but first computer, where an emergency court has sentenced the prominent human rights activist alaa abdel fattah to five years in prison. we will speak to alaa's aunt, the acclaimed egyptian novelist ahdaf soueif. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the world health organization has warned the omicron coronavirus variant is spreading faster than even the delta variant and is infecting vaccinated people and those -- at a far higher rate than other forms of the virus. who director-general dr. tedros adhanom ghebreyesus called on governments to require more public health measures and said many holiday festivities should be canceled. >> canceled is better than a life canceled. it is better to cancel now and celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later. amy: here in the united states, the centers for disease control is warning omicron has overtaken delta as the dominant coronavirus variant, accounting for nearly three-quarters of new infections. the pentagon said it is dispatching teams of naval doctors, nurse