this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lucy hockings. 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. 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. boxing day sales begin in the uk, but will shoppers be cutting back

as the cost of living crisis bites? 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 for 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. i'm joined by our europe regional editor, paul moss.

what do we know about the attack on the russian airfield? the local governor has been anxious to reassure everyone nothing happened, he said there was no threat to local residents and no civilian infrastructure had been damaged and he warned locals, do not spread any false information about this attack. bear in mind that in russia people have been given long prison sentence for spreading what the government decided was false information about what has been going on with ukraine, and even describing it as a war can get you a prison sentence, this may not mean anything but if a governor is telling everyone in the local area, keep your mouth shut about this attack, it makes you wonder if the official version is true, that this drain was shot down, three people killed, as they said, by falling debris —— that this debris.

what has ukraine had to say about this? ukraine does not claim any responsibility but it does drop hints and the hint was quite unsubtle, a chap went on television, the spokesperson for the ukrainian air force and he said, what happened at the engels air base was a result of russian aggression, and he went on to say, if russia thought people deep inside the country were safe and unaffected by the war, they were utterly wrong. a couple of things going on, he is not saying we did it but he says russia, you deserve this, which you might take as an admission. this, which you might take as an admission-— this, which you might take as an admission. ,, . , ., ~ ., admission. russia is talking about saboteurs? _ admission. russia is talking about saboteurs? that _ admission. russia is talking about saboteurs? that is _ admission. russia is talking about saboteurs? that is also _ admission. russia is talking about saboteurs? that is also happened| admission. russia is talking about. saboteurs? that is also happened but he is making — saboteurs? that is also happened but he is making it _ saboteurs? that is also happened but he is making it clear— saboteurs? that is also happened but he is making it clear in _ saboteurs? that is also happened but he is making it clear in that _ he is making it clear in that statement, i think, he is making it clear in that statement, ithink, that he is making it clear in that statement, i think, that if they managed to penetrate into russia like this, even if no bombers were destroyed, then this is a victory because as steve rosenberg said, it is an embarrassment to russia and they have scored a victory. the

saboteurs, this comes from the russian domestic security service, the fsb, so clearly again we do not know if this is true, no way of verifying it but they have issued a statement and they said as a result of a clash, four saboteurs who attempted to enter the territory were killed, they were carrying submachine guns and navigation equipment and for improvised explosive devices, and it has given a video to news agencies which shows several bodies with blood on them carrying guns, but we don't know whether this is true. but it would not be entirely a surprise, because there has been speculation for a while but there are operations going on by commandos behind enemy lines, and we have seen air base is attacked notjust by drones and we have also seen a assassinations of officials in russian occupied ukraine. ukraine has not claimed any responsibility, partly because an assassination like that might be considered against the law internationally, but if there had been saboteurs trying to cross into

enemy lines i don't think we should be too surprised.— be too surprised. paul, thanks for “oininu be too surprised. paul, thanks for joining us- — 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. we can see the impact on travel over the christmas period. earlier cbs correspondent jarred hill spoke about this. this has been a massive storm here in the united states, impacting about 60% of the us population in some way,

shape orform, under some kind of winter weather advisory warning over the course of the weekend. it has also been really difficult when it comes to holiday travel. christmas was yesterday and we saw about 3,000 flights in the us cancelled on christmas day. about 1,400 flights cancelled at last check for today. it is expected to be one of the busier days for people to travel, coming back home or wherever they were visiting over the holiday weekend, so this will be a long—lasting impact from this storm. 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 and 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 over 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 and water. we are working with 57 male refugees. they arrived yesterday, christmas day, early morning in aceh. 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 in aceh. from what i can see this is a much larger boat, this time including women

and children in very poor health condition. at this stage we can confirm that this is one of the four boats that have arrived since november. this is quite 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. we have not come across any coming straight from myanmar. 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? some are in shipping lanes, are they getting any help while they are out there? they are getting very little help.

they are arriving very, very weak, very hungry. they have not had food and water for weeks. 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. that is a terribly long time to be floating around at sea without much help. we are asking governments in the region 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. we have some breaking news regarding

the shooting on christmas eve. a woman who was shot dead at a pub on christmas eve has been named as 26—year—old elle edwards. ms edwards was at the lighthouse inn in wallasey village on the wirral, in merseyside, north west england, when she was shot in the head just before midnight. she is not believed to have been the target of the shooting, which also left four others injured — one of them critically. 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. lee seung—o is an official from south korea'sjoint chiefs of staff — he earlier held a briefing. l translation: our military deployed |

manned and unmanned reconnaissance assets to areas close to the military demarcation line, as well as north korea, to take corresponding measures in response to north korean drones that violated our airspace. we conducted reconnaissance and operational activities such as photographing major military facilities of the enemy. 0ur military will continue to respond thoroughly and sternly to such provocations by north korea. seven people are now known to have died after a passenger bus plunged into a river off a bridge in galicia, in northwest spain. rescuers recovered the body of a woman from the river lerez when they resumed their search today. there were two survivors — the vehicle's driver and a passenger. the coach was travelling between the cities of lugo and vigo. 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. 0ur reporterjonathanjosephs told me more about the background. 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 ofjersey. jersey is a small, 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 police say a tenth person has died. they have named her as 73—year—old kathleen mcginness and said she has been in hospital since this explosion happened and she died there on christmas day, yesterday.

