this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories... as people flee kherson, ukraine says russia has carried out more than 20 rocket attacks in the past 2a hours alone. behind me, actually, is where an explosion took place just over an hour ago. five people were killed here, 20 were injured. every single day there are people being killed in this city. pope francis asks people to pray for his predecessor, benedict xvi, who he says is very ill. the vatican says benedict's condition has worsened in recent hours. more than 60 people are killed in winter storms sweeping across north america, described as the blizzard of the century. dense fog and ice have caused a huge

traffic accident in central china. just one person was killed — but many were injured. air raid sirens have sounded across all of ukraine, with civilians being asked to stay in shelters amid reports of russian jets taking off from an airbase in belarus. russia has also stepped up mortar and artillery attacks on kherson, a port city in southern ukraine. kherson is often called �*the gateway to crimea' — and, because of its strategic importance, it was one of the first places taken by russian forces at the start of the war. it was liberated last month in a significant gain for ukrainian troops. but civilians are now living with a daily onslaught of russian shelling. our correspondent, hugo bachega, sent this report from kyiv. tears in kherson.

a final goodbye for another life lost to the war. this city was liberated by ukraine just last month. but liberation hasn't brought relief. russia's bombing has been relentless. it doesn't stop — even for the dead. natalia was in her flat when a shell hit. she was a7. ukraine's advance pushed russian forces out of kherson. they are now on the other side of the dnipro river, from where they've been pounding the city, day and night. in the last 2a hours, more than 30 missiles were fired at civilian targets. this was one of the places hit. the maternity ward of a hospital. luckily, no one was killed. the road leading out of the city used to be clearjust days ago. now, it's full of families fleeing.

"we stayed all this time but when the home next "to ours was hit, we became scared", this woman says. the danger is not only kherson. here, in kyiv, the air raid alert sounded again this morning. on the battlefield, neither russia nor ukraine have made significant gains in recent weeks, but away from the front lines, people are being warned of the russian threat coming from the sky. hugo bachega, bbc news, kyiv. the un hasjust released a new report on the number of civilian casualties in ukraine since russia started its war against the country last february. so far it's recorded that nearly 7,000 civilians have been killed, including more than 400 children. kris janowski is the spokesperson for the un human rights mission. this figure is a very conservative figure, actually. it's a very low estimate, i would say. we are only issuing figures, reports about confirmed figures, 100% confirmed by us.

but we always put a word of caution in, saying this figure is actually very low, probably, compared to the real figure which may be much higher. it is worth remembering that we have had no access to some of the areas where the fighting has been the heaviest, such as mariupol, or more recently kherson. we've not really investigated the situation in those areas or many other areas of ukraine to which we have no access whatsoever. so these are fairly conservative low estimates, essentially. the realfigure is probably much higher. do you take into account civilian deaths caused as a result of the war, as well, people who may have died because of a lack of access to healthcare or through things like the cold or hunger? no, these figures do not

include those, of course. the war has essentially wreaked havoc at the lives of millions of people, perhaps tens of millions, thousands are dead, more than 10,000 wounded, perhaps many more than that, millions uprooted and so on and so forth. generally wars are boosters of any kind of hardship, so people with no electricity or access to medical care might have perished because of that. we do not actually investigate those specific cases. but there's certainly a very high probability that there are who might have been affected by the sheer hardship of the war. and when you mentioned mariupol and kherson as places you have not been able to get verifiable figures for, what other cities and regions have you not been able to reach? well, essentially we have been able to properly investigate only those areas where the russians

were present during the first weeks of the war and then withdrew, we gained access to those it is after the russians withdrew, and the picture is emerging from those areas are absolutely horrible. the russians essentially went on a killing spree in several areas of ukraine. famously bucha, but also areas where there have been summary executions. various acts of abuse of civilians and so on and so forth, but we have not had access to kherson, or mariupol or areas still being held, occupied by russia. so again, the picture we are able to present to the public is very partial, unfortunately, and does not include probably the areas most affected by this conflict so far. pope francis has asked roman catholics to pray for his predecessor, pope emeritus benedict, who he said was very ill.

