this is bbc news. the headlines at 2pm: the british red cross hasjoined senior doctors in warning of a crisis in nhs accident and emergency departments in england. a former american army soldier has been arrested, after five people were shot dead at fort lauderdale airport in florida. the governor of florida says the gunman will be brought to justice. the person responsible for this act will be brought to justice to the fullest extent of the law. when you hurt one of us, you hurt all of us. at least 43 people have been killed bya at least 43 people have been killed by a lorry bomb in the northern syrian town of azaz. also the spiralling cost of repairing potholes in england and wales. councils predict the repair bill could reach £14 billion within two yea rs. and coming up in half an hour, the travel show explores cuba. good afternoon and

welcome to bbc news. the nhs in england has denied claims — from the british red cross — that there's a humanitarian crisis in its hospitals. latest figures show a&e departments have had to shut their doors to patients more than 140 times in december, because of a lack of beds. the red cross, which helps patients return home from hospital, is calling for more government money. but nhs england say plans are in place to cope with additional demand and that talk of a humanitarian crisis is overblown. our health correspondent, smitha mundasad, reports. winter pressure on accident and emergency — nothing new. but the red cross now says the strain on hospitals in england amounts to a humanitarian crisis.

the charity claims social care cuts mean patients are being sent home without the right support so they end up back in a&e. red cross volunteers support nhs staff and say they've seen patients sent home without clothes. some who don't receive the care they need to get washed. even some who have fallen and not been found for days. a&e staff recognise the problems too. i think the pressures on the nhs and especially in emergency care are particularly intense at the moment. but what is more concerning is the number of patients who have been managed within four hours and then the delays to admission into the hospital bed base which unfortunately are very, very significant and our staff are working under some pretty intolerable conditions at times. and sometimes they just can't manage. figures from nhs england show that overflowing a&e departments had to close their doors to new patients more than 140 times over the last month.

compare that to the same month in 2015 and it's up more than 60%. so is the strain costing lives? the humanitarian crisis? no, i think that's an overstatement at this stage. clearly, demand is very high and it's higher than it has ever been, but we have probably the most comprehensive plans in place that we ever had, but it is very difficult at the moment. the death of two patients on emergency trolleys at worcestershire royal hospital are being investigated. one of them had waited 35 hours for a bed. the department of health says it's providing billions more each year to ease the pressure. beds are actually not quite as full as they were this time last year. but everyone in the health service knows things could get worse before they get better. smitha mundasad, bbc news. i'm joined now from stroud by the chief executive of the british red cross, mike adamson, who's near stroud in gloucestershire.

thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc news. your claim is overblown, why did you describe it asa overblown, why did you describe it as a humanitarian crisis if it is misleading as some senior doctors imply? well, good afternoon. i mean the definition of a humanitarian crisis is something that affects the health and well being of a large population for a prolonged period of time. actually that's what we're seeing in our health and social care system at the moment. we know that between half a million and a million people who used to get help from social care no longer do. we look at the evidence in terms of the figures and statistics that you quoted, some of the nuffield trust report yesterday saying a third of hospitals in crisis, but what we see is, you know, our volunteers are working with people, supporting them to come out of hospital. what they see is increasingly chaotic situations in people estate agency home life. is there food in the

fridge? is the flat or house a com plete fridge? is the flat or house a complete mess? are bills unpaid? because actually there isn't the social care support that can even —— support, there can even be toileting issues. we feel it personally. someone waiting on a trolley for several hours for support without anyone and not knowing what's going to happen next, that can feel like a crisis for them and their family. rightly or wrongly, though, the health service and the social care system a re health service and the social care system are two separate things. isn't there a danger you're conflating two different problems here? well, they are, we sometimes use quite unhuman language about the health and social care system, delayed trons fares of care, bed —— delayed trons fares of care, bed —— delayed transfers of care, bed—blocking. but it's all the same people at home, going to the gp, going to a&e, going to hospital and spending more time there than they need to. the system needs to work as a system. currently, it's actually

