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. the 26—year—old woman killed in a shooting at a pub in london on christmas eve, has been named as elle edwards. north america's deep freeze, severe winter weather claims at least 38 lives across the united states and canada. more rohingya refugees 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. 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. earlier we spoke with natia seskuria, who is an associate fellow at the royal united services institute. she's in georgia.

the engels airbase is a strategic military air base, home to russia's long—range nuclear—capable bombers. it was hit on the 5th of december, and this attack has raised already a lot of questions among russian military experts, who are wondering about why did the russian air force fail to defend the base? the base is located near the city of saratov, about 700 kilometres from moscow and hundreds of kilometres away from the ukraine front line. so it has a significant importance. the russian defence analysts are worried about the vulnerability of the base and why it was not protected, but what does it say about the ukrainians, that they have managed to strike a base so far away from the border? yes, absolutely. the timing is also quite important, because lately ukrainian armed forces have grown quite confident and were able to regain significant amounts of territory quite successfully. this has created a momentum

for ukraine, while in the meantime, president putin has been trying to weaponise winter and target ukrainian critical infrastructure, depriving ukrainians from electricity, heating and water supply to break the morale. this once again indicates that ukraine is willing to fight, and they are not going to accept any concessions on russian terms. we are hearing there is some dissatisfaction within russia about the war. when there is an attack like this, given the way it is reported inside russia, does it do any reputational damage to their military? it is indeed a reputational damage, 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 very quickly, within a couple of days, and it has been prolonged. russians are growing increasingly dissatisfied by the fact that, especially in light

of the mobilisation, it really demonstrated to the ordinary russian citizen that the war can really concern them directly as well. so this kind of attack shakes the morale of the russian army but also demonstrates 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 reality on the ground. a woman who was shot dead at a pub in merseyside in northern england on christmas eve has been identified as elle edwards. the 26—year—old was shot in the head after a gunman opened fire at the front of the pub and later died in hospitalfrom her injuries. mourners have been leaving tributes and flowers outside the pub. 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. 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 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. 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. 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 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 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 efforts 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. 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. china carries out one of its 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. 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. we now have all the sport. we have got the game involving brentford and tottenham. what was the score? it finished 2—2. it's been an entertaining return for the premier league as tottenham hotspur came from two goals down to salvage a 2—2 draw at brentford. goals from vitaly janelt and ivan toney put brentford ahead before a harry kane header

and pierre—emile hojbjerg within the space of six secon half minutes earned spurs a point. they stay fourth. brentford remain in ninth. six more fixtures this monday. newcastle are ahead at leicester thanks to a chris wood penalty and miguel almiron's strike inside eight minutes. that would lift them up to second before man city play leeds on wednesday. yerry mina has put everton ahead at home to wolves injulen lopetegui's first premier league game in charge of wolves. brighton have just taken the lead in their match against southampton. liverpool are away at aston villa in the evening kick off before mikel arteta's table toppers arsenal host west ham. it host west ham. takes a lot of good work and good decisions it takes a lot of good work and good decisions and exceptional players to win, especially in this league, but we have instilled that mentality across the club, and it is not me, it is everybody that has been involved, we think the same way we think about arsenal as a club that has to be the best and it does matter the demands we put on ourselves. in scotland, hearts have confirmed that goalkeeper craig gordon will miss the rest

of the season due to a broken leg. the 39—year—old was stretchered off during their 2—2 draw with dundee united on saturday. he's already undergone surgery on a double leg break — and will also miss the first of scotland's euro 2024 qualifiers against spain and cyprus as a result. to cricket where australia have the upper hand after the wickets tumbled on the opening day of the boxing day test in against south africa. tributes were paid to australian spinner shane warne in the first test match at his home ground since 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 for1 with david warner unbeaten on 32. a better day for the batsmen in karachi a better day for the where an unbeaten century from captain babar azam and 86 from sarfraz ahmed helped pakistan

to 317 for 5 on the first day of their first test against new zealand. 11 to 4 shot brave mans game won the prestigious king george vi chase at kempton park. he was pushed all the way by l'homme presse — who unseated theirjockey at the last fence. that enabled brave mans game to coast to a 1k length win ahead of royale pageye and frodon. lots more on the website as always. more with us in the next hour. thank you very much. i am off to the emirates this evening. i hope that arsenal are leading 2—0 after 50 minutes like newcastle are at the moment. 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. she died suddenly while celebrating christmas eve with family and friends. a remarkable woman. earlier, i spoke to sports journalist alison walker, and asked her why kathy whitworth was less well known than other golfing stars. i 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 men — i think the record for tour wins by a man is 82, so she has the most wins. her achievements and the number, it is notjust about the number of wins — she had 95 runners—up spots, as well. just incredible. alison, 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? i think that epitomises her — she was a grinder and a grafter, when she started out on tour, she did not win in four years, but 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 would go back out and practise and practise and practise and correct those mistakes. she loved winning. that's the reason that she did it. she did not do it for the money. 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 on 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. people talk about how lovely she was and how modest she was, but what about her particular style of play? she was very tall? yes, 59", very athletic and she started out her sports career as a tennis player, and i bet if she had pursued tennis, she would have been every bit as good in tennis, because she was a contemporary, i suppose, of billiejean king. billiejean obviously had a lot more profile, notjust because of her tennis, but for other reasons, but kathy 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 putting, her bunker play, it was absolutely amazing. i just try to get the ball close, but when she hit a shot, she always intended getting it into the hole, no matter where she was.

she was aiming directly for the hole. invariably she got it in. phenomenal. remembering the golfer cathy whitworth who has died at the age of 83. 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 cast—iron 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 1,000 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. good to have you with us. i have got the headlines coming up. goodbye. 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.

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. the 26—year—old woman killed in a shooting at a pub in merseyside on christmas eve, has been named as elle edwards. 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. more rohingya refugees 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.