welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. the headlines: china experiences a surge of covid cases a week after relaxing the country's strict rules on quarantines and lockdowns. the top gear presenter �*freddie�* flintoff is air—lifted to hospital after an accident while filming the bbc motoring show. us presidentjoe biden signs into law a bill, giving federal protection to same—sex and inter—racial marriages. todayis today is a good day! a day

america takes a vital step towards equality. locking in their place in the world cup final — goals from messi and alvarez see argentina crush croatia's hopes with a 3—0 win in qatar. and a judge in the bahamas denies bail to the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange ftx. sam bankman—fried is accused of one of the biggest financial frauds in us history. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme: china's hospital system is coming under a huge strain as covid—19 spreads quickly again.

it follows the government's decision to abandon its zero—covid approach. the situation has become so bad that doctors and nurses who have contracted the virus are being told to turn—up for work because of staff shortages. stephen mcdonell reports from beijing. long lines have been forming outside beijing's clinics after an explosion of infections, triggered by an end to china's zero—covid approach. hospitals have increased their fever ward capacity, expecting a huge influx of patients. people in this country have been used to going to hospital to treat any illness at all, but now they're putting massive pressure on the system. so doctors have taken to social media to try to explain that with mild cases of the virus, recovery at home is recommended — a new concept for most here. going to hospital can also be potentially dangerous at the moment, according to one specialist, who says patients could be catching covid from doctors and nurses. from my conversations with friends in china who serve

as the hospital directors or medical workers, people being infected had been required to work in hospital, which creates a transmission environment there. it's notjust hospitals that are under pressure. panic buying at pharmacies has meant certain medicines are now hard to come by. this sign says, "no cold and flu tablets, no thermometers and no home testing kits." just weeks ago, chinese officials were saying lockdowns and isolation centres were necessary. now, after a major u—turn, the message is that the latest covid types aren't dangerous, and many younger people are welcoming the chance to isolate at home. translation: the information circulating before about covid was completely at odds with my experience of the virus. i caught it, was a bit uncomfortable, but it hasn't

been nearly as scary as i thought it would be. she does worry about her sister, who has two parents and children. in other countries, reopening led to bustling streets, as communities again came together. beijing feels like a ghost town. most are either recovering at home or afraid to go out, lest they too become infected. companies in these tower blocks are imploring staff to return to work, but they are having a difficult time convincing employees to re—enter crowded offices. it looks like china is in for a tough few months before life returns to anything like normal. amongst those being overloaded are home delivery drivers, and many of them are also catching covid. so orders are piling up, with not enough drivers to handle them. zero—covid may be effectively

over, but this virus continues to wreak havoc in china. stephen mcdonnell, bbc news, beijing. the bbc�*s top gear presenter and former england cricketer �*freddie�* flintoff has been involved in a crash while filming. he's been taken to hospital, but his condition isn't thought to be life—threatening. mark lobel has the details. on tuesday morning we understand there was an accident at dunsfold park aerodrome, in summary, the official top gear test track and something that has been driven on for many years. there are medics standing by at all times and when freddie flintoff, the former english cricketer and top gear presenter, was injured, crew medics are on the scene immediately. the bbc has released a statement saying that freddie flintoff has been taken to hospital for further treatment and they will confirm more details in due course. we do understand that he was not travelling at high speed at the

time and that his injuries are not life—threatening. he has had a scrape before, in 2019, at the elvington airfield, new york, when he was also filming for top gear. he was driving a three—wheeled motorised trike, and he ran out of runway. but he walked away unharmed from that. at the same site, and there was a famous accident with a former top gear presenter, richard hammond, in 2006 where he was on a dragster that spun out of control at 288 mph and seriously injured from that but has since recovered. there are reports that freddie flintoff in this latest accident was taken away by an air ambulance accident was taken away by an airambulance to a accident was taken away by an air ambulance to a hospital. we do not know which hospital he was taken to, or if he is indeed still in hospital. more details on this story to come. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines:

the iranianjudiciary says 400 anti—government protesters in tehran have been given prison sentences of up to ten years. the city's prosecutor general said nearly half of what he described as "the rioters" were jailed for between 5—10 years, most others for two years or less. scientists say a new type of personalised vaccine to treat cancer has produced promising results during trials. the experimental therapy is based on the same mrna technology that was first used in a covid—19 vaccine. moderna said the results suggested a 44% reduction in the risk of dying of cancer or having cancer cases worsen. a french court has found guilty all eight suspects accused of helping a tunisian man carry out a deadly truck attack in nice six years ago. 86 people were killed and hundreds injured when the vehicle tore through crowds celebrating bastille day.