quite siloed between health and social care. the cuts in social care make that problem more acute but it can be siloed within the health service within different organisations and specialties. when oui’ organisations and specialties. when our volunteers work with and support people, we look at the whole person b, what they would like to be able to do when they come out of hospital, or what we can do to help them avoid a hospital admission or avoid going to see their gp. what are the things they would like to achieve in their life. those are the things, if you nip things in the bud you can avoid the humanitarian crisis. when, if ever, has the red cross been involved in providing this kind of help in this country before? well, we're a partner to the nhs and indeed local authorities and social care all across the country. we help nearly 100,000 people a year. we work in more than 100

locations with more than 100 hospitals. we're an active and we're very pleased, i must say, to be a really active partner in the nhs. it's not that everyone isn't working really ha rd it's not that everyone isn't working really hard and as well as they probably can. it's just that the system is stretched at the moment towards breaking point. it's not just us saying that. we see the consequences of that for people. that's what the evidence is saying. some of those numbers about 30% rise in a&e attendances, 20% increase in emergency admissions. those issues put real strain on the system. thank you very much. joining me now frm leeds is taj hassan, president of the royal college of emergency medicine. thank you forjoining us this afternoon. good afternoon. winter is a lwa ys afternoon. good afternoon. winter is always a very busy time for a&e departments because more people get sick. how much worse, then, really is this year? well, i think if you

go is this year? well, i think if you 9° by is this year? well, i think if you go by all independent statistics, when we were entering the winter this year, back in september, we warned that this would be certainly the worst winter for probably 15 yea rs. u nfortu nately, the worst winter for probably 15 years. unfortunately, we've been proven correct. four hour standards, 12—hour trolley waits, other metrics are all unfortunately standing at probably the worst in that time. the ca re probably the worst in that time. the care being delivered both in emergency departments, in the rest of the hospital by fantastic nursing staff, amazing medical staff, other staff, amazing medical staff, other staff, we' re staff, amazing medical staff, other staff, we're stretched to the limit. we're grateful to colleagues from the red cross for all the work that they do and they obviously themselves are extraordinarily stretched too. why, then, is it so much worse? what's lacking? well, there are three things acutely that we believe that will stabilise our

systems. we had a helpful conversation with simon stevens and collea g u es conversation with simon stevens and colleagues earlier on last week. the three things that i think most independent observers, including the health select committee, in their submissions to the secretary of state have identified first and foremost, we must get home the patients who are medically fit and need to be cared for in the community. that is what those patients want. that is what their families want. that is what people in the hospitals want because that then allows us to move patients from emergency departments, where they're stuck, up onto the hospital ward. it allows surgeons to operate on cancer patients. it allows the hospital to function. we must find a way to get these patients home. the second thing is that there is no doubt that our acute bed base is lacking and not resilient. we need to urgentsly review that and the constructive

discussions i had with simon stevens andjim discussions i had with simon stevens and jim mackie addressed that issue. the third thing the medical staff that we have in the emergency departments have been underresourced for a number of years. there is a recognition of that, but we're not doing enough urgently enough to address that. how much of this is a mix of government underfunding and unrealistic expectations by the public, who turn up at a&e when perhaps they don't need to. 0k, public, who turn up at a&e when perhaps they don't need to. ok, so let's address the second point first. there is no doubt that there isa first. there is no doubt that there is a proportion of patients who u nfortu nately is a proportion of patients who unfortunately do not recognise what a true emergency is. they could avail other avenues such as 111 or their general practitioner. we think that makes up about 20% of cases. the major point is the issue of underfunding as you've identified and there is no doubt that we have

been underfunded across social care, the acute sector, the acute bed base and staffing, especially in the emergency care, | and staffing, especially in the emergency care, i believe, and those are things that have been going on for a number of years and those are things that we're keen in terms of some of the proposals we're putting to the secretary of state in the near future and for which we seem to have had positive feed back already. those are things that will fix things in the medium term so we don't allow ourselves to be in the mess we are in at the moment. president of the royal college of emergency medicine, thank you very much for talking to us. thank you. it's emerged that the man accused of shooting dead five people at an airport in florida yesterday had a history of mental health problems — some of which followed military service in iraq. esteban santiago, who's 26, was arrested after opening fire on people in the baggage reclaim area of fort lauderdale airport. 0ur correspondent, jonny dymond, reports. they ran for their lives. as shots rang out in fort lauderdale's terminal 2, the area around

