this is bbc world news. i'm simon pusey. our top stories: south africa's president leads funeral tributes to archbishop desmond tutu, calling him the nation's "moral compass." archbishop desmond tutu was, without question, a crusader in the struggle forfreedom, for justice, for equality and for peace. covid cases continue to surge across europe. we'll report on how the uk's health service is being put under increasing pressure. the virus is still causing major disruption for travellers worldwide. thousands more flights have had to be cancelled. and going for a dip. why do so many people like to get wet on new year's day?

hello, and welcome to bbc news. we begin with breaking news. the south korean military says it has carried out a search operation after a south korean man crossed the border into north korea. the circumstances of the apparent defection are unclear, but a military source said the unnamed man crossed from the demilitarised zone into the north on saturday evening. the office of south korea's joint chiefs of staff said it could not confirm whether the person was still alive. it said it had used a military hotline to notify the north koreans of the incident, and to ask that the man be protected.

south africa has said goodbye to archbishop desmond tutu with a state funeral at his former cathedral in cape town. he was famous for his modesty, and archbishop tutu gave instructions for a no—frills ceremony, with a simple wooden coffin. the bbc�*s nomsa maseko was there. family, friends, and politicians bidding farewell to a man who became one of the most important voices of the 20th century. this was a final send—off for archbishop desmond tutu, following a week of events to honour him. speakers shared memories of the anglican priest who did all he could to expose and to heal the wounds of south africa's brutal past. many of the messages we received have said, "thank you for sharing him with the world." well, it actually is a two—way street. because we shared him with the world, you shared part of the love you held

for him with us. south africa's president delivered the main eulogy. archbishop desmond tutu has been our moral compass, but he has also been our national conscience. a few blocks away from the church, mourners gathered to watch the funeral on screens provided to allow ordinary citizens to pay tribute to the man they affectionately referred to as the arch. i have a strong sense that i needed to be in a community of people who were honouring him. the archbishop is a very important man, notjust in south africa but to the rest of the world. he's a great humanitarian, he's a wonderful person. he's done so much

for this country. it was during south africa's long and violent struggle against the country's brutal regime that he rose to prominence. we will be free! after the country became a democracy, he presided over the tumultuous reconciliation process. in accordance with his wishes, the archbishop will be aquamated — this is a greener alternative to cremation. his ashes will be interred beneath the floor here at st george's cathedral. it's the end of an era — the last of south africa's well known freedom fighters leaves behind a difficult task for the leaders to rid the country of corruption and racial divisions, and to also forge the way forward in the spirit of the moral compass that many believe was the driving force to tutu's leadership. nomsa maseko, bbc news, cape town.

let's look at the pandemic now, and governments across europe have been releasing their latest figures, all of which seem to indicate a continued, rapid spread of covid. in the uk, the confirmed number of new infections is 162,572. that's lower than previous days this week, but it only takes in figures from england, with northern ireland, scotland and wales not reporting. the uk has also reported 154 deaths from covid. that's a death recorded within 28 days of a positive test. france has reported almost 220,000 new infections. that's the fourth day in a row they have exceeded 200,000, but is a little lower than the record which was set on friday. and covid cases remain close to record levels in italy, with more than 140,000 infections confirmed on saturday — the second successive day they've topped that figure. a senior british health official has warned, that the "next few days are crucial," in the battle against 0micron. chris hopson, the chief executive of national health service providers, says the uk government "must be ready to introduce new restrictions... if they're needed."

here's our health correspondent, sophie hutchinson. a new year and with it, the hope that 2022 will draw us closer to the end of the pandemic. but once again, january is likely to see soaring infection rates. last night restrictions in some places and advice in others meant more subdued celebrations, but some were determined to celebrate. we have our boosters we've done our things, we followed the guidance. it is a funny one this year because we obviously want to stay safe but also in 15 years of living here i've never been and done the london fireworks so boris had a cheese and wine party so why can't i come and see the fireworks? come in and take a seat. some had resolved to get protected for the new year and went for boosters today. this is a third shot, booster, want to make sure that i got all the protection we can get meeting friends and family and living a normal life.