francis made the surprise appeal at the end of his general audience at the vatican. the vatican has confirmed in the last few minutes that pope francis visited his ailing predecessor on wednesday morning right after the general audience. benedict xvi is now 95, and his health has been deteriorating. born in germany, he became pope in 2005 before stepping down in 2013, after nearly eight years — citing a "lack of strength of mind and body" due to his age. he became the first pope in some 600 years to resign. hannah brockhaus is senior corespondent for the catholic news agency. she told me the latest about pope benedict's health. from the vatican, it has been confirmed that pope emeritus benedict xvi is under medical care of doctors. you know, that his health seems to have declined over the last few hours. so, obviously everyone is a little bit on the edge of their seats to hear more,

to know if it becomes more serious. the vatican has posted on their vatican news channels a prayerfor the pope emeritus, following pope francis�*s appeal, obviously, for benedict. why do we call him pope emeritus? well, because he resigned, at the time of that, that is kind of what people started to call him in the catholic church. we have the concept of a bishop emeritus. when a bishop retires, when he retires, he becomes a bishop emeritus. and since the pope is the bishop of rome, people started to call this figure the pope emeritus. actually, at the time, benedict xvi kind of said he wanted to be called father benedict. that was his idea, to go back to that title. at the one that has stuck is pope emeritus. hannah, was that an unusual or an unprecedented situation, when he did resign, to see these two men, in white, coexisting within the tiny city of the vatican?

0h, absolutely. obviously, as you said, it's been over 600 years since a pope has stepped down and resigned. so it was a novel situation to have, some people called it, two popes. and i think you see that benedict xvi, the way that he embraced that role, is how pope francis has as someone who is there silently supporting the church. there hasn't been a lot of public news from him during the course of these now nine years, almost ten years, that he has resigned. 0ccasional news, occasional messages. but he has been silently praying for the church, kind of from behind the scenes. he has written a lot, though, 60 books in his lifetime. he's given the odd interview as well. has he seen in some ways is a bit of a lightning rod for some conservatives within the church, who oppose some of what pope francis has been trying to do?

certainly some people have painted him that way, or have taken his statements, and tried to read them in a political light. obviously the same happens with pope francis. so i don't find it too surprising that he will see the same kind of dynamic and commentary around benedict xvi. he, of course, has always distanced himself from that, and others around him have done the same. and these are live pictures from the vatican city. st peter's square, pilgrims there, as always, and pope francis has been asking them and others to pray for pope benedict. we know he has made a visit to see him, because apparently he is gravely unwell. we haven't had an update from the vatican, but we are keeping across everything that is happening there.

the huge storm that killed dozens in north america over the christmas weekend continues to inflict misery on new york state, and air travelers across the continent. stories have been emerging of families trapped for days during what's being called the "blizzard of the century." many airports are still facing chaos with thousands of flight cancellations. live to buffalo in new york state. kristen mirand is a journalist with local tv station, 7 news wkbw. 0ut out in the cold and in the snow, icy. what is the situation there today? icy. what is the situation there toda ? , . ~ icy. what is the situation there toda ? , ., ~ icy. what is the situation there toda ? , ., . icy. what is the situation there toda? , ., . ., today? yes, thank you so much having me. after today? yes, thank you so much having me- after so — today? yes, thank you so much having me. after so many _ today? yes, thank you so much having me. after so many days _ today? yes, thank you so much having me. after so many days of _ today? yes, thank you so much having me. after so many days of this - me. after so many days of this blizzard, the sun is finally out. it feels kind of theory to be seeing the sunshine, after this tragedy that hit the city. —— kind of eerie. it is a miracle i am standing here, because they few days ago, the snow was piled high, as tall as i am. we are in the aftermath, focusing on cleaning up and get any efforts