the runway became the nearest thing to a place of safety. inside the terminal, panic. some lay on the ground to protect themselves. 0thers lay dying. the gunman is believed to have brought a weapon out of his checked luggage here at baggage reclaim. he loaded, fired, reloaded, fired again, then gave himself up. five people, tragically, are dead. we have the shooter in custody. he is unharmed. no law enforcement fired any shots. the subject is being interviewed by a team of fbi agents and broward sheriff's office homicide detectives. in custody, a young man, esteban santiago. a 26—year—old military veteran with a history of mental health problems.

he'd served in iraq and come back, a relative said, as if he'd lost his mind. he'd been interviewed by the fbi. he'd said the government was controlling him. the individual did walk into our anchorage office in november. he came in and spoke with fbi agents at that time. he clearly stated that he did not intend to harm anyone. however, his erratic behaviour concerned fbi agents that were interviewing him. and they contacted local police. as the police locked down the airport, rumours swirled back and forth about more attacks. but it was just one gunman, a badly disturbed man with training and access to weapons. jonny dymond, bbc news. in the last hour, the governor of florida said the gunman would be brought tojustice.

yesterday we experienced an absolute hateful, evil attack on our state. people trying to live their lives and enjoy the weekend were senselessly murdered. it was an absolutely horrific day. the person responsible for this act will be brought to justice to the fullest extent of the law. when you hurt one of us, you hurt all of us. i arrived in fort lauderdale yesterday afternoon less than two hours after the shooting happened. i spent the rest of the day getting briefed by law enforcement from the state, local and federal levels. they are all working together to get answers. i saw the same thing after the pulse attack, where state, federal and local worked very well together, law enforcement worked very well together. i know we all want answers, and i know law enforcement is working hard to understand exactly what happened. what we do know is individuals have been killed, and some are fighting for their lives right here in hospitals in the county.

the governor of florida. dozens of people have been killed in a car bomb in the northern syrian town of azaz. the bomb went off in a busy market in the rebel—held town, which lies on the border with turkey. it's a key staging post on the supply route for rebel groups and has been fought over by a number of factions in syria's civil war. sir ivan rogers has confirmed his resignation from the foreign office and the civil service. formerly britain's most senior diplomat at the european union, sir ivan rogers resigned last wednesday — just months before he was due to play an important role in the complex negotiations on the uk‘s exit from the eu. the headlines: nhs england has rejected claims by the red cross that hospitals and ambulances are

experiencing a humanitarian crisis. a former american soldier has been arrested after five people were shot dead at fort lauderdale airport in florida. at least 43 people have been killed bya at least 43 people have been killed by a lorry bomb in a northern syrian town. the us department of homeland security says it will increase protection of the country's voting machines and data bases, to guard against cyber attacks. it's in response to a report by intelligence officials, which, for the first time, directly accuses president putin of trying to boost donald trump's election bid. catrina renton reports. the report from american intelligence claims russia's president, vladimir putin, personally ordered what it called an influence campaign to help donald trump's chances of winning the american presidency. it said the goals were to denigrate his opponent hillary clinton and harm her electability.

the conclusion, the kremlin developed a clear preference for donald trump. the president—elect had earlier described the russian hacking claims as a political witch—hunt by his opponents. at trump tower, he met america's top intelligence officials for a classified briefing. they claim russia's actions included gaining access to the e—mail accounts of the democratic national committee and top democrats, and using intermediaries such as wikileaks to release the information. russia has previously denied this, and wikileaks founderjulian assange has said before that moscow was not the source. a former cia director who resigned from donald trump's transition team gave his view. it depends how you phrase it. "russia was involved" looks supportable as a proposition in no small measure i think because they were able to come up with the identities of the intermediaries between the russian government and the people who did some hacking, they did not have that before