president biden has signed into law a bill which gives federal protection to same—sex and interracial marriages in the united states. he hailed the legislation as: "..a vital step towards equality, for liberty and justice." democrats secured the passage of the legislation weeks before surrendering control of the house of representatives to their republican opponents. the democrats were concerned that the conservative—led supreme court might overturn a 2015 ruling which protected equal marriage rights, as it did with abortion earlier this year. here's a little of what the us president had to say. todayis today is a good day! a day america takes a vital step toward equality. toward liberty and justice, toward equality. toward liberty andjustice, notjust toward equality. toward liberty and justice, notjust for toward equality. toward liberty andjustice, notjust forsome, and justice, not just for some, but for everyone, everyone! andjustice, notjust forsome, but for everyone, everyone! we

are creating a nation where decency, dignity and love are recognised, honoured and protected. next year, the island nation of timor—leste, or east timor, in south east asia, will formally become a member of asean, the political and economic union of member states in the region. the country occupies the northern half the island of timor. it struggled for independence from portugal in 1975 and then indonesia in 2002, 27 years after it was invaded by the indonesian military. the country's president, jose ramos—horta, spoke exclusively to the bbc�*s karishma vaswani. she put it to him that perhaps concerns over timor—leste being too close to china is why it took so long for his country to be accepted into asean. we are not too close to china. we, if any accusation, we should be levelled against,

that we are too close to indonesia in the sense not only geography but politically, culturally, economically. the other one, we should be accused of, is too close to australia. we have a firm cooperation with australia and we have a us navy unit in timor—leste for the last ten years, navy engineers called seabees. in some ways this is good, and in some ways it is good that we are too close to china because that way australia and america keep paying attention to timor—leste! paying attention to timor-leste!- paying attention to timor-leste! ., ., , timor-leste! you have been . uoted timor-leste! you have been quoted as — timor-leste! you have been quoted as saying _ timor-leste! you have been quoted as saying that - timor-leste! you have been quoted as saying that you i timor-leste! you have been i quoted as saying that you want timor—leste to maintain an equal distance from all major powers, that was in a recent interview of yours. is it possible to not pick sides in a world that is getting increasingly divided by the superpowers? we

increasingly divided by the superpowers?— increasingly divided by the superpowers? we get along exceptionally _ superpowers? we get along exceptionally well _ superpowers? we get along exceptionally well with - superpowers? we get along exceptionally well with our. exceptionally well with our immediate neighbours. australia and indonesia, singapore and all the other asean countries, new zealand. we also get on exceptionally well with the united states and the european union and with china but for instance, we are one of the few countries in the world that has zero lines from china. we have not asked for loans and most of our debt, which is very low anyway, one of the lowest in the world, gdp, is with adv, but equally with the ifc, the international finance corporation, which is lending us from a war bank. we have plenty of trade, some small and big chinese traders are in timor—leste. big chinese traders are in timor-leste._ big chinese traders are in timor-leste. , , timor-leste. this country was born on the — timor-leste. this country was born on the global _ timor-leste. this country was born on the global stage - timor-leste. this country was born on the global stage and l born on the global stage and everyone remembers that moment.

how do you feel about its trajectory and what are your hopes for the future? i’m trajectory and what are your hopes for the future? i'm very leased hopes for the future? i'm very pleased and — hopes for the future? i'm very pleased and very _ hopes for the future? i'm very pleased and very proud - hopes for the future? i'm very pleased and very proud of - hopes for the future? i'm very pleased and very proud of our| pleased and very proud of our leadership, collective leadership, collective leadership, but particularly the people. in that timor—leste could have fallen apart after independence. we have been able to normalise relations with indonesia and today we have the best possible relationship any two countries can have. that is president ramos—horta. around a hundred people are reported to have been killed in democratic republic of congo, following the worst floods in years in the capital, kinshasa. major roads in the city centre were submerged as heavy rains continued for hours and several homes collapsed. the government has announced a three— day period of national mourning. tom brada reports.

