this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: russia says at least three servicemen have been killed in a ukrainian drone attack on an air force base in the south of the country. and north america's deep freeze severe winter weather claims 38 lives across the united states and canada. more rohingya refufgees reach the indonesian province of aceh as the un refugee agency fears 180 may have died, after their boat was adrift for weeks in the indian ocean. a tenth person has been killed by an explosion at a block of flats injersey earlier this month. kathleen mcginess was injured by the blast and died in hospital yesterday. china carries out one of its biggest incursions to date in the seas and skies around taiwan.

the most successful female golfer of all time, kathy whitworth has died at the age of 83. she won a record 88 ladies professional golf association titles. hello and welcome to bbc news. a russian air base hundreds of kilometres from ukraine has come under attack for the second time in less than a month. the russian defence ministry says the engels base in the southern saratov region was targeted by ukrainian drones during the night. russia says it shot down the drones, but that three of its servicemen were killed by falling debris. the base is host to long—range russian strategic bombers, the type of which have launched numerous missiles strikes on ukraine. from moscow, our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports.

caught on cctv... an explosion at a russian airbase. russia says it shot down a ukrainian drone but that three russian soldiers were killed. engels airbase is deep inside russian territory, hundreds of miles from the ukrainian border. the base hosts long—range bombers which are believed to have launched missile attacks against ukraine. state tv reacted to the news with a familiar warning to kyiv. russia, she says, will exact revenge by carrying out more strikes on ukrainian infrastructure. russia can rattle those sabres and flex its muscles, but it doesn't change the fact that what happened at engels airbase is embarrassing for the kremlin. for the second time in less than a month, what is an important military installation has come under attack. quite a contrast to the image

of military might that president putin's been portraying in recent days. the kremlin leader has promised his generals all the resources they need for the war in ukraine. he is determined to secure something he can present as a russian victory. putin is not going to back off, and nobody else is going to give him a reason to back off, and therefore he is going to take steps necessary to him to win, whatever that victory may meanfor him. but ten months after russia invaded ukraine, there is no sign of that victory. instead, the war the kremlin started is moving closer to home. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. live to georgia now. natia seskuria is an associate fellow at the royal united services institute. good to have you with us full. steve

saying that this attack was humiliating and embarrassing for russia. can you put into context how strategically important aceh airbases. we seem to have it in to have lost contact there. china is carrying out one of its biggest incursions to date in the seas and skies around taiwan. the taiwanese defence ministry says it has detected 71 chinese aircraft, the majority of them fighterjets, and seven chinese warships around the island. it added that 43 chinese airforce planes had crossed the median line of the taiwan strait, marking the de facto border between the island and the chinese mainland, in a 24—hour period. earlier we heard from our correspondent mariko oi in singapore

who gave us the latest. tensions between taiwan and beijing have been quite tense and have been escalating this year, especially after some very high—profile visits by western officials, including nancy pelosi of the united states. also uk lawmakers, japanese lawmakers visiting taiwan, sparking very angry reaction from beijing. then on sunday, christmas day, we saw this intrusion into taiwan's air defence force, so we're talking about fighter jets and drones. beijing calls it a strike drill and they say this was in response to what it calls provocations by taiwan and the united states. but the office of tsai ing—wen, president of taiwan said that she will be holding a high—level meeting tomorrow to reinforce its civil defence system. south korea says it has scrambled fighterjets and attack helicopters to try to shoot down several

unmanned drones flown into its airspace by north korea. around 100 rounds were fired from helicopters, but this failed to bring any of them down. one of the north's drones was reported to have flown close to the south's capital, seoul, prompting the temporary closure of two major airports. we have re—established the line from georgia. i have asked if you could explainjust georgia. i have asked if you could explain just how significant strategically the engels airbases. won it strategically the engels airbases. wo , . , strategically the engels airbases. wo , , . won it is it has been hit earlier this month. — won it is it has been hit earlier this month, on _ won it is it has been hit earlier this month, on the _ won it is it has been hit earlier this month, on the 5th - won it is it has been hit earlier this month, on the 5th of - won it is it has been hit earlier - this month, on the 5th of december. this attack has raised a lot of