under way, cleaning up and get any efforts underway, doing cleaning up and get any efforts under way, doing welfare checks on people, checking cars that have been stranded on the roads as well. you are a buffalo _ stranded on the roads as well. you are a buffalo native, have you ever seen snow like this before? ida. are a buffalo native, have you ever seen snow like this before?- seen snow like this before? no, i have never— seen snow like this before? no, i have never seen _ seen snow like this before? no, i have never seen snow _ seen snow like this before? no, i have never seen snow like - seen snow like this before? no, i have never seen snow like this i have never seen snow like this before. we had a storm last month, and it was not the same as this storm at all. my mother has been here reporting for years, she says she has never seen anything like this. she was here for the storm of 77. it is surpassing that blizzard. that was an historic storm, more than two dozen people died. right now more than 30 people have died. this is unlike anything we have ever seen before. a once in a generation storm. it was white out conditions, for 36 hours. i was out in those conditions, reporting on the roads for my local tv station, and i was scared. i was frightened. it was very scary and you could barely see in front of you. it is like nothing i've ever seen.— i've ever seen. your governor callin: i've ever seen. your governor calling it — i've ever seen. your governor calling it the _ i've ever seen. your governor calling it the blizzard - i've ever seen. your governor calling it the blizzard of - i've ever seen. your governor

calling it the blizzard of the l calling it the blizzard of the century, the scenes she is right. you talk about people in cars being trapped. that is just horrible, to think that people with their families on their pets were stuck in cars. do you know if everyone has been accounted for yet, or is there still concern that there might be people who haven't been reached yet? at this point, what has not been clear, the communication with the county under city, where we fall on those welfare checks, with stranded cars. i've been out reporting and trying to check on different parts of our city, outside the city under suburbs. we still cars stranded. they are putting caution tape around the cars, noting to other officials and law enforcement agencies to let them know that we have checked that car, and nobody is inside. so i think they are still going around trying to do as many checks as they can. they are in the aftermath phase right now, trying to see if anyone is still out there. we right now, trying to see if anyone is still out there.— is still out there. we appreciate ou is still out there. we appreciate you taking _ is still out there. we appreciate you taking the _ is still out there. we appreciate you taking the time _ is still out there. we appreciate you taking the time in - is still out there. we appreciate

you taking the time in the - is still out there. we appreciate you taking the time in the cold | is still out there. we appreciate i you taking the time in the cold of buffaloes talk to us. thank you so much. dense fog and ice have caused a huge traffic accident in henan province in central china. at least 200 vehicles were in a pile—up on the zhengxin yellow river bridge. despite the extent of the wreckage, just one person was killed, though many were injured. dozens of firefighters combed through the smashed vehicles to rescue those trapped. a big clear—up operration is taking place to reopen the road. severe flooding in the southern philippines has killed at least 25 people. 35,000 displaced families on the island of mindanao remain unable to return to their homes. the philippines is one of the world's nations most vulnerable to climate change. farmers have been hit by devastating losses after several storms and typhoons and inflation in the country is soaring — mostly due to rapidly rising food prices. the philippines is also one of the most food—insecure countries in southeast asia as it relies on imports to feed its expanding population. laura bicker reports from manila on fears that the country is heading for a food crisis.

manila's maze of back alleys start to stir well before dawn. for many, like mary, sleep is a luxury. these hours are essential if she's to feed her family. mary sells pandesal, a breakfast staple in the philippines, but the cost of making them has risen. translation: the prices - for ingredients have increased. but i can't increase the price to sell them because my loyal customers can't afford that change. they won't buy from me any more if i do, because they have competitors who have the same price as mine. mary earns about $4 a day. back home, she wakes herfour children with the last of the milk.

17 people live in this house to keep costs low. translation: to save food, i put the children on a diet. l we used to eat three times a day, but now we only eat lunch and dinner. i don't know what will happen later. maybe next month, when the prices increase, we won't be able to eat. no matter how hard you work, if the prices are just going up, then it's basically nothing. so as you can see, the problem here isn't a lack of food, the problem is the price of it. the average filipino is already spending around 60% of their wages on food bills. one of the reasons food is so expensive here is because this country has to import many products because the philippines doesn't grow enough food to feed its own people. and the food this country does grow is never guaranteed.

