tonight at ten — the latest figures paint a dismal picture of accident and emergency units, right across england. waiting times in casualty departments hit the highest level on record last month, as staff say they're doing their best in very challenging circumstances. we are an amazing service and we cope. our ability to keep on coping is running out, but you can't keep relying on us to make spaces and find places for patients to be seen at the drop of a hat. and waiting lists for treatment have also reached a record high. we'll have the details. also tonight — the long—awaited harry and meghan series on netflix. she sacrificed everything that she ever knew, the freedom that she had tojoin me in my world. meghan says the british press

was out to destroy her. harry accuses the royal family of failing to understand "the race element" in press coverage. an american woman who admitted killing the teenaged motorcyclist harry dunn has been given a suspended prison sentence. and a special report from the seychelles, on the work to use coastal wetlands in the fight against climate change. and coming up on the bbc news channel... a boost for england ahead of saturday's world cup quarter—final with france, as raheem sterling returns to qatar, following a break in at his family home. good evening. the formidable challenges facing the nhs in england have been exposed by the latest official figures, which show the strains on almost every part of the service.

accident and emergency departments, which had their busiest ever month in november, are the worst affected. but waiting lists for treatment have also reached a record high. in october, 7.2 million people were waiting to start routine treatment in england. and the performance figures for waiting times in a&e speak for themselves. not one part of the uk comes close to the 95% target for people to be dealt with within four hours. northern ireland is doing especially badly in this context. our health editor hugh pym spent the day with a&e staff at the royal berkshire hospital in reading, to see the reality first hand and the pressures they are under. we have a full resus, a full majors, a full waiting room and a full paediatric department and we have three priority calls, within the space of five minutes. there's a rush of patients, all needing immediate care. a&e is close to being full.

it's relentless. so, it looks like the current wait time in paediatrics is about three hours. thai is a receptionist in the emergency department. upbeat, despite the pressure. perfect, we'll see you then, 0k? bye. sorry about that. does it get very crowded when they get frustrated? oh, yes, very much so. yesterday i believed we had 120 people in the waiting rooms. the patients in there were crammed in like sardines. you know, when you see the london underground during rush—hour, very similar to that. and difficult patients sometimes? funnily enough we had a screen broken yesterday from a quite difficult patient, so it is one of those things where this here is quite for our own protection as well because sometimes people can be not as nice to us as we like. paediatric a&e is especially busy. some parents, worried about strep a, mostly winter viruses. so, we got told to come in by the gp. 0k. a nurse is checking out rafe, who has come in with his father, richard. four hours later we caught

up with them again. have they told you how long the wait will be? no. i haven't asked yet. i know they're busy but i haven't asked. i'll probably give it another half—an—hour, then i'll ask. this department was built to see about 20, 30 patients. on saturday night we had 53 patients in here, so you can imagine 53 patients, that'sjust patients. if you take into account each one of those will have a parent, that's already 100 patients. if they had a sibling, that's 150 patients. omar, who is lead consultant, is urging people to come to a&e only if they really need to. there's a lot of people who worry and have been worried since the pandemic that if they have a symptom it means they have something more serious. i think they don't seem to want to wait to go and seek medical advice elsewhere. they want an answer, and they want it yesterday. noisy, busy, pressurised, this is everyday life for staff and patients here in a&e, and at most other leading hospitals. harriet has been slapped and bitten by a dementia patient. she is known to be quite aggressive at times but she obviously didn't

like this, so she grabbed the drip stand and grabbed my arm and she bit my arm. i was able to get her off. unfortunately we can't give her the fluids, but we'll try the next step. security has been called as staff are dealing with another dementia patient who is trying to walk out of a&e. saphena is mentoring student nurse emily. it's a long day. get tired doing it all day. he's constantly trying to get out of the bed and do stuff you don't want him to do. how much pressure do you feel right now, every day? the winter pressure, you can feel the winter pressure. like, more people coming in each day. yeah. how are you finding it, emily? yeah, really good. so, this is my 12th week out of 12, so i've been here three months now, but i've learned so much. it's been a great placement. however busy, the hospital is trying to get patients quickly out of a&e. we don't do corridor care, here. we have really high standards and we avoid that at all costs.