questions by russian military experts are wondering why they failed to defend the base. the base is located about 700 kilometres south of moscow and hundreds of kilometres away from the ukrainian front line. it has significant importance. front line. it has significant importance-— front line. it has significant imortance. . ., ., i, , front line. it has significant imortance. . . ., i, , ., importance. the defence analysts are worried about — importance. the defence analysts are worried about the _ importance. the defence analysts are worried about the vulnerability - importance. the defence analysts are worried about the vulnerability of - worried about the vulnerability of the base and why it wasn't protected, but what does it say that the ukrainians have managed to strike a base so far from the border? , ., ,., border? the timing is also quite im ortant border? the timing is also quite important because _ border? the timing is also quite important because the - border? the timing is also quite | important because the ukrainian armed forces have grown confident and were able to regain a significant amount of territory successfully. this has created momentum for ukraine while in the meantime putin has tried to weapon eyes winter and attack critical infrastructure, depriving heating and water supply to break morale.

this indicates that ukraine is willing to fight and they are not going to accept any concessions on russian terms. we going to accept any concessions on russian terms.— going to accept any concessions on russian terms. we are hearing there is some dissatisfaction _ russian terms. we are hearing there is some dissatisfaction inside - is some dissatisfaction inside russia about the war. when is an attack like this, given the way it is reported, do any reputational damage to their military? it is indeed damage to their military? it 3 indeed reputational damage damage to their military? it 1 indeed reputational damage and as i have mentioned already, there have been some questions raised by the military analysts, but when it comes to the russian population, we know that the war was supposed to end within a couple of days, has been prolonged. russians are growing increasingly dissatisfied by the fact that, especially in light of mobilisation, it has really demonstrated to the ordinary russian citizens that the war concerns them directly. these kinds of attacks, once again, shake the morale within the russian army, but also demonstrate to the population the

increased vulnerability of the russian forces, and the whole rhetoric that putin has been trying to sell to the russian citizens does not quite reflect the reality on the ground. we not quite reflect the reality on the round. ~ , ., ., ground. we were 'ust hearing that president putin _ ground. we were just hearing that president putin will— ground. we were just hearing that president putin will take - ground. we were just hearing that president putin will take any - ground. we were just hearing that| president putin will take any steps in order to win this war. what could that mean? i in order to win this war. what could that mean?— that mean? i agree with that statement- _ that mean? i agree with that statement. i— that mean? i agree with that statement. i think _ that mean? i agree with that statement. i think this - that mean? i agree with that statement. i think this is - that mean? i agree with that statement. i think this is a l that mean? i agree with that l statement. i think this is a war thatis statement. i think this is a war that is very significant for putin's future. at this point he realises that his initial plan was out of touch with reality, and ukrainians have demonstrated that their morale is very high... cannot really afford to lose this war. this brings us to

a difficult situation, very dangerous situation. putin, at this point, does not have many options. he feels he can use some of the leveraged, some of the brutal methods in this war, to gain some kind of victory. of course his goals are, he even realises his goals are not... you will be able to fulfil those. he need some kind of victory to make sure that russian citizens stay on board and they somehow leave that this war was a rational choice from a russian perspective. thank ou for from a russian perspective. thank you for your _ from a russian perspective. thank you for your thoughts, _ from a russian perspective. thank you for your thoughts, thank - from a russian perspective. thank you for your thoughts, thank you | from a russian perspective. thank you for your thoughts, thank you for joining us. the united nations refugee agency says it fears that 180 rohingya refugees adrift for weeks in an unseaworthy boat in the indian ocean have probably died. it said their relatives had lost all contact with the stricken boat, which drifted in busy shipping lanes without receiving help. this news comes as another boat

with a broken engine carrying rohingya refugees has reached the indonesian province of aceh. the wooden boat with 57 men on board landed on sunday morning. immigration officials described them as hungry and weak after many days at sea. itayi viriri is the asia & the pacific regional spokesperson for the international organisation for migration. he gave us the latest on this group of refugees. we have been raising the alarm the past few weeks, along with our sister un agencies, saying that there are several boats out there, heading mostly for malaysia or indonesia. quite a lot of them have people who are desperate, short of food or water. we are working with 57 male refugees. as i'm speaking to you now my colleagues in indonesia are telling me that there is another boat that has just arrived