her family obviously had a rather sad christmas and are being supported by specially—trained police officers. in terms of the cause, we know that the day before the explosion, emergency services were called after reports of gas being smelt in the area. that hasn't yet 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. the acting head of the united nations mission to afghanistan has asked taliban leaders to reverse a decision to ban on afghan women working for humanitarian agencies in the country. five major aid organisations are suspending their work in afghanistan following the order. islamic relief and the international rescue committee are the latest agencies to halt their activity. earlier, care, the norwegian refugeee council and save the children said they "could not effectively reach afghans in desperate need" without their female staff. samira rahman from the international rescue committee described the effects of the taliban's decision.

it's a very difficult situation. afghanistan is in the midst of the worst humanitarian situation, 98% of the country is at risk of poverty, 28 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. however, we cannot reach the most vulnerable communities if we don't have female staff, and if we're not allowed to have female staff at all levels of our organisation. we cannot continue to operate in the country, as is the current situation. boxing day sales are under way in high streets and shopping centres across the uk. but shoppers are expected to spend less this year as households are squeezed by the high cost of living. katy austin reports. in liverpool this morning, the shoppers were out and about early. i was there at half seven. and have you got anything so far? yeah, i've got shoes in my car already, and then clothes.

get some dinner, start shopping. that's about it today. cost of living, you know, - you've got to have a bargain. these days, not all retailers open on boxing day. some started their sales well before christmas, and more and more customers choose to buy online. but for this big shopping centre in liverpool, it is still a crucial week. it's very important for retailers and ourselves. boxing day gives the retailers the chance to clear some of that stock they perhaps didn't sell before christmas. it gets the price reduced, it makes it much better for the customer. boxing day is actually one of the quieter days of the week. it builds up throughout this week into some quite extraordinary numbers. cost of living pressures are expected to put a dampener on spending this year, but the manager of this store is optimistic. everyone is being a bit more savvy with their money. i think people are now looking into what they are buying a lot more than they used to be, but we are still trading quite well as a lot of retailers. you look around the high street, you still see a large amount of people around spending money as well. the company that tracks how many

people are out in shopping areas thinks footfall will be lower than pre—pandemic levels, but better than last year. january, february, march — the first quarter of 2023 is going to be quite tricky for a lot of people, but i think this first christmas post—covid people are making the best of it and will be making the most of that sale period as well. those planning to travel to the shops or anywhere else in person will find the few trains which normally run on boxing day are going nowhere, as rmt members at network rail continue strike action. 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, 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. let's speak to sports journalist alison walker now.

it isa it is a sad time for her family because she died so suddenly on christmas eve but i have to confess, i had not actually heard of her. and then i look at her statistics, 88 times a winner, runner—up 95 times, she is absolutely phenomenal, why is she is absolutely phenomenal, why is she not more well—known? she is absolutely phenomenal, why is she not more well-known?— she not more well-known? exactly. i knew of her — she not more well-known? exactly. i knew of her because _ she not more well-known? exactly. i knew of her because i _ she not more well-known? exactly. i knew of her because i work - she not more well-known? exactly. i knew of her because i work in - she not more well-known? exactly. i knew of her because i work in the - knew of her because i work in the sport but you will not be alone in not knowing who she was and her achievements. she started her career in the 50s when it must have been difficult to be a professional sportswoman in any sport. she beats the man, i think the record for tour wins by a man is 82 so she has the most wins. herachievements wins by a man is 82 so she has the most wins. her achievements and the number, it is notjust about the number, it is notjust about the number of wins, she had 95 runners—up spots, as well. just runners-up spots, as well. just incredible- _

runners-up spots, as well. just incredible. what _ runners—up spots, as well. just incredible. what sort of temperament did she have? she started at a time when it must have been tricky for her but she kept going and she has had all this success, what was she like? ., , ., , , , ., like? that epitomises her, she was a afinder like? that epitomises her, she was a grinder and — like? that epitomises her, she was a grinder and a — like? that epitomises her, she was a grinder and a grafter, _ like? that epitomises her, she was a grinder and a grafter, when - like? that epitomises her, she was a grinder and a grafter, when she - grinder and a grafter, when she started out on tour she did not win in four years but then when she started winning, she had learned her craft, and there was no stopping her. she hated making mistakes and she would beat herself up about mistakes and she would go back out in practice and practice and practice and correct those mistakes. she loved winning. that is the reason that she did it. she absolutely loved the feeling of winning. and being the best and she was, she absolutely was the best. she absolutely stoked up those wins and had a phenomenal career. i'm glad we are talking about her because she has left an immense legacy for the other professional female golfers to follow from. i’m female golfers to follow from. i'm leased female golfers to follow from. i'm pleased we _ female golfers to follow from. i'm pleased we are talking about her and