it's something that isn't right for patients and it's not an experience we want to inflict on them. the strain on staff, though, is all too clear. we're an amazing service, and we cope. our ability to keep on coping is running out, but you can't keep relying on us to make spaces and find places for patients to be seen at the drop of a hat when they keep coming in and in. it is hectic now so they are worried what may happen in the new year, the busiest time for the nhs. hugh pym, bbc news, reading. real sense of the pressure is the staff are working under. and hugh is with me. talk us through the various elements of the kind of situation we see there. �* �* , ., , of the kind of situation we see there. “ , ,, ., of the kind of situation we see there. , ., there. bbc news has spent all day re ”ortin there. bbc news has spent all day reporting on _ there. bbc news has spent all day reporting on the — there. bbc news has spent all day reporting on the nhs _ there. bbc news has spent all day reporting on the nhs front - there. bbc news has spent all day reporting on the nhs front line. i reporting on the nhs front line. hospitals nearly full, crowded ana

units, difficulty discharging patients and it seems there is more sickness then a few years ago. there is more flu cases in hospitals, then theissue is more flu cases in hospitals, then the issue of strep a and doctors have told me emergency departments are full of parents worried with their children. the advice from doctors is consult nhs111 and the doctors is consult nhs111 and the doctor if necessary for care and of course antibiotics which can be highly effective in these cases. gps though are asking for more clarity from the authorities on what people should do and we have had some statistics today on group a strep, deaths are rare, there have been 15 in the uk since september, more than in the uk since september, more than in previous years but to give it some context, in 27 — 18, there were 27 deaths across the whole season. there are more updates, news and analysis on bbc news online — that's bbc.co.uk/news —

and by using the bbc news app. the first episodes of the netflix series featuring the duke and duchess of sussex have been released. the couple condemn the way they've been treated by the royal family and by the british press. prince harry accuses the media of "exploitation and bribery" and refers to "racist overtones" in the tabloid coverage of their relationship. there's an added claim of "huge levels of unconscious bias" in the royal household. meghan speaks of a media campaign to "destroy" her. buckingham palace hasn't commented. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell has been watching. she sacrificed everything that she ever knew, the freedom that she had tojoin me in my world. and then, pretty soon after that, i ended up sacrificing

everything that i know tojoin her in her world. it is the truth according to harry and meghan. the story of two people who fell in love but whose lives, in their view, were compromised by others conspiring against them. no—one knows the full truth. we know the full truth. the institution knows the full truth and the media know the full truth, because they've been in on it. the behaviour of the press is a constant theme. harry believes there was a racial undertone to media coverage when it emerged that he was in a relationship with meghan markle, a woman of mixed race. the couple think the royal family and buckingham palace should have done more to support them. it was almost like a rite of passage. and some of the members of the family was like, "right, but my wife had to go through that, so why should your girlfriend be treated any differently? why should you get special treatment? why should she be protected?" i said the difference here is the race element.

meghan too evidently believes she wasn't given a fair chance by the palace or the press. but truth be told, no matter how hard i tried, no matter how good i was, no matter what i did, they were still going to find a way to destroy me. there is no explicit allegation against royal family members on the race issue, though harry says there is unconscious bias. in this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution, and there is a huge level of unconscious bias. the thing with unconscious bias is it is actually no—one's fault, but once it has been pointed out or identified within yourself, you then need to make it right. it's education, it's awareness.

from meghan, there's an implied criticism of william and catherine for not having been sufficiently demonstrative towards her. even when will and kate came over and i had met herfor the first time, they came overfor dinner. i remember i was in ripped jeans and i was barefoot. like, i was a hugger, always been a hugger. i didn't realise that that is really jarring for a lot of brits. i guess i had started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside. that there is a forward facing way of being. and then you close the door and you go, "oh, we can relax now!" but that formality carries over on both sides, and that was surprising to me. queen elizabeth, though, was warm and welcoming. meghan recalled their first meeting at windsor castle and her first curtsy. i curtsied as though i was like...