the main priority right now is to keep everyone safe, keep spreading the awareness, please get vaccinated, it's so important. whether it is the first, second dose or booster, and to look out for each other and protect one another. the health secretary in england is hoping vaccines will prevent the need for more restrictions and said additional measures would be a last resort. the debate about whether it is safe to mix or if we need more restrictions will continue but the question is, just how effective might those be? government commissioned modelling from warwick university suggests the window to suppress the peak may already have passed and that the last opportunity to introduce effective restrictions was a week ago, on boxing day. the number of patients in hospital with covid—i9 has increased by about 70%

in a week according to nhs providers. they say it is too early to know how this wave will play out. if the evidence shows that we are getting very significant numbers of people coming into hospital with covid, then the government needs to be ready to introduce further restrictions at pace. what we are trying to balance this against is the fact that the vaccines have changed the rules of the game. with most days now bringing record numbers of infections and the virus spreading rapidly amongst us, the health secretary in england has warned of a big increase in hospitalisations this month, which is likely to test the limits of the nhs. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. earlier i spoke to saad 0mer, who's director at the yale institute for global health. i asked what lessons we should have learned to help us to tackle the pandemic in 2022. first of all, the good news is that we

have effective tools that have been battle tested over the last year. we have an effective vaccine or a series of vaccines we have. we know that masks, especially high—quality masks protect. we know about the mode of transmission which is mitigated by better ventilation and better filtration indoors, especially. and we also know that the risk is lower outdoors. so based on this knowledge we know that if we deploy these tools effectively and get ahead of the outbreak rather than always following the outbreak, we can achieve reasonable effective control. that is one thing for domestically oriented policy. but for long—term control, as many of us have been saying, the long term control of this outbreak will not happen unless most of the world is effectively vaccinated. what that means is that as long as we continue to have these transmission events, the risk of new variants will continue to be there.

maybe there needs to be a bit more co—ordination between countries in 2022 so that vaccine hoarding does not take place. obviously does not matter if 100% of one country is vaccinated if only 5% of africa is vaccinated, then it does not matter. they will bring the virus over to that country. absolutely. a more nuanced vaccination strategy if now some of the high income countries are moving towards a three dose schedule, that means that a three dose schedule should be there all around the world. especially in populations where initially inactivated vaccines were delivered. so some of these nuances need to be kept in mind because not only will history judge us poorly as a global community if there are major areas where we do not have effective vaccination coverage, but also it is in everyone�*s domestic interest to make sure that there is global vaccine equity. and, briefly, what are your

predictions for 2022? it is hard to tell whether there will be new variants but are we in a better position than we were 12 months ago? we are in a much better position to have the tools to combat this pandemic. again, it depends on how we deploy it and how effectively we deploy it. the big question mark is not the science of it it is the governance. the policy and implementation of the policy going forward. coronavirus is continuing to cause major disruption for travellers worldwide. airlines cancelled more than 4,400 flights on saturday, due to surging covid cases among airline crews and ground personnel, as well as storms in parts of the us. stephanie prentice reports. from last—minute cancellations, to hours of delays in airports. the past week has been called the perfect storm of travel chaos in the united states as the demand of a new year's rush, staffing in 0micron

world, and bad weather collide. many on social media say their trip was cancelled either as they arrived at the airport or once they were through security. some say they are now stuck until tuesday at the earliest. and this man described an extensive reroute involving sleeping on the floor at dallas airport. more than 4400 flights were cancelled worldwide over saturday and into sunday. 2500 of those were going to or from us airports. chicago took the biggest hit due to storms there with 1000 flights unable to use the 0'hare or midway airports. in a statement, united airlines — one of those impacted — said that today's cancellations were driven by 0micron, staffing and weather—related issues. "we did pre—cancel flights in anticipation of inclement weather."

but with many people now returning home from christmas holidays, sunday is expected to see further chaos, particularly with forecasts of snow and heavy wind. a bleak picture but one that travellers are starting to become familiar with. and experts warn that the storm of travel chaos will get worse before it passes. stephanie prentice, bbc news. snow is now hindering relief efforts after a wildfire hit the american state of colorado. the fire destroyed almost 1,000 homes and at least 3 people are missing. russell trott has more. freezing conditions and a blanket of snow had helped to quell the flames. the eerie charred remains are all that's left in this part of boulder county. the snow, up to ten inches