and that, i think, was one thing that got a lot of people's attention, including mine. after the briefing, mr trump did not single out russia. in a statement he said... and the incoming vice president says the us will strengthen cyber defences. the president—elect has made it very clear that we're going to take aggressive action in the early days of our new administration to combat cyber attacks and protect the security of the american people from this type of intrusion in the future. donald trump said he had tremendous respect for the work and service done by those in the us intelligence community. but with two weeks to go

until he moves into the white house, questions remain over how they will all work together to keep america safe. catriona renton, bbc news. wildfires in north america are getting bigger, more frequent and more destructive, according to official us government statistics. scientists say a warming climate combined with a century of fire suppression by the people who settled the west has produced the perfect conditions for so—called megafires. 0ur north america correspondent james cook reports from the colorado rockies. welcome to the furnace. across large swathes of north america, this is the new terrifying normal. in the united states last year, there were more than 60,000 wildfires, and the trend is towards bigger and more destructive blazes. huge fires are transforming the landscape of the united states. here in the foothills of the rockies, a blaze burned through here 20 years ago, and still it looks like this. no longer dense forest,

but essentially prairie. the buffalo creek blaze was one of several so—called mega fires here in colorado which destroyed homes, polluted water supplies, and left locals lucky enough to escape fearful for the future. it is terrifying. it's devastating, the destruction, it's traumatic. it brings into focus very quickly that there's something wrong here. so what is wrong? scientists say rising temperatures and years of drought are partly to blame, and so too is a century of firefighting by the settlers of the west, who interrupted the natural rhythm of regular fires so they could preserve life, property and precious timber. the results — thicker forest, more fuel to burn, and often devastation. we are caught in this vicious circle. forests need fire — fire is as natural to a forest as sunshine and rain. no—one ever lost theirjob

for fighting a fire. as a fire manager or a policy maker, the far more difficult decision is to allow a fire to burn, to manage a fire for its resource benefit. but sometimes you think that needs to happen? 0h, absolutely. the lead agency for wildfires, the us forest service, is caught in a trap — it can't find enough money for its programmes to thin out woodland and prevent fire, because more than half its budget is being spent on firefighting. its boss says that has got to change. it's essential that we find a different way to be able to fund fire suppression in this country, and simply to be able to recognise that 1% to 2% of these fires that start every year need to be considered a natural disaster, not unlike floods are, like hurricanes are, like windstorms are. for a time, some people thought they had tamed the wild west — nature is proving them wrong. james cook, bbc news, in the colorado rockies.

the repair bill to fix the country's potholes could soon reach £14 billion. that's according to councils in england and wales, who say the government should pay for the repairs from fuel duty. the government says it's already putting £250 million into fixing the problem, but the local government association says that's not enough, as duncan kennedy reports. councils fix two million potholes every year. that is about 12,000 for every local authority in england and wales. but it never seems to be enough. now, the councils claim the repair bill could soon reach £14 billion. hard—pressed councils, who are mending, you know, a pothole every five seconds in this country, just cannot get to the core of the problem, which is actually many of our roads arejust being patched now. they need to be fully repaired. the councils say the government must do more to help, and suggest increasing fuel duty by a couple of pence a litre, a figure they say

the public would support. but it is notjust the cost of repairing all these potholes that seems to be on the increase. today's report also found that the time it is taking appears to be on the rise as well, going up from ten years in 2006 to 14 years today. last year, the government announced a £250 million pothole repairfund to help 100 councils fix 4 million potholes. but today's report by local councils suggest that is not enough, and that the pothole problem is actually getting worse. a week of heavy rains and floods has left at least 12 people dead and thousands of villages submerged in southern thailand. according to the country's interior ministry, 700,000 people have been affected. forecasters are warning that the unseasonal downpours will continue for at least another two days. as david campanale now reports,

the deluge has also disrupted beach holidays in several destinations popular with tourists. heavy rains are hammering thailand's flood ravaged south, taking the death toll higher and leaving thousands of villages partially submerged. in some parts, the water has risen to the rooftops. the rain is turning roads into rivers, making them impassable. it has also inundated farmland and damaged more than 1500 schools. the downpour is expected to persist for another 48 hours, with thailand's meteorologists warning of possible flash floods. its severity is testing the capacity of locals to cope. translation: now we lack food and trending water but the water level is almost stable. many flights and train and bus services have been delayed or suspended, and power lines toppled in the region.

