US President Joe Biden announces plans to deliver hundreds of millions of lateral flow tests for Americans to use at home – it’s the first time the federal government has offered subsidised testing for coronavirus. Our correspondent in Washington, DC, Aleem Maqbool, gives us the latest. As the Christmas holiday approaches, millions of Americans are expected to travel, leading to fears the already surging Omicron variant could spread further and faster. In New York, mayor Bill de Blasio is offering cash incentives for those who are yet to be vaccinated to come forward and get their shots. Elsewhere in the US, the BBC’s Michelle Fleury speaks to people who are quitting their job in what has been dubbed the Great Resignation; in Kentucky, the rate of resignations is higher than anywhere else in the country. In China, the online retail behemoth Amazon is accused of agreeing to remove reviews of President Xi’s that were anything less than a full five out of five stars. While in Japan a shortage of chips – French fries, not microchips – has forced McDonalds to offer smaller portions to customers. Throughout the programme we’re joined from Chicago by Stephanie Hare, researcher of technology and politics - and from Seoul by Jasper Kim, attorney, author and expert on international business law.

Picture: Joe Biden addresses viewers. Credit: Reuters.