theatre isjust being prepared as in a few minutes archie is coming in for his surgery where a spring like this will be inserted into his skull through a small cut. it will immediately expand and start to change the shape of his head and then continue to do so over the next four weeks. at that point, it can be removed. invented by drjeelani 13 years ago, this technique has reduced operation time from three hours to a0 minutes, cut blood transfusions by 90% and provides more predictable outcomes. that piece had to be the most important part of the year for me, technology really making a difference. yeah. 2021 was the year that omar tried out for a football team but the ai scout said no.

oh, things soon picked up for him, though, as he discovered he was the proud owner of a pokemon card worth a small fortune. take this card. i got it in a pack when i was a kid. dark raichu, a secret rare. £850! _ meanwhile, chris put his feet up all in the name of discovering the perfect posture. honestly, though, he can make anything look good. i mean, he is rocking this jacket. oh, yeah. and here he is at the a! song contest. each of the 38 entries had to use _ some artificial intelligence in the process. _ # can't you tell if i could fly... that song there was by - a group called smorgasborg and if you recognise the pixelated face, i that's because _ it's click's very own lj rich who has entered the contest. so, lj, how do you even get started _ with creating a song using ai? when i work alone, the music always comes first. but when i work with other people, i normally feel inspired

by their lyrics, and so with this, it felt very natural to get the al to generate some lyrics for me. that's great. and it's our lj! mark managed a break from gaming and took us to the meta—verse. which is totally not a game. the meta—verse has been described as what comes after the internet. dan has done a little bit of driving, well, a lot of driving. i've come to switzerland... yeah, and then he did something about his emissions by sucking a whole lot of co2 out of the air. paul went out to sea, sea, sea to see what he could see, see, see. come on, keep it together! but unlike its namesake, which took more than - 100 pilgrims to the new world in 1620, the mayflower 400 won't have any people on board at all. - and had his mind read. go on, there we go. jen took us all the way back in time to pompeii. and all the way forward to the shopping delivery next week.

this is the hive and it is called that because the robots are operating like a swarm of bees would. but as this year draws to a close, friends old and new have been there by our side. i find you rather intriguing. can we be friends? lam not auve. — i am a non—conscious machine. however, lam interested| in friendship and humans. did you get a christmas card from her? no. typical. what a year it has been. it was lovely to be back in the same room. sorry, what? yeah, it was. even if i couldn't hear a word you said. hello? we have done a lot this year, considering. we really have. maybe it's a time for a break from some tech, even for us. yes, so we sent cristina criddle to the countryside for a bit of a digital detox. this is the cabin where i'm going to spend the next few nights, and i am here for a digital detox

to see if being with my phone makes me stressed. i use my phone a lot, and sometimes i feel like it can make me a bit stressed. i'm trying to keep up with social media, my friends, the news, my e—mails. i can't be the only one who finds this exhausting. i found out that the university of greenwich was doing this experiment into digital detoxes and to see whether putting your phone away when you are on holiday can make you less stressed. to participate in the experiment, you have to wear this tracking device that measures your activity levels, your heart rate, even how much you're sweating, to see how stressed you are. i had to wear it for a full day a week before i went on holiday to see what my stress levels were like on a normal day. i arrived at a cabin in the woods in a place near a town called pulborough. it was really remote and i remember pulling my suitcase up this gravelly path in the mud, thinking, what am i going to do for a few days without my phone, without technology, just in this countryside cabin? right. goodbye, babies. there are also a few things

they leave you in the cabin just in case you need them. a map, compass — i don't know how to use that — there was a torch and a brick telephone just in case of emergencies and that was it. i locked my phone away and waved goodbye to civilisation. so, on the first night, i tried to go to a nearby pub. it was about 30 minutes�* walk away and i was using my map and navigating the country lanes and really excited to go but then i got quite lost. if i had my phone, i could have looked up the directions, i would have known what time the pub shuts. the next day we did manage to find a pub and it was in the middle of nowhere and it was a really nice countryside pub. on the third and final day, we went to a local vineyard. they were having a harvest festival and it was really fun and i find in those experiences you don't really miss your phone because you're just enjoying life. on the morning of getting my phone, i could not wait to get