"pleasure to meet you, your majesty!" so, have these programmes changed anything? this morning, king charles was out and about on an official visit. buckingham palace is saying nothing publicly, though privately, officials are growing weary. i think there is a sort of sense of both disappointment and exasperation at the palace that the couple feel the need to keep going on about how miserable they were in their royal existence. at the same time, the couple feel that they need to keep telling the world why they left. i accept there will be people around the world who fundamentally disagree with what i've done and how i've done it, but i knew that i had to do everything i could to protect my family. three more hours of harry and meghan telling their truth will be released next week. especially after what happened to my mum.

that's your grandma, diana. you know, i didn't want history to repeat itself. as nick mentioned there, the entire series hasn't yet been seen, but on the basis of what you have seen so far, what did you make of it? fine far, what did you make of it? one thin we far, what did you make of it? one thing we can _ far, what did you make of it? one thing we can say _ far, what did you make of it? one thing we can say with _ far, what did you make of it? que: thing we can say with certainty, this is a couple who continue to divide opinion. this is a couple who would not or could not fit in to the template of the british royal family. supporters will see these films as a touching love story, couple seeking happiness in difficult circumstances. critics will regard them as further evidence of their self obsession. the palace i think will be relieved on the central and most sensitive issue of race. there is no new explicit allegation against the royal family, though harry does say there is a

huge level of unconscious bias. his main target, once again, is the media as it has been on so many occasions in the past. his press intrusion on a gross scale, that is a theme running through all three programmes but at times i think credibility is severely stretched. consider this statement by megan we had in the report there, no matter what i did, they were still going to find a way to destroy me. really? i am not sure that claim would stand up am not sure that claim would stand up to fair—minded and proper scrutiny. royal officials who were assigned to them tried desperately to help them. they found it very, very difficult and yet it is the sussexes who are convinced that they were the victims.— were the victims. nick, many thanks. nicholas witchell _ were the victims. nick, many thanks. nicholas witchell there, _ were the victims. nick, many thanks. nicholas witchell there, our - were the victims. nick, many thanks. nicholas witchell there, our royal - nicholas witchell there, our royal correspondent with his analysis of the first three episodes of that

series. an american woman who caused the death of a teenager in northamptonshire in 2019 has been given an eight—month suspended sentence. harry dunn, who was 19, died when anne sacoolas drove on the wrong side of the road. she returned to the us shortly after the collision, claiming diplomatic immunity, but later admitted causing death by careless driving. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports from the old bailey. more than three years after harry dunn died, his family came to the old bailey to hear thejudge passed sentence on the american woman responsible. but anne sacoolas, the woman being sentenced, was not in court. seen on the right, she was appearing by video link with her lawyer from washington, dc. first, thejudge praised harry dunn's family for how they had campaigned forjustice for him. there is no doubt that the calm

and dignified persistence of these parents and the family of that young man has led, through three years of heartbreak and effort, to your appearance before the court, and the opportunity for you to acknowledge your guilt of a crime. please stand up, mrs sacoolas. for the offence of causing the death of harry dunn by your careless driving, the sentence is eight months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. harry dunn's mother said she'd now kept the promise she made to him in hospital after he'd died, to get him justice. job done, promise complete. properly, properly complete now. anne sacoolas has a criminal record for the rest of her life. that was something that, you know, she never thought she would see, the us government never thought they would see. anne sacoolas had turned onto the wrong side of the road as she left a barbecue and stayed in the wrong lane for 350 metres, hitting harry dunn on a blind bend. the prosecution told the judge that a passer—by who arrived immediately

after the crash found anne sacoolas looking disoriented with her two children on the side of the road. harry dunn was conscious and repeatedly said, "don't let me die." anne sacoolas said, "it's all my fault. " "i was on the wrong side of the road. " but using her husband's job at the secretive us base at raf croughton, anne sacoolas claimed diplomatic immunity and left the country 19 days later. she also works for a sensitive branch of the us government. we're concerned over how much it would appear that sometimes the uk are continuing to pander to the us. it's like, they continue to choose to be a lapdog. and that needs to stop, that needs to change. but the family say that three years on, they can now remove the signs calling forjustice on the blind corner where harry dunn died. daniel sandford, bbc news.