felix wanders through his typhoon ravaged rice crops. his hard work is in ruins. translation: ican't. remember the typhoons and their names, but this has been the most heartbreaking yet. prices of goods have increased. meanwhile, the price of our crops remain the same. it means what we harvest is worthless. 0ur situation right now is the hardest ever. felix is not alone. millions of hectares of precious rice crops have been wiped out by successive storms. farmers have also had to pay more for fertilizer, for machinery, than ever before. the philippines needs its farmers to feed them, but many make so little, they cannot feed themselves. two thirds of this country are already unsure of where their next meal is coming from.

these are resilient people — they do what they can to survive. but experts believe millions more will face hunger and malnutrition if prices continue to rise. laura bicker, bbc news, manila. the united states and philippines have said they're considering new coronavirus restrictions on travellers from china, after beijing announced it would reopen its borders next month. japan, india and malaysia have already said they'll tighten restrictions on arrivals from china amid concerns about a surge in cases and a lack of transparency from the chinese government. 0ur diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. from the world's most populous nation, alarming scenes. china's hospitals are overwhelmed, covid infections soaring. the country's abrupt decision to dismantle much of its strict covid regime apparently yielding terrifying results. wards full of

desperately ill people. 0utside this hospital in chengdu, a queue for emergency services. government officials say the situation is under control. that's not what these pictures suggest. at the dongjiao funeral home, one of the city's biggest, more evidence of the scale of the crisis — one funeral procession after another. workers here say they're so busy, they had no time to eat. from 30—50 services a day, up to around 200. covid mostly to blame. and yet china is opening up. relaxing rules for inbound travellers and raising the prospect of its own citizens, once again, being able to go abroad. welcome news for travel companies after three bleak years. translation: since this morning, we've had lots of inquiries - from oui’ customers. they're asking whether they can travel abroad normally again, whether they'll need to quarantine on their return and when international tourism will return.

but with some countries already adopting extra travel requirements for chinese visitors, and the united states citing a lack of transparent data, officials in beijing reject any suggestion that china has lost control. translation: the argumentl you mentioned is a bias smear campaign and political manipulation, with a hidden agenda which does not stand up to scrutiny or facts and runs counter to the truth. after last month's nationwide protests, this is the image china wants to project — of a country finally turning its back on the virus and on its own draconian response. but china's long, hard battle with covid is far from over. paul adams, bbc news. more than 400 people injapan have died with covid in each of the last two days — that's a record high. since november, infections and deaths have been steadily rising. although, authorities there are considering downgrading covid, so that patients no longer need to be isolated.

if it was reclassified, the disease would be seen as no more severe than a regular flu. let's take you to kosovo now — the kremlin spokesman, dmitry peskov, has rejected an assertion by kosovo's interior minister that russia is behind alleged serbian attempts to destabilise kosovo. tensions escalated this week when serbs set up more roadblocks in northern kosovo, demanding the release of a former serb policeman. they say their security forces on the border with kosovo are in �*full combat readiness'. mr peskov said moscow backed belgrade's efforts to support the 50,000 ethnic serbs living in kosovo. but he denied the claim that serbia was trying to undermine kosovo with russian connivance. here's what the prime minister of kosova, albin kurti said about the situation. translation: unfortunately, these | criminals sanctioned by the uk and | britain are being supported by the president and the government of serbia with the aim of destabilising the region in addition to violating

the territorial integrity of kosovo. the institutions of kosovo will not talk and cooperate with criminals, but will arrest them. here in the uk, two men have been arrested on suspicion of murdering a man on the dance floor ofa birmingham nightclub on boxing day. 23—year—old cody fisher was stabbed at the crane in the digbeth area of the city. west midlands police say a 22—year—old man was detained in birmingham, while another man, aged 21, was arrested in london. you might think the days of spending the christmas holidays building your new model plane are well and truly over, but the classic hobby is alive and kicking. lockdowns and social media have fuelled a boom in sales, as john maguire reports. before you build a model aeroplane, the kit you use is built here in a factory in east sussex. it marks a return to uk production. molten plastic is pumped