boats are being used to evacuate flood victims, while military bases have been mobilised to help in the process. for many, the downpours and flooding could not have come at a worse time. tourism plays a vital role in the thai economy and this is usually peak holiday season, with weather are normally both cool and relatively dry. social media showed some tourists making light of the floods, using inflatable rings to float down waterlogged streets. but others may choose to cancel or cut short their visits, taking away a desperately needed source of income for many ordinary thais. for the first time, the nhs is providing disabled children with prosthetic limbs that are specially designed for sport. nhs england says it hopes to equip several hundred children a year with the limbs, to allow them to participate in more sport. here's our health correspondent, robert pigott. right, how have you been doing, then, since you had your blade?

when ben made the decision at the age of ten to have his stunted right leg amputated, his dream of a future in sport seemed remote. would you like to put it on for me and show me what you can do with it? three years on, ben is one of the first children to receive a running blade on the nhs. as if he were changing a shoe, he can swap his false leg for the blade and feel a new freedom and energy. the spring of it is the bit that makes me go faster. i used to not be able to, like, be able to run as fast or able to kick a ball as well, but now i've got a good amount of power in my leg, and i've got the right size, so i can do loads of skills and hit a ball really well. the blade and the treatment cost around £1000, but clairejohnson, a health service expert in prosthetic limbs, says the nhs will more than recoup the cost by keeping children active. we're hoping that it will give him a level playing field, so that he can compete

with his peers and be able to participate in a lot more sports. it does help in the wider scheme of things, and hopefully give a longer longevity to their lives by giving them the opportunity to do sport. ben is among 2500 children in england with limbs that are either absent or which don't work properly. the nhs hopes to fit several hundred of them with a sports prosthetic every year. the scheme not only opens the way to sport for a group of disabled youngsters, but it comes with an added message. at a time when so many teenagers are couch potatoes, it makes an example of an extraordinary few who overcome all the odds to carve out a life in sport. the new blade, for me, can do a lot more than my prosthetic can do, cos now i can run with more freedom. ben's mother kathleen says running blades can change a disabled child's whole outlook on life. he seems more confident, and more

eager to get out and about now. he's wanting to put it on and go out more, and do more sports, more activities. now he has got the blade, the sky is the limit. ben says he is now training for the paralympics, and he's talking dates — 2024, at the very least. 2020? who knows? robert pigott, bbc news, brighton. nasa has released a rare detailed photo of the earth and the moon, as seen from mars, which is some 127 million miles away. the image was taken from nasa's most powerful telescope orbiting the red planet. the reddish feature near the middle of the face of earth is australia. a young fan of the coldstream guards now has a memento from his birthday visit to windsor castle. marshall scott was celebrating his fourth birthday at the castle —

dressed as a miniature guardsman — when one of the guards surprised him by posing for a photo alongside the youngster. the video was shared online by charanpreet singh, one of the guards involved. cute. let's look at the weather forecast now with john. bearskins are all the rage it appears. they come in handing later on in the week, when it turns a lot colder. it's not too cold at the moment. it's relatively mild. but awfully gloomy. some of the hill tops here in derbyshire. if you see much in the way of blue sky today you will be doing well. you can see the cloud cover. that cloud has been producing some rain. noticeably across the south—west of england. many other places dry, if gloomy. but mild. double figures in one or two places. we keep that relatively

mild theme going overnight, courtesy ofa mild theme going overnight, courtesy of a blanket of cloud. fog patches become prevalent again, like last night. it could be dodgy on the roads. clearer skies across parts of scotland, particularly the east. a touch of frost possible here. for most of us we'll be above freezing. another murky start to your sunday. that fog takes a while to thin out. in most places it will do. a lot of cloud persisting, some breaks, perhaps more than today hopefully. then some rain turning up across the west of scotland on a freshening breeze. up to ten degrees is typical. it turns chillier into the early pa rt typical. it turns chillier into the early part of next week. later next week, some of us seeing some snow. backin week, some of us seeing some snow. back in half an hour.