in places, was initially welcome, but is now hampering relief operations. three people are still unaccounted for but rescue has now turns to recovery in the search to find those still missing. we are calling on cadaver dogs and search teams to help us with the effort tomorrow. the structures where these folks would be are completely destroyed. they are covered with about eight inches of snow right now. the wildfire had moved quickly, fanned by high winds. it took just seconds to rip through an area the size of a football pitch, leaving a trail of destruction. entire neighbourhoods engulfed in flames, at least 1000 homes and businesses destroyed. tens of thousands of residents had no option but to flee for their lives. president biden approved a disaster declaration, freeing up credible resources. weather experts spoke of their disbelief that such a large fire could have taken hold in the depths of a cold winter. all of colorado's 20 biggest wildfires have happened

in the last 20 years, and it all points to a change in climate, and the unpredictability that goes with it. russell trott, bbc news. this is bbc news. our main headline: south africa's president leads funeral tributes to archbishop desmond tutu, calling him the nation's "moral compass." more now on the passing of archbishop desmond tutu, and as we've heard, he requested a basic wooden coffin, and for his body to be "aquamated." it's not a term that many of us are familiar with, so what is aquamation? i've been speaking to samantha sieber. she's a biologist, and her father was one of the founders of the aquamation process. she explained how it worked. aquamation is an alternative to burial and cremation, a choice that families have. very similar end result to cremation, where the family receives an urn. anything that you can do with cremation ashes, you can do with ashes from aquamation.

but aquamation does not use fire — it uses a process that is 95% water and 5% alkali to gently reduce the body to the mineral remains. the minerals are — just like, with flame cremation, that's what's returned to the family in an urn. there's no emissions, mercury isn't released into the air, and it uses less energy. you talk there about the fact that there are no emissions — i think it is probably one of the main reasons, obviously, that desmond tutu chose it. is that why a lot of people are using this process now? i think it is a major — it's a major driver and a choice. i think that these decisions are very personal, so a lot of things come into play. but either they perceive it to be a better choice for their loved one or for very personal reasons like, you know, "dad spent his whole life on the lake, every weekend — this just seems like a better fit". but i do think that the environmental, you know, the fact that it has less impact, i think that

that is a big choice for a lot of people. and yourfather and his colleagues were key to developing this process. can you just take us through how they came up with it? sure. doctor gordon kaye and doctor peter weber at albany medical school came up with alkaline hydrolysis back in the early 1990s and my father — who is actually a forester by degree, he's my mentor as well — he met these two scientists and really wanted to develop that technology. he fell in love with it. he thought it was a really good alternative to some of the things that we currently, or at that time, were doing in practice, using burn technologies. and so, he moved the company to indiana, where we were, and they commercialised it and essentially, it's been vetted by the scientific community for 30 years. brought it into medical school applications for bodies that are donated to medical science in 1995.

mayo clinic put a system in in 2005. and then, the first funeral home in the world installed the system in 2011, here in the united states. and it's obviously more sustainable, and that's really important these days, of course. there are a few issues around regulation and its expense — i guess that will come down — but did you see this growing as an industry in the years to come? it really is and, you know, when we — we knew what we liked about it. it's been a really nice 1.5 decades of learning what families feel about it and so, it's been a learning process for all of us but it certainly has a huge role in the future because it's electricity only. it doesn't rely on fossil fuels. so, as we move to eliminating fossil fuels where we can, this can have a major impact globally, especially in a lot of countries that

are 99% cremation. a german sea rescue charity has taken hundreds of migrants to the italian port of pozzallo, in sicily. crew members say the group includes more than two hundred unaccompanied children. gail maclellan reports. saved from the sea and overcrowded migrant boats, 440 of the lucky ones. the german non—governmental organisation sea watch rescued those on board in five separate operations. mostly from africa, the migrants have all come through libya and ended up in danger deep in the middle of the mediterranean. almost half the migrants are minors, most of them unaccompanied. it took a week for sea watch to find a port in italy where they could go ashore. finally, authorities gave permission for them to disembark in sicily. the ship is one of several operated in the mediterranean by charities and the head

of mission for sea watch explained why they undertake such voyages despite criticism. i think it is quite a problematic angle to look at, because what we really need to look at is the people continually drowning in the central mediterranean sea. there is a high number of deaths. we witness from aeroplanes where people are trying to cross no matter the temperature, no matter the wind no matter the weather, you know, the time of the year. for me, we need to actually talk about why so many people have to drown and the reason for that is that all state capacity has been pulled back and no state organises programmes and this is the action we need to talk about. almost 68,000 migrants disembarked in italy in 2021. almost double the number who arrived the previous year, putting further pressure on prime minister mario draghi's government and european union to find a solution.