into a high—pressure press which contains an intricately detailed mould. what comes out, and are then checked by eye, are the frames known as sprews. they hold the parts ready to be removed and assembled. this is the 1:24 scale mk9 super marine spitfire — a new kit created by airfix and in painstaking detail. the spitfires were renowned for being incredibly well made. so some aircraft, this kind of effect of the wind is really pronounced. but actually, for spitfires, especially when they were newer, it wasn't quite so bad. chris, the designer, has been back to the drawing board. the drawing board that the original aircraft engineers used to design the real wartime plane. you have to be careful, because what was initially planned isn't necessarily what actually came out of the factory, because when they're putting these bits of metal together,

they find, "ah, i need to make a little tweak here, i need to adjust that." and in kind of how quickly they had to produce them, as well, they found little workarounds. but it's a great starting point to go from the original drawings and amazing thing to be able to get to hold and work with. just check that wing, make sure it's nice and straight. this kit isn't for the faint—hearted. it could take months to build. it's not a cheap kit. it's a considered purchase. and, obviously, the modeller has an expectation level of what should be in the kit. and, obviously, this is a 433—part kit. it represents as a truly authentic scale product. today i'm starting on my first—ever aircraft model. it's a supermarine spitfire mk1. making the models and the dedication, concentration and passion the hobby requires is appealing to a whole new generation. this is building spitfires for the tiktok age. you're into the classics, you're old, you're really old.

your social security number is two. for some, it's a voyage of rediscovery. richard spreckly was a keen modeller as a boy and was reintroduced to it by his late father—in—law. a retired police officer who also served in afghanistan, richard says working away in the shed he's converted into a studio is the perfect way to relax. you get engrossed in it. certainly, you have to stop when your fingers are stuck together or your paint�*s not quite dry or something like that. but yes, time just disappears. now, just before i go, let's bring you some pictures of pandas in the snow. the giant panda research centre in northwest china is the place where the world's only captive brown giant panda lives.

they are having a fantastic time. a fun time of the effort giant pandas. good afternoon. it's been a wet wednesday so far in many parts of the uk. we have seen outbreaks of heavy rain drifting northwards and eastwards. there are some more rain in the forecast for the rest of this week. and by that i also mean the rest of the year. it will often be windy. there will be some snow, but really only over hills in the north. as the band of wet weather continues to edge across northern scotland and through the rest of the day, we will see some snow over the highest ground. furthersouth, see some snow over the highest ground. further south, a bit drier, but still with showers. and the wind is continuing to pick up, especially for western and southern coastal areas. but it is mild out there. temperatures, north to south, between six and 12 degrees. this evening and tonight, the band of rain with some hill snow will continue to affect northern

scotland. lots of showers elsewhere. this band of more widespread showers pushing from the west towards the east, perhaps bringing the odd flash of lightning, the odd rumble of thunder. it is going to be a windy night, particularly in southern parts. given the strength of the wind, it is not going to be particularly cold. four or 7 degrees. tomorrow is going to be able us to there will be quite a few showers around. they could be wintry, over higher ground in the north. but between the showers, there will be some decent dry gaps. some spells of sunshine. temperatures a buckle down and where they have been today. six or 10 degrees. still not bad for this time of year. as we move into friday, another change, another atlantic frontal system pushing in from the west. outbreaks of heavy rain. particularly through the first part of friday. the rain will quite quickly sweep its way northwards and eastwards. could be quite significant snow across some high ground in northern scotland, maybe even a little bit of winteriness to low levels for a time. temperatures

six or 13 degrees. so it is mild for the majority. then into the new year period, new year's eve and new year's day, we are going to see some colder air trying to sneak into northern areas. it stays milder further south, and with that there will be frontal system is moving quite radically through, bringing some rain at times. but not all the time. split four genes for the new year period. across northern areas, particularly scotland, it will be quite chilly and there will be some wintry showers. further south it will stay mild. but there will be some outbreaks of rain at times.

this is bbc news. the headlines: as people flee kherson, kyiv says russia has carried out more than 20 rocket attacks in the past 24 hours alone. air raid sirens have sounded across ukraine. people have been asked to stay in shelters. pope francis asks people to pray for his predecessor, benedict xvi, who