she is completely fascinating because she was much loved away from the tour as well and people talk about how lovely she was and how modest she was but what about her particular style of play? she was very tall? particular style of play? she was ve tall? , , ., . ., very tall? yes, very athletic and she started _ very tall? yes, very athletic and she started out _ very tall? yes, very athletic and she started out her _ very tall? yes, very athletic and she started out her sports - very tall? yes, very athletic and | she started out her sports career very tall? yes, very athletic and - she started out her sports career as a tennis player and i bet if she had pursued that she would have been every bit as good in tennis because she was a contemporary i suppose of billiejean king. billiejean king obviously had a lot more profile, notjust because of her tennis, but for other reasons, but cathy wheatcroft was tall and athletic and strong and she could hit the ball but when you talk to caddies who worked with her, they say that her short game, her bunker play, it was absolutely amazing. —— kathy whitworth. ijust tried to get the ball close but when she hit a shot always intended getting it into the hole, no matter where she was. she

was aiming directly for the hole. phenomenal. i’m was aiming directly for the hole. phenomenal.— was aiming directly for the hole. phenomenal. �* , ., , ., phenomenal. i'm so pleased we have taken so much _ phenomenal. i'm so pleased we have taken so much time _ phenomenal. i'm so pleased we have taken so much time to _ phenomenal. i'm so pleased we have taken so much time to talk— phenomenal. i'm so pleased we have taken so much time to talk about - phenomenal. i'm so pleased we have taken so much time to talk about herj taken so much time to talk about her and to celebrate her life. kathy whitworth who has died at the age of 83, she sounds remarkable. we must all spend some time learning about her life. about three billion litres of water are lost every day through leaks in england and wales, according to the latest figures from the industry regulator. now to help tackle the problem, scientists have developed miniature robots that crawl through pipes to patrol our water supply network. 0ur science correspondent, victoria gill reports. the water company here in essex has detected a leak, but to find its location and fix it, they will need to dig through a complex maze of pipes. basically, we have a nine—inch water main that runs down the whole street. we've got a leak, but the sewer is sitting on top of our main and we've also got a gas pipe in the top of the hole, and we have electric over

the back of the hole, which makes it very difficult for us. this team have been digging on this site, investigating, forfour days now and they still haven't pinpointed exactly where this leak is. across england and wales, about 20% of the water supply is lost through leaks. that is steadily decreasing, but water companies say finding the smallest leaks is one of their biggest challenges. the water industry's economic regulator, 0fwat, says leakage in england and wales is now at its lowest level ever, but three billion litres per day is still lost to leaky pipes, enough to fill more than 1000 0lympic—sized swimming pools. companies have agreed to cut that wasted water in half by 2050, and 0fwat says more needs to be done. we have covered off all of the big leaks that people see. it is the smaller leaks. this one wasn't visible, and it is more and more of those leaks that we need to find to really drive down that leakage performance. no one wants to see water wasted, but it is new innovations that will really drive that leakage down.

innovations like these. these are pipe bots, water main controlling robots being developed in a lab at sheffield university. this is the camera and the lights, and there was a little microphone. the sensor laden robots are small enough to travel through a pipe and check the damage. it's a very long network, about one million kilometres. in order to understand what is going on in the pipe, we need to have the presence of robots in these pipes, so it can continuously collect data about the onset of faults. the first teams of artificially intelligent pipe bots could be put to work underground within five years. the tiny machines are designed to be deposited into manholes and then search for faults and cracks before pipes burst or leak. if you think about the state of our infrastructure, it is so urgent to do something. it is underground, inaccessible, these are some of the most inhospitable environments on earth. without robotics, we won't be able to do it. essex and suffolk water is also testing sealants that can be injected into pipes to plug leaks

without having to dig, but with the smallest leaks are still so difficult to locate, for now, they will have to keep excavating. victoria gill, bbc news. thank you for being with us on 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 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 four degrees come the early evening. seven 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 many 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 these western and south western coast. this is where the rain will be in the middle of the afternoon, south—western england, wales, through yorkshire, actually clearing northern ireland, and then through the evening, that weather front will spread further 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 winds will strengthen, certainly to gale force around coastal areas. with that, mild conditions, 12 in london, a little colder on the other side of the weather front in northern scotland. 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 relatively mild. goodbye.

this is bbc 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. the 26—year—old woman killed in a shooting at a pub in london on christmas eve, has been named as elle edwards. she was out celebrating with her friends and sister. 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.