a social media content creator in east africa has become an internet sensation, going viral in india. kilimanjaro, named after africa's highest mountain, is a young maasai who's been lip—syncing india's bollywood songs to perfection on tiktok. salim kikeke met kili, as he's known, in tanzania. this is what he does for his dayjob, looking after the family business. and this is what he does in his spare time. his videos have been attracting a lot of attention here in east africa, but they have been a huge hit in india. in africa, but they have been a huge hit in india.— huge hit in india. in the beginning _ huge hit in india. in the beginning it _ huge hit in india. in the beginning it started - huge hit in india. in the beginning it started as | huge hit in india. in the| beginning it started as a huge hit in india. in the - beginning it started as a joke, i wasjust beginning it started as a joke, i was just having fun and enjoying. i didn't know it was going to blow up and become this big. he going to blow up and become this bi. ., , �* going to blow up and become thisbiu. ., , �* ,, ., this big. he doesn't speak a word in hindi, _ this big. he doesn't speak a word in hindi, but— this big. he doesn't speak a word in hindi, but his - this big. he doesn't speak a word in hindi, but his lip . word in hindi, but his lip syncing performances are almost of bollywood levels. i syncing performances are almost of bollywood levels.— of bollywood levels. i practise a lot. it takes _ of bollywood levels. i practise a lot. it takes a _ of bollywood levels. i practise a lot. it takes a lot _ of bollywood levels. i practise a lot. it takes a lot of- of bollywood levels. i practise a lot. it takes a lot of time, i a lot. it takes a lot of time, i set down for a whole day and

try to learn each word, word by word and how they pronounce it, i go and google, i googled it, how do they pronounce it, i play the music and then i put it in slow on you tube, you can slow it down, so i slow it down to listen very carefully how they pronounce the word. creating a standard video clip would take from 2— four days, involving a lot of research. he lives in a tiny remote village a few hundred miles from the commercial capital of gilles simon. , , simon. the connection is very nood, simon. the connection is very good. but _ simon. the connection is very good. but i — simon. the connection is very good, but i have _ simon. the connection is very good, but i have to _ simon. the connection is very good, but i have to charge - simon. the connection is very| good, but i have to charge my phone at the village and then i can use the internet. the exnerience _ can use the internet. the experience has _ can use the internet. the experience has been - can use the internet. the experience has been so l can use the internet. the experience has been so nice that kili has decided to bring his sister on—board. translation: we eat well, we live well and it makes us happy when making the videos, it brings happiness. the family here however _ brings happiness. the family here however is _ brings happiness. the family here however is not - brings happiness. the family

here however is not quite . here however is not quite impressed by what they are seeing. impressed by what they are seeina. �* ,, �* ~ impressed by what they are seeina. �* ,, ~ ~ ., seeing. translation: when i ask him he doesn't _ seeing. translation: when i ask him he doesn't say _ seeing. translation: when i ask him he doesn't say anything. - seeing. translation: when i ask him he doesn't say anything. we l him he doesn't say anything. we want to know what the benefits are, what are the consequences... are, what are the conseuuences... g . are, what are the conseuuences... y . , consequences... my concern is i don't understand _ consequences... my concern is i don't understand the _ consequences... my concern is i don't understand the whole - don't understand the whole thing. _ don't understand the whole thing, what other benefits? what's _ thing, what other benefits? what's next? i haven't a proper explanation. what's next? i haven't a proper exnlanation-_ explanation. kiliman'aro is en'o in: explanation. kiliman'aro is enjoying his * explanation. kiliman'aro is enjoying his newly h explanation. kilimanjaro is enjoying his newly found i explanation. kilimanjaro is - enjoying his newly found fame, while his family may not fully approve of what he is doing, but he is so determined to keep on trending. but he is so determined to keep on trending-— but he is so determined to keep| on trending._ find. on trending. how are you? find. as we were _ on trending. how are you? find. as we were filming, _ on trending. how are you? find. as we were filming, a _ on trending. how are you? find. as we were filming, a family - as we were filming, a family from india here on holiday in tanzania arrive just to see kili. unlike many other social media influence around the world, he is not making any money yet from what he is doing. but a younger generation

is looking up to him, while the older generation is frowning on him, no pressure, as his videos continue to become popular, thousands of miles away. all around the world people have welcomed the new year in a host of different ways. some spent time with family and friends, others headed to the shops in search of a bargain. but a surprisingly large number decided to see in 2022 by getting wet. the bbc�*s tim allman explains. what is it with new year's day and people doing things like this? cheering. here at cavour bridge in rome, for more than half a century, every year, to celebrate the new year, they threw themselves into the tiber. normally, the water is icy cold, although milder weather meant it was perhaps a little less bracing this time around. in the netherlands, a group of hardy souls went for a dip in the north sea. an official event had been cancelled due to covid restrictions, but some just couldn't stop themselves.