the home secretary suella braverman has warned people travelling abroad at christmas that they face "serious disruption" because of planned strikes by staff at uk border force. the action will take place at various airports, including heathrow and gatwick, between the 23rd and 31st of december. the government says it is working on new laws to limit the rights of some workers to go on strike. our political editor chris mason is at westminster. what's the level of concern in government about this action? there's a real worry about this, not least because they accept in government that there's just going to be a skeleton staff at the border and they say maintaining border security is a priority. they are saying we should think carefully about travel plans. the thing is, people do think carefully about international travel, booking it months in advance and at

considerable expense. so concerned are ministers that they hope that by using language like this they will put off people who maybe tempted to book last minute and may decide not to. there's also a worry and concern tonight about the ambulance strikes in england and wales, happening a week on wednesday. there was a meeting today of senior health officials and trades unions to try and work out which emergencies striking workers would be willing to attend when they are on strike and there are more talks to come in the coming days at a local level to try and resolve that.— coming days at a local level to try and resolve that. the american basketball player brittney griner has been released from custody in russia after nearly ten months, as part of a prisoner swap. moscow agreed an exchange for a russian arms dealer, who'd already served 12 years in a us jail. brittney griner was arrested

at an airport in moscow in february for possessing cannabis oil, and sent to a penal colony. russia has refused to release another american prisoner who's accused of spying, as our north america editor sarah smith reports. still in the dark, brittney griner doesn't know why she's being led onto a plane. this footage, released by the russian authorities, shows her being given the news. you know where i'm heading to? no. no? no. you're flying back home, to the us. she is safe, she's on a plane, is on her way home, after months of being unjustly detained in russia. here on the tarmac in abu dhabi, the handover. brittney griner, in the red jacket, being released, and swapped for a notorious russian arms dealer, viktor bout. he'd been in an american jail and is now on his way back home. the basketball star had been detained in russia since february,

when she was arrested at an airport in moscow for trying to smuggle vape cartridges containing marijuana into the country. something she described as an honest mistake. i understand everything that's being said against me, the charges that are against me, therefore i'm pleading guilty. after that guilty plea she was sentenced to nine years injail and last month was moved to an extremely harsh labour camp. viktor bout, the russian arms dealer known as the merchant of death, has been in jail in america since 2011. he's now also free man. the white house offered to swap bout for ms griner and paul whelan. he's an american who is being held on charges of espionage which the us says are false. russia refused to include mr whelan in the exchange. britney greiner has become a real cause celebre in america and her freedom is being celebrated but the president is being criticised for releasing a man is clearly dangerous

as viktor bout. brittney griner�*s wife campaign tirelessly for her release. �* , . wife campaign tirelessly for her release. 3 . . , , wife campaign tirelessly for her release. �*, ., ., , _ ., i, release. it's a happy day for myself and my family _ release. it's a happy day for myself and my family so — release. it's a happy day for myself and my family so i'm _ release. it's a happy day for myself and my family so i'm going - release. it's a happy day for myself and my family so i'm going to - release. it's a happy day for myself. and my family so i'm going to smile. brittney griner will soon arrive backin brittney griner will soon arrive back in america after ten months in russia. sarah smith, bbc news, russia. the republic of seychelles says it is leading the way in using coastal wetlands to capture carbon, a way of reducing carbon emissions from industrial processes which experts say could be a powerful means of tackling global warming. the bbc�*s komla dumor award, named in memory of the bbc world presenter who died in 2014, has been won this year by dingindaba jonah buyoya, who reports on the global potential of the seychelles project. beneath these calm waters... these seagrass meadows are helping to fight climate change.