within the last 60 minutes. from what i can see this is a much larger boat, this time including women and children in poor health condition. at this stage we can confirm that this is one of the four boats this is an alarming situation. are they leaving from myanmar or the refugee camps in bangladesh? the ones that have arrived in indonesia and malaysia have come from the camps in bangladesh. this is of great concern. as you have heard from the refugee agency, there are fears that an entire boat load could be lost because the relatives have lost contact after days, in fact weeks, being stranded at sea. they are not getting any assistance

while they are at sea? they are in shipping lanes, are they getting any help while they are out there? they are getting very little help. they are arriving very weak, very hungry. in fact we had a situation last year where a boat arrived in aceh which had been floating around at sea without much help for months. we are asking to coordinate help for safe disembarkation and that people are given safe passage and get the support they need. we are grateful to the authorities in indonesia who have welcomed some of these boats. we hope there is more effort from other countries in the region.

at least 38 people are now known to have died due to the severe arctic freeze that continues to affect the us and canada. one of the worst—hit areas is the city of buffalo, in new york state where the governor called the storm an epic, once in a lifetime event. emily unia has the latest. the arctic storm pummelling the us and canada caused christmas chaos for millions. thousands of flights were cancelled, and roads and railways were closed or impassible, preventing people from reaching friends and family. emergency services battled treacherous conditions to carry out rescues, and fatalities have been confirmed in numerous states. in new york state, one of the worst—hit areas was erie county. in buffalo city, driving was banned and at least a dozen people died. to all who have lost a loved one, and some folks may not even know it yet, you have our deepest condolences. this has been horrible... the worst type of storm we can imagine, and you have my deepest

condolences on behalf of the people of erie county for the loss of a loved one on christmas day. rolling blackouts left more than 1.5 million people without power on christmas day. connections are now steadily being restored. in south florida, iguanas froze and fell from trees. they won't get moving again until temperatures rise and they can thaw out. it may be a while, though — the storm is beginning to ease but freezing conditions are likely to continue for a little longer. police injersey say a woman who was injured in an explosion at a block of flats earlier this month, has died in hospital. 73—year—old kathleen mcginness, lived an adjacent building to the one which collapsed. she's become the tenth person to die after the incident on the 10th of december. in a statement, jersey's chief of police robin smith said that her family are being supported by specially trained police family liaison officers. 0ur reporterjonathanjosephs has been following this story.

really sad news. what else do we know? if really sad news. what else do we know? , ., , , ., , know? if you remember, this goes back to the — know? if you remember, this goes back to the 10th _ know? if you remember, this goes back to the 10th of _ know? if you remember, this goes back to the 10th of december, - know? if you remember, this goes back to the 10th of december, this huge explosion with a huge ball of flames erupting through this block of flats at about 4am. that killed nine people already, as we know, and police are now saying a tenth person has died. this happened close to the harbour in st helier, the capital of jersey. jersey is a close—knit, island community, actually nearer to france than the uk in the english channel. everybody is likely to know somebody who has been affected by this. nine people are already known to have died, and a tenth person has died. they have named her as kathleen mcginness and said she has beenin kathleen mcginness and said she has been in hospital since this explosion happened and she died there on christmas day, yesterday. her family had a there on christmas day, yesterday. herfamily had a sad there on christmas day, yesterday. her family had a sad christmas and

are being supported by specially trained police officers. in terms of the course, we know that the day before the explosion, emergency services were called after reports of gas being smelt in the area. that hasn't proved conclusive. we don't know the results of the investigation yet, that is still ongoing. the area is still cordoned off and an inquest into at least the first nine deaths, is due to begin this week. . , ., ., this week. the police investigation is still ongoing. _ this week. the police investigation is still ongoing. what _ this week. the police investigation is still ongoing. what kind - this week. the police investigation is still ongoing. what kind of- is still ongoing. what kind of reaction has there been? taste is still ongoing. what kind of reaction has there been? we have heard from _ reaction has there been? we have heard from the _ reaction has there been? we have heard from the head _ reaction has there been? we have heard from the head of _ reaction has there been? we have heard from the head of jersey's i heard from the head ofjersey�*s police force, robin smith, who expressed his sadness. he said his thoughts of all the police force are with the families who have been affected, and that this incident had been incredibly challenging for everybody involved. he would like to praise the families for their stoicism in the face of tragic circumstances. 0ther stoicism in the face of tragic circumstances. other community leaders have been reflecting on this event over christmas in their