wading through filthy water to see if what, if anything if left standing. heavy rains have left standing. heavy rains have left a trail of destruction across kinshasa, with homes and lives slipped away. in some areas landslides have torn chunks out of the land, with vast holes where homes stood. translation: it vast holes where homes stood. translation:— vast holes where homes stood. translation: ., , ., ., translation: it was at 5am when the earth collapsed _ translation: it was at 5am when the earth collapsed on _ translation: it was at 5am when the earth collapsed on the - the earth collapsed on the house. nine people from the same family have died. it is a similar picture _ same family have died. it is a similar picture across - same family have died. it is a similar picture across the - similar picture across the capital. addressing the ongoing rescue efforts the prime minister said that: for many people, the government itself is partly to blame. we have elected a government that is unable to give its people what they need. unable to give its people what they need-— they need. this road has threatened _ they need. this road has threatened to _ they need. this road has threatened to collapse i they need. this road has l threatened to collapse ray they need. this road has - threatened to collapse ray long time and we alerted the authorities to the situation but here is the pure reality.

they cannot even build a gutter! they cannot even build a cutter! . ., , they cannot even build a cutter! . . , ., gutter! once a fishing village on the banks _ gutter! once a fishing village on the banks of— gutter! once a fishing village on the banks of the - gutter! once a fishing village on the banks of the congo, l on the banks of the congo, kinshasa has grown into one of africa's megacities, but the growth has not been matched by the right kind of investment, leaving the city and its residents, increasingly vulnerable. translation: i vulnerable. translation: ., ., translation: i find it hard to bean translation: i find it hard to bear. i have _ translation: i find it hard to bear. i have no _ translation: i find it hard to bear. i have no more - translation: i find it hard to bear. i have no more strength| bear. i have no more strength to bury the dead bodies. climate change mean that periods of intense rain are becoming more common. without help from the government, residents of kinshasa will remain at the mercy of the destructive weather. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: goals from messi and alvarez see argentina crush croatia to secure a place in sunday's world cup final.

cheering and singing saddam hussein is finished, because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict — conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteeing bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached.

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm monica miller in singapore. our headlines: china has experienced a surge of covid cases, a week after relaxing the country's strict rules on quarantines and lockdowns. ajudge in the bahamas has denied bail to the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, ftx, who's been accused of one of the biggest financialfrauds in us history. thejudge said sam bankman—fried should be remanded in custody until the case for extradition could be heard on 8 february. damian williams is the us attorney for the south district of new york. it's fair to say that by anyone's alive, it's one of the biggest financial frauds anyone's alive, it's one of the biggest financialfrauds in biggest financial frauds in american history. let's get more background now from our cyber reporter, joe tidy.

sam bankman—fried was the front man of his $32 billion ftx empire. nicknamed the king of crypto, he was one of the industry's biggest personalities. but since his empire collapsed, leaving more than a million customers out of pocket, he has faced numerous accusations of misusing customer funds. now in custody in the bahamas, the us accuses him of, in their words, building a house of cards on a foundation of deception. in multiple interviews, most recently with the bbc last week, he admitted to mismanaging ftx. were you incompetent or were you fraudulent? i didn't knowingly commit fraud, i don't think i committed fraud. i didn't want any of this to happen. i was certainly not nearly as competent as i thought i was. ftx was the second—largest crypto exchange in the world. it allowed people to exchange their normal money — pounds or dollars — into bitcoin or any of the many other digital coins on offer. $10 billion was traded