there is enough seagrass and mangroves in seychelles to fill up hundreds of thousands of football pitches, and they can play an important role in reducing global warming. they can capture carbon that is heating up our atmosphere. seagrass and mangroves can take in many more times carbon than rainforest, defend against rising waters, and are a habitat for marine life. but globally, they have been neglected. here on seychelles's main island, residents held up a hotel development that would build over a seagrass meadow. there are bound to be a lot of loss when they are going and dredge to do reclamation for the hotel, so it is a loss for seagrass. a lot of seagrass meadows here. there's a lot of fishermen, so they depend on this area. despite the development plans, seychelles has committed to protecting all these ecosystems by 2030. now a project is accurately mapping all its seagrass,

making it one of the first countries to do so. and it's taking thousands of sediment samples. scientists have been breaking them down to see how much carbon they take in over time. we would like to use these numbers as mitigation to climate change. we need to find resolution to estimate how fast the sediment accumulates this organic carbon from the seagrass. so the government could trade carbon with countries wanting to offset emissions. and it says there could be more benefits. we depend greatly on fisheries and tourism, but they are considered the pillars of our economy. but when you look at the foundation of those pillars, the environment. by protecting the environment it means those pillars can stand and this is how we can grow. some say it can be done in other countries. solutions lie in nature.

once we have the tools in terms of data, in terms of analytics, in terms of maps, i think we can make those right policy decisions that will make it meaningful and effective to combat global emissions. the seagrass meadows of a small island nation are providing lessons in the fight against climate change. dingindaba jonah buyoya, bbc news, seychelles. with five world cup goals to his name already in qatar, kylian mbappe is this tournament's top scorer, and the player england fear most of all ahead of their quarterfinal against france on saturday. he's also a hero to millions around the world, not least in the suburbs of paris where he grew up, as our correspondent lucy williamson has been finding out. mbappe, receives it beautifully.

this is how killian mbappe has been warming up for the quarterfinals. with five goals under his belt already, he's the top scorer in the tournament. this man is unstoppable. at his old training ground there's fierce argument over whether he is already the best player in the world. translation: when i saw all those goals he scored last _ sunday i thought wow, france will win the world cup. with him, no one can stop us. mbappe trained here from the age of six. his former trainer, still a family friend. translation: he was | already a phenomenon. he was fast, but not faster than the others, because they were bigger and stronger than him. he was a little shrimp, a skinny little shrimp, but technically very strong.

at 23, mbappe is already more than just a footballer for france. a star from the paris suburbs who takes a stand on social issues and is used to receiving phone calls direct from president macron. last year, president macron called mbappe while on a popular social media game show. he also urged him privately this year not to leave his french club for real madrid. now with training under way for saturday's match, his career goals are clear. the only objective for me is to win the world cup. when the next game, the quarterfinal is the most important thing. and that's what i dream. back in bondy there is respect for the england squad too. especially captain harry kane. and the predicted outcome?

you get the drift. a decade after he trained on this patch of ground near paris, killian mbappe, the "skinny shrimp" from bondy, has the hopes of a nation on his shoulders and the world at his feet. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. many tributes have been paid to squadron leader georgejohnson, who's died at the age of 101. he was the last surviving member of the dambusters, the airmen of the second world war who used experimental bouncing bombs to destroy dams in the ruhr valley in the heart of industrial germany. danny savage looks back at his extraordinary life. he said he'd been honoured to be one of those chosen to take part, as our correspondent danny savage reports. it was a wartime mission immortalised on film. nice work, skipper. a barely believable true story

about low flying aircraft dropping innovative bouncing bombs. the men of 617 squadron were responsible. george "johnny" johnson was just 21 years old. i feel privileged and honoured to have been able to take part in that raid, one which i shall never forget. johnnyjohnson was the bomb aimer on his lancaster and he would lie flat on his stomach in the front of the aircraft here. on the night of the raid, once they were over the target, he wasn't happy with the approach, so he asked his pilot to go round again and again. dave rodger in the rear turret, after about the sixth or seventh dummy run said, "won't somebody get that bomb out of here?" to me, to not do it properly was a waste of time, so on the tenth run, we were down at 30 feet and i said, "bomb gone". "thank christ!", came from the rear turret. to be flying at night,

at 60 feet in mountainous terrain, to drop an ingenious weapon that had never been used before — it's genuinely the stuff of legends. are you a member. of the 617 squadron? yes, indeed. and to many people he was a fine legend. and to many people he was a flying legend. wow. johnnyjohnson said he'd had a very lucky life, living to 101, when many of his friends didn't make it much past 21. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. it is already well below freezing right across the country. one or two coastal areas perhaps just above. here are the main points, snow showers, icy stretches and of course those frosts are going to continue.

snow showers continuing especially over scotland, we've had