christmas messages. the bailiff of jersey was talking about this and another incident which happened just another incident which happened just a couple of days before this, when three fishermen died after their boat hit a ferry in the english channel. he said that he was proud of the island and how its people had come together after these two incidents, and he hopes that 2023 would be a better year. 51am incidents, and he hopes that 2023 would be a better year.— incidents, and he hopes that 2023 would be a better year. such a hard time, to would be a better year. such a hard time. to have _ would be a better year. such a hard time, to have christmas _ would be a better year. such a hard time, to have christmas with - would be a better year. such a hard time, to have christmas with these| time, to have christmas with these things hanging over them. thank you very much. good afternoon. the premier league is back under way in england with seven fixtures today. the first is already under way with brentford hosting fourth placed tottenham hotspur(wipe gfx)just approaching half time at the brentford community stadium and it's currently. 1-0. later, julen lopetegui has his first game in charge of wolves as the bottom side travel to fellow strugglers everton. liverpool are away at aston villa

in the evening kick off before mikel arteta's table toppers arsenal host west ham. we know the importance of starting strong again, we are playing at home. it is a very special day in premier league history, it is a very special family day to play football. there is an incredible atmosphere and we want to make the most of it. cricket next and the wickets tumbled on the opening day of the boxing day test in melbourne — with the home side firmly in control. tributes were paid to australian spinner shane warne in the first test match at his home ground since the he died earlier this year. both sides came together in a moment of remembrance and it's been confirmed that the australia men's test player of the year award will now be named after him. as for the action — after inserting south africa — australia's bowlers ripped through them — with cameron green taking a career best five for 27 as the proteas were bowled out forjust 189. in reply — australia reached 45—1 with david warner unbeaten on 32. in karachi — pakistan's

batsman faired better than they did against england — piling on the runs of the first day of the first test against new zealand. babar azam unbeaten on 161 as the home side made 317—5. in the usa — the sport doesn't stop on christmas day. in the nfl — tampa bay buccaneers have kept their playoff chances alive after beating arizona 19—16 in overtime. they were 10 points down in the fourth—quarter before the comeback began — ryan succop sealing the win with a a0 yard field goal. tampa can now clinch the nfc south division and a postseason spot when they host the carolina panthers on new year's day. elsewhere the green bay packers kept alive their playoff hopes with a 26—20 win over the miami dolphins. but russell wilson had a day to forget as his denver broncos were embarrassed 51—14 by the la rams. in the nba nikola jokic totally dominated in denver as the nuggets beat the phoenix suns 128—125 in overtime. jokic delivered a triple double — reaching double figures in three different categories.

the serbian finished with 41 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists — that's the largest christmas day triple double in nba history. the win leaves denver top of the western conference. the boston celtics are still the team to catch in the east — they beat second—placed milwaukee 139—118. half—time at the brentford community stadium, leading tottenham one goal to nil. coronavirus modelling data will stop being published in earlyjanuary, the uk health security agency says. statistics covering the growth rate of the virus are currently released fortnightly, but the agency says this is no longer necessary. virologist, sarah pitt explained why this decision is significant what we have seen is that that it is a very unpredictable virus in terms of modelling. we know that the r—number,

the reproductive number, the calculations are based on quite a lot of assumptions which are probably not valid any more. it's to do with the way the virus spreads but also the way it interacts with us at the level of the whole population. that is to do with the level of immunity we have overall, and within the population. we know that is variable and we know that coronavirus immunity isn't really similar to many other viruses that we would use in the model. it was being used by public health professionals and by the government to make decisions about what we were going to do about the pandemic, and how we were going to control it. because the way that we are dealing with covid at the moment has changed a bit, well, quite a lot, the value of those models for us as a general population to look at, is probably much less now. it is a reasonable thing to do.

what kind of data will the government be using, in order to make informed decisions? if you have symptoms of covid and you seek health care advice, or you go to hospital and you get tested for covid, that data will still be collected. positive covid tests will still be logged centrally through the uk health security agency. obviously we are not regularly testing ourselves when we don't have symptoms. it is only going to be people that have symptoms of what looks like covid and then seek medical intervention and then have a test. that will give us an indication of what is happening, it won't be giving us the full numbers of who is positive for covid at any one time. it will given in the indication of whether the numbers are going up or down. we will see people getting to hospital or, sadly dying from covid, that will still be

logged and still available for people. the most successful female golfer of all time, kathy whitworth has died at the age of eighty— three. she won a record 88 ladies professional golf association titles, including six majors in a career which started in 1959. whitworth was also the first woman to earn a million dollars on the lpga tour. she died suddenly while celebrating christmas eve with family and friends. earlier, i spoke to the captain of the professional golfers' associaton, sarah bennett. i was as shocked as anyone to hear the news. i have been in the industry myself, i have been a pro for 30 odd years. i had the pleasure of meeting herfor a for 30 odd years. i had the pleasure of meeting her for a very short period of time, sort of five minutes. within those five minutes it portrayed what sort of person she was. it was quite incredible. here i am being introduced to the most prolific female golfer of all time.