up and i wasjust really anxious, just wanted to find out what my phone was going to say to me. when i did look at my phone, it was fine. nothing had happened. in fact, nobody had really messaged me. it was a bit disappointing. a few weeks later, i went to meet wenjie cai, who's the lead researcher on the experiment to chat through the results from my wristband, and i found that my stress levels after the trip were way lower than before the trip, and actually, they only started to peak again as i went to pick up my phone from the lockbox. it is quite interesting, the anticipation of reconnecting actually caused more stress than actually the reconnecting itself. after the experiment, i just went back to using my phone as normal. did other people find that as well? actually, a lot of participants made some changes in their everyday life. some of them left their mobile devices in the living room when they go to bed and a lot of them read much, much more. obviously, i was very relaxed, but i was also on holiday

in a beautiful place. so i wonder how much of it is not having my phone versusjust being on holiday? i think it's very different because when you go to a holiday in a very nice place, and if you have your phone, it is distracting from the experience for you. but when you do not have your phone, you really have the opportunity to really spending this great time with your companions. although wenjie said that my stress levels went down during the experience, and they did, i'm not sure if i would go on a digital detox again. i really like having my phone on me on holiday. i like to use it for photos, sharing my time with friends and, more importantly, looking things up, nice places to eat and go and experience the holiday in the way that i want to. so i don't think you need to go to a cabin and lock your phone away in a box to switch off. what you need to do is be more mindful. so if you're out with friends or in a beautiful location, just try and put your phone away and forget about

the notifications. live in the moment and just enjoy it. i could do with a break like that. especially when i go to ces in a couple of weeks. i tell you who would absolutely love a place like this. oh...dan? he loves christmas and he loves buying good christmas presents. he does, yeah. in fact, this year he has really done something special. he seems to be in germany. what?! yes, i'm on the hunt for the perfect christmas gift for you both. lara, you may have got something a bit sparkly but... ..it didn't quite seem right. and, spencer, well, i considered a new look for you... ..but, ultimately, iwanted to sniff out something that might surprise you both. and with a bit of science behind it as well. and my nose has brought me here to munich. but not to the shops around here,

but to a start—up that has created this — it's a water bottle with interchangeable nozzles, and they have different scents. so, you can have mango or cola or watermelon, and it makes the stuff inside the bottle kind of taste a bit...different. but what's inside is just plain old tap water. christmas magic? well, according to the founder of the company, no. the product is a body hack, basically. because we copied how our flavour perception worked for a certain part of it and, so, when we taste something, we will taste our basic flavours through our tongue 01’ over oui’ tongue, but the rest of it is through our nose, and it makes 80% of our flavour perception. so, it's a large part. and this part we copied with our product. when you drink from our bottle, you will drink water and scented air and the scented air

will let your brain think it is drinking something with flavour, even though it's just pure water with no additives, calories, sugar or anything. now, i know that may seem like quite a lot to swallow so i sent a couple of these bottles back to you guys in london to do a taste test. and i know that it's unlucky to say cheers with just plain water, but it's all meant in the best possible taste. merry christmas. both: merry clickmas, dan! we got a couple of these bottles here. i think you need to try one. i will give it a try. take a sip and see what you think. here we go. what fruit does that taste of? mmm! it's peachy! 0k! well done — i'm impressed. you try yours. what are you getting? ok, it actuallyjust tastes of water but it smells of fruit. can you tell what kind of fruit? no idea. absolutely no idea. it's grapefruity. i think it's a bit like fruit tea. i hate fruit tea. oh, well, that's gonna be a problem then. it's all in the smell and not in the taste. yeah, exactly. but while we are in the festive mood, i've got a little game for us to play.