through ftx every day. but ftx had a sister company, also owned by mr bankman—fried, a hedge fund called alameda research. his companies both simultaneously collapsed when it was revealed that their finances were unstable. the us securities and exchange commission has now charged him with multiple financial crimes, including fraudulently using ftx customer money to keep alameda research afloat. the 30—year—old entrepreneur had promised to build a silicon valley of crypto here, attracted by favourable crypto regulations. bahamian police were already conducting their own investigation into the collapse, but it seems that the us has moved first. authorities here say they are planning to fully comply with any us extradition request. joe tidy, bbc news. well, a little earlier i asked our north america correspondent, peter bowes, what lawmakers in the united states were saying about the arrest. there is a palpable frustration

that the destiny did not occur, as you say, rest in the bahamas atjust as you say, rest in the bahamas at just 2a hours as you say, rest in the bahamas atjust 2a hours before the hearing was due to take place. they wanted to hear an explanation, they wanted to hear from explanation, they wanted to hearfrom in his own words explanation, they wanted to hear from in his own words what happened related to the collapse of ftx. that was indeed left to the new ceo, john jay ray, indeed left to the new ceo, jothay ray, who talked about there being an utter lack of record—keeping in that company go to some extent to explain how it was that the funds of those customers were funnelled into a hedge fund and perhaps used for his, sam bankman—fried's own use. the case has been moving at a lightning pace, as you've reported, he has appeared in court in the bahamas, his lawyer wanted him released on bail, that was denied by the judge who said he was a flight risk. we know he has been sent to the correctional facility in the bahamas until february the

eighth, he would initially be held in the medical department of the facility and still outstanding is the issue of extradition united states. argentina have reached the final of the world cup in qatar after beating croatia 3—0. lionel messi scored the first goal in the 34th minute. our sports presenter, olly foster, is in doha with all the details. the smile on lionel massey�*s face at full—time at the stadium was as wide as the diehard cornish behind me. yet again the argentinian captain instrumental in everything they did here, carrying his country through to a sixth world cup final. it wasjulian through to a sixth world cup final. it was julian alvarez, his strike partner, fouled after the half—hour mark against croatia, lionel massey stepped up to score the penalty, his 11th world cup golf argentina, overtaking the

oleg markov another player. he is up to five in qatar and the race in the race for the golden boot alongside kylian mbappe. alvarez ran at the heart of the creation defence before halftime, got the luck of the bounce, but hit the second from close range, 2—0 at halftime and lionel massey weaved his magic with 20 minutes of play, turning one croatian defender and another inside and out before finding alvarez for the third. aberration fans knew it wasn't to be their day. they weren't reaching back to back finals, runners—up four weren't reaching back to back finals, runners—upfouryears finals, runners—up four years ago finals, runners—upfouryears ago in russia but a standing ovation the talisman, 37—year—old croatian captain luka modric, substituted in the end and that is almost certainly going to be his final world cup. maybe it'll be lionel messi's but what a way

to go out sunday in the final. it was his 21st world cup appearance against the croatians and that equals the record of lota summiteers. he will break that if he is fit, and surely he will be on sunday. well, earlier i spoke to argentinian journalist veronica smink, who's been among the fans celebrating on the streets of buenos aires. i think the sounds behind me speakfor themselves. i think the sounds behind me speak for themselves. there i think the sounds behind me speakfor themselves. there is more than three hours since the much finished and celebrations, people are ecstatic. and also relieved. we had a very hard start, we lost the first game. people have been suffering through every match. this is the first time that you are going to the middle of the game, thinking, 0k, we're pretty much they had, i think we got this one. but it's the first time so people are ecstatic, as you can hear. is ecstatic, as you can hear. 34 minutes _ ecstatic, as you can hear. 34 minutes into it before there

was even a goal, lionel messi is, i'm sure, even more popular now than he used to be. but how are people feeling in terms of the country? what does this mean in terms of feeling patriotic?— mean in terms of feeling atriotic? ., , , patriotic? people here, every da ou patriotic? people here, every day you walk _ patriotic? people here, every day you walk around, - patriotic? people here, every. day you walk around, especially kids, all of them were a number ten t—shirt. people here are supporting the team 100%. there has never been all the years, i was 11 in 1986 and since then i've never felt so was 11 in 1986 and since then i've neverfelt so much was 11 in 1986 and since then i've never felt so much support support for the team. even messi, the people many years ago felt he did not have it in him, he wasn't like diego maradona full of passion. he had not seen the national anthem at the beginning of the matches and this has changed in the last two years is reverted 180 degrees. people adore him. argentinians don't want to just when another world cup. they want lionel messi to another world cup, finally.