shejust humbly said, it is prolific female golfer of all time. she just humbly said, it is a prolific female golfer of all time. shejust humbly said, it is a real pleasure to meet you, sarah. that just shows the magnitude of the effect that she had on everyone that she met, and the game of golf. she started back in 1959, what sort of challenges did you face along the way, and how did she develop the game? way, and how did she develop the name? , ., , , way, and how did she develop the name? ,., _ ,., way, and how did she develop the name? , ., _ ,., ., game? obviously i started a little later than that, _ game? obviously i started a little later than that, but _ game? obviously i started a little later than that, but i _ game? obviously i started a little later than that, but i think, - game? obviously i started a little later than that, but | think, i- game? obviously i started a little later than that, but i think, i can | later than that, but i think, i can see the way the women's game has grown, she was instrumental in putting their women's game on the map in terms of her prolific playing ability, and her personable approach, which is huge. it is that combination that really makes everybody want to endear themselves to the women's game, something that

is important. to the women's game, something that is important-— is important. remembering cathy whitworth, who — is important. remembering cathy whitworth, who has— is important. remembering cathy whitworth, who has died - is important. remembering cathy whitworth, who has died at - is important. remembering cathy whitworth, who has died at the i is important. remembering cathy i whitworth, who has died at the age of 83. you are watching bbc news. hello. we have wintry showers across the north of the country today, particularly across the highlands, settling through this afternoon and into this evening. it is also quite a cold day, a noticeable breeze out there. the wind has swung in from there. the wind has swung in from the north, north—west, and the colder air has temporarily spread across the country. there is a milder air in the atlantic and it is heading our way. for the rest of today the snow settling across the highlands and in some spots, it could be up as much as ten centimetres, but more typically, a couple of centimetres. further south it is much too mild, but it is not particularly warm, three or it degrees come the early evening. 7 degrees come the early evening. 7

degrees on the south coast in plymouth. that is 6pm on boxing day. snow showers continue for some time in the evening but then they will fade. it will be clear across eastern areas. there is a frost on the way, but the next weather front is approaching. it is pushing in milder air across ireland, wales, the south—west of england. that weather front is going to bump into the cold air that is in place across scotland. perhaps the pennines too. it does mean that tomorrow there will be what we call a spell of transient snow across the highlands, grampian, perhaps a bit of snow mixing in the pennines too, but elsewhere it is a case of rain, milder conditions. strong winds as well, perhaps touching gale force around the south western coast. this is where the rain will be in the middle of the afternoon, south—western england, wales, yorkshire, actually clearing northern ireland, and then through the evening, that weather front will spread further each east to reach east anglia and the south—east, so i think a wet end to tuesday here. the

rest of the week will see a succession of low pressure sweeping across the uk. here is another one mid week, on wednesday, a weather front sweeping in from the south—west, another wet day for many of us, blustery too. the wins will strengthen certainly to go force in coastal areas. mild conditions, 12 in london, a little colder on the other side of the weather front. the run—up to the new year is looking very blustery, gales at times, rain too, and with that turbulent weather, it is going to stay mild. goodbye.

this is bbc world news. the headlines. russia's defence ministry says at least three service personnel have been killed as a result of a ukrainian drone attack on an air force base in the south of the country. millions of people in the us and canada are spending the festive season in the grip of a severe winter storm. at least 38 people are known to have died. 175,000 homes are without power. a tenth person has been killed by an explosion at a block of flats injersey earlier this month. kathleen mcginess was injured by the blast and died in hospital yesterday. the 73—year—old lived in a building adacent to the flats. china carries out one of it's biggest incursions to date in the seas and skies around taiwan. the taiwanese defence ministry says it's detected 71 aircraft and seven warships around the island.