right. now, pictionary is probably my favourite game... i know it is, you are a monster. ..as you know. indeed. but i can't draw — which, of course, is the irony of this — but the technology doesn't actually help with that. now, this is called the repaper and the way that it works is you can use any pencil by attaching this little item to the end of it or you can use the pen that comes with it, then you don't need the piece of paper. but it, of course, connects to a smartphone. oh, right! go on, then. this should be good. so let me draw something for you. you're saying this could be good but you know what my drawing is like! it's gone wrong already. is it a banana? uh, not... a horse? ..nota banana. and i've clearly got this wrong, haven't i? but, um, there you go. is it — is it a nokia phone that was never, ever launched because it was just the worst design in the world? that'll be it! anyway, this can be used for more sensible purposes. art or some sort of work. which this is neither of. go on. this is — this is the remarkable... it's the first remarkable thing i've seen today, let me tell you. yes, and seeing it's for more professional purposes,

i'm going to hand it straight to you. right, so this is an e—paper. it actually feels like paper as well to draw on. right. i'm realising now that i'm just as awful as you. i tell you what, though, paper is quite cheap and i'm guessing this isn't. that's very true. any idea? it's a sock and a bath. so... water, water and socks. and socks — yep, yeah. i think this may have something to do with the fact that chris fox asked us for our dirty laundry. yes! which is not as weird as it sounds. doing laundry is a time drain at the best of times — especially at christmas when there is so much else to do — so i'm helping the click team with theirs. but i'm not going to wash this myself, it is going to a start—up that helps to change the way we wash. according to oxwash the way we do our laundry at home is wasteful but by stacking up lots of little innovations at their modern laundrette they can make the process more eco—friendly. there are several ways this is supposed to be more eco—friendly.

the first is over here, any heavily stained clothes get blasted with compressed air and water. so, you are not using loads of chemicals in the wash. then the clothes go into these fairly standard washing machines, and the secret i'm told is using cold water so that you are not wasting loads of energy heating up the water. how do you get clothes clean with cold water? use a special detergent that is automatically dosed from these bottles, and that creates ozone which sterilises the clothes and then the final extra step is right around the back — there is a filter to take out any microplastics and fibres that comes off the clothes, so that doesn't go down the drain. to put the service to the test i have this wine—soaked tablecloth — no questions asked — a gravy stained runner straight from the christmas table and a pair of stinky old trainers which are all off to go through the oxwash treatment. of course, washing is only half the story. the items go through this heated roller and folder which can dry sheets in seconds using less energy than a tumble dryer — although at the moment

the company does still use some fossil fuel tumble dryers, which it hopes one day to remove from the process. one other thing i have to show you is this japanese clothes steaming robot which makes sure your clothes don't have any creases on them and also don't shrink in the wash. now, this is why i have worn this creased jumper, before any of you comment on it, so let's get this on here. that goes over the dummy. spinning around and now, to make sure the shoulders are right, we enter gym mode and beef... laughs. ..beef up the shoulders. good. and then... that's me after christmas. there we go, release the sweater. ready to wear! oh, it's so warm! there you go! i need to get one of

these for my kitchen! while the click laundry went through the wash i went to meet the founder who after getting tired of washing his rugby team's kit at oxford university decided to start the company. it's about £25 a month for a wash a week. isn't it going to work out cheaper to use a washing machine at home? when you take into account the washing machine you have to buy and the energy that goes into it, it works out about 10—15% cheaper. the big saving is on the time. you don't have to do it yourself, just takes the pile of laundry and gets rid of it. two days later and my laundry arrived and i really cannot fault it, it really came out very clean, especially the shoes which came out almost like brand new. the challenge for the company is going to be convincing people to give up the convenience of washing clothes home, especially for those unexpected christmas spills,

when everyone has had a few too many. chris fox doing our laundry, which was nice! very kind but i think he may have added red wine to the tablecloth. i would not have wasted that. on the other side of town, paul carter has been to meet a very important guest. when it comes to musical superstars, they don't get much bigger than bjorn ulvaeus of abba. he was talking to us about a new software solution for session musicians. more on that in an upcoming episode, but i took the opportunity to ask his thoughts on tech and music. we see technology evolving music over the years. i wondered what your reflections on technology being used in modern music? you know, when benny andersson and i in the �*70s, we used to be in one little room, in a cubicle with a stand—up piano and an acoustic guitar and two guys singing some kind of gibberish. pop english, swedish, something. no recordings of that.