scientists in the united states announced they've overcome a major barrier in their bid to produce an almost limitelss source of clean energy, with what's called nuclear fusion. it could have huge possibilities for the planet and for generations to come. the us energy secretary announced the news. last week, the national average tree in california, scientists at the national ignition facility achieved fusion ignition. that is creating more energy from fusion reactions than the energy used to start the process. it's the first time it has ever been done in a laboratory. anywhere in the world. simply put, this is one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century.

earlier i spoke to melanie windridge — chief executive of fusion energy insights — and she explained exactly what fusion is. fusion is what's happening in the sun and stars. it's the way that the stars make energy. scientists have wanted to harvest your on earth as a clean energy source for a long time. in clean energy source for a long time. , ., ., , .., time. in terms of how this can be done on — time. in terms of how this can be done on a _ time. in terms of how this can be done on a bigger— time. in terms of how this can be done on a bigger scale, - time. in terms of how this can i be done on a bigger scale, what will that take to happen and you have a sense of how many years? you have a sense of how many ears? �* , you have a sense of how many ears? �*, . you have a sense of how many ears? h . ., you have a sense of how many ears? �*, . . ., years? it's always hard to redict years? it's always hard to predict the _ years? it's always hard to predict the timescales - years? it's always hard to - predict the timescales because it depends on a lot of things, not only the science but also government support and funding and private investment, all of these things. but this is a scientific demonstration, a very exciting milestone on the path the commercial fusion because it shows that it's actually feasible. fusion, getting net energy gain out of a fusion experiment is possible. in the context that could be scaled to a power plant. but there are still now engineering challenges beyond

science, we have to do the engineering side to make a power station suitable for creating electricity using this method. that's all for now. iam i am monica miller. goodbye for now. hello there. after the coldest night of the year on tuesday night, some parts struggled to get above freezing, for example, in glasgow, it was —5 celsius all day because of the fog, and it was barely much more than —2 celsius in edinburgh, well below the average. and that cold weather stays with us throughout the day on wednesday and thursday. there's just the hint, though, that by the time we get to the weekend, something milder may well come back in off the atlantic. but plenty of winter hazards between now and then. widespread harsh frost and ice risk, widespread snow showers, freezing fog once again to watch out for. and we've got this band of rain with inland sleet and snow in the south, and you can see that stretches

across much of southern england. a blast of northerly winds continues to bring snow showers in across the north and the east of scotland. one or two filtering down the north sea coast as well and into northern ireland, but bitterly cold, minus ten over the snowfields and, of course, clearly icy where we've had the showers, where the showers continue, see through the day in eastern areas. but blizzards in the north, gusts of 60—70 miles an hour for the far north of scotland, northern isles, those showers just keep coming. in the south, hopefully this area of rain, sleet and snow will pull away, but leaving things very treacherous and icy, and temperatures will do well to get, again, a couple of degrees above freezing. one or two snow showers for northern ireland, but plenty of sunshine here, add on that brisk wind, particularly in the north and east, and it will feel colder still, colder than those temperatures will suggest. then as we go through the night and into thursday, we pick up quite a lot of cloud in southern areas. we've still got those showers and low pressure moving down the north sea, enhancing those showers for northern and eastern areas. but, again, really cold overnight,

possibly less fog on thursday morning, although there could be some in the south in particular because we've got a stronger wind. but those ease off again, thursday sees the showers mostly in the north and in the east. we're watching out towards the atlantic for friday. so do stay tuned to the forecast. but some good spells of sunshine take temperatures marginally a little higher. but we could have a quite persistent spell of snow in the north on friday and something milder potentially into the weekend, as we've talked about, but with it, there'll be a transient spell of snow as well. so to keep up to date on the temperatures where you are, you can head to the app. the warnings are on the website, too.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the other main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. the bbc has just revealed its 2022 list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world. so this week, we're celebrating the achievements

of female tech innovators.