it feels like a refreshment, you know? now, ifeel like all my troubles are gone and i actually feel really energised. not that far away in portugal, their destination was the choppy seas of the north atlantic. the sun was shining, the water was cold. the mood, surprisingly positive. "it's a portuguese tradition on this beach," said this man. "what's nice is the conviviality, socialising with people, hoping to be able to recover our strength for a much better year, and hoping to get out of this pandemic." bagpipes skirl. on the other side of the pond, they have some traditions of their own. in boston, one of america's oldest cold water swimming groups solemnly marched to a nearby beach before they all made a mad dash for it. cheering. some called it "crazy," some called it "fun" — it's certainly one way to see in the new year.

tim allman, bbc news. that it from us, do stay tuned to bbc news. hello. it's been an unusually warm start to the brand new year. not only did new year's day bring us the warmest start to a january morning on record, the temperature overnight didn't drop below 13.2 celsius at chivenor in devon, but we also picked up our warmest new year's day on record — the temperature above 16 degrees in london. and it wasn'tjust here in the uk that experienced an exceptional warmth — that's been across much of europe, as you can see by these yellow and amber colours. record—breaking for some but a change as colder air pushes in through next week to something much more akin to january — even the return of snow for some. no snow, though, to start sunday morning. it will be a little bit chilly across parts of north east scotland but elsewhere, a very mild start and some heavy downpours to begin with across the eastern half of england. quickly gets out of the way, then lots of sunshine

through much of the day. a few showers in the west which will become more extensive and frequent as we go through the morning, some of those becoming heavy with hail and thunder, particularly lively, though, through wales, the south—west, pushing towards the midlands and central southern england for the afternoon. some eastern areas will stay dry, though, after that morning rain until later on, but a blustery day across the board. not quite as windy in western scotland, though, as we saw on new year's day. temperature—wise, down a little bit on new year's day values but still significantly above where we'd normally expect this stage in january. so, some heavy rain, then, into sunday evening, spreading across the eastern half of england. that clears through. a few showers through the night and into monday morning. most of those, though, will be across parts of scotland and northern ireland, and they could start to turn a bit wintry across the far north of scotland as colder air tries to edge its way in. and that's all to the north of this weather front. that's going to be slowly pushing its way southwards through monday. at the same time, an approaching one

into the south—west. in between those two areas, a lot of dry weather for england and wales on monday — a bank holiday for many — just one or two showers. cold and wintry showers spreading into the north of scotland. the dividing line between that cold air, though, by the end of the day will be lying somewhere across northern ireland, southern scotland, northern england. outbreaks of rain in that, a wet end to the day for those in around the english channel. that low will clear through and as it does so, monday night into tuesday, the cold air floods its way southwards and it will be a much chillier day. in fact, we could see some pretty frequent snow showers in the north of scotland and strengthening winds which could cause problems later on tuesday and into wednesday. but the upshot is for all of us, temperatures much lower next week. as you can see here, from a selection of towns and cities from the four nations, temperatures in single figures and, as i said, a bit of snow for some of you.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: south africa has paid its official farewell to archbishop desmond tutu. president cyril ramaphosa called him the nation's moral compass. in a eulogy delivered at the state funeral, mr ramaphosa said desmond tutu had been the spiritual father of the new nation and the bearer of its conscience. covid—19 is continuing to cause major disruption for travellers worldwide. airlines cancelled more than 4,400 flights on saturday. it's one of the highest single—day tolls since the cancellations began just before christmas, and thousands of flights were grounded due to surging covid cases among airline crews and ground personnel. a german sea rescue charity has taken hundreds of migrants to the italian port of pozzallo, in sicily. the sea watch iii vessel has spent the last week searching for a port that would accept them. the migrants were picked up in five separate operations in the mediterranean. now on bbc news, it's time

for reporting from the climate frontlines. the bbc�*s science editor, david shukman, has been