oh, shame! but to get a kick out of that, they had to be a really good melody. whereas the songwriter today, he has got all his stuff, he has his computer and all of these wonderful sounds and when he or she is composing something, it sounds wonderful from the word go. and i think sometimes those song writers might become a little lazy, just to give up before the melody is perfect, just because it sounds so good. i think that's the advice i give to songwriters today, don't tell me you have written 100 songs this year. tell me you have written three really, really good ones. this is going to sound like a weird question but do you think there is too much music these days? funnily enough, an app

like tiktok helps. because someone finds a piece of music somewhere and does something funny with it and that's like a trailer for that song. because people get, oh, that's good. when does that come from? youngsters need something to prompt them to listen to music and for them, all of the world's music is there and from them, whether it comes from the �*70s or now doesn't matter, as long as they like it. so, tech's almost changing the way that we discover music? i think so, yes. pop music has always been tech driven. when benny andersson and i were, like, in mainstream pop, we listened to everything, every new tech gadget that was out there we had to get it, every new sound, what's that? what's that?

we have to get that. and you are still embracing technology now. iam, yes. i am having an avatar built of myself from 1979, and i did not choose that year, i think the ladies did. because they thought they looked their best, and i agree. so i am having that made and that is going to be very, very interesting to have the old songs sung by these young avatars and at the same time there will be live musicians playing the music. the old voices, live music and avatars. bjorn, thank you so much for your time. thank you. that was paul talking to the mighty bjorn ulvaeus, how marvellous was that? and i'm afraid that is the end of clickmas 2021. pretty glam, wasn't it? well, it was a bit more moulin rouge, maybe. this is true. throughout the week you can keep up with the team. find us on social media.

thank you for watching, thank you for being with us throughout 2021 and a merry clickmas. happy clickmas. hello again. temperatures reached the 16 degrees mark in both london and in exeter through wednesday. and we've got more of the same to come for the next few days, really, as we keep these south—westerly winds flowing across the country, bringing pulses of exceptionally mild air northwards. now, temperatures probably reaching 16, possibly 17 celsius, and in contrast, the temperatures that we'd normally expect at this time of the year, around about 8 celsius. so it is pretty exceptional, not far away from the english temperature record, which is 17.7.

as we head into thursday morning, we'll see outbreaks of rain turning heavier across western areas. a very, very mild start to the day with these temperatures. 1a, even 15 celsius to start the day. the rain, though, will be heavy for a time. it does tend to ease off and become a little bit lighter and patchier across north—western areas. otherwise, a lot of cloud. could be an odd bit of drizzle just about anywhere. but later in the day, we'll see another pulse of heavier rain working into wales, and that is likely to reach north—west england as we head into thursday afternoon. temperatures, well, 13 degrees in glasgow and belfast. that's very mild. 16 again the top temperature in london. we could see a high up to 17. thursday night, outbreaks of rain will become much more extensive as this area of low pressure moves in. it will also be bringing some strong gusts of wind quite widely. and into new year's eve, friday, that rain is going

to be there for much of the day in scotland, with some fairly brisk winds elsewhere. again, there will be a lot of cloud around, an occasional spot of drizzle across western area, and those temperatures still reaching 16, possibly 17, in the warmest areas. still mild further northwards, butjust not quite as exceptional. heading to those new year's celebrations, might be a bit more muted for one or two of you, but it stays exceptionally mild. a bit of rain, though, is in the forecast across north—western areas. and as those bell strike midnight, these are the kind of temperatures that we'll have out and about. heading into new year's day now, which is saturday, we start off with extended cloud, some bursts of rain pushing eastwards. quite a gusty, windy kind of day. the afternoon does look a bit brighter, but with a number of heavy showers flowing in across western areas. it's still very mild, 13 in aberdeen, 1a for glasgow. highs could reach 17 in the warmest areas new year's day.

this is bbc news. our top stories: the british socialite ghislaine maxwell is found guilty on five counts of grooming and trafficking teenage girls for abuse by a jury in new york. maxwell procured the girls for the financier and convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. she faces the rest of her life behind bars. no matter who you are, no matter what kinds of circles you travel in, no matter how much money you have, no matter how many years have passed since the sexual abuse, justice is still possible. we'll be looking at the implications of the verdict for prince andrew, who is named in a lawsuit brought by a woman who says she was groomed by maxwell and abused by the prince. and record numbers of covid infections are recorded across europe and the us driven by the omicron variant.

the world health organization warns of huge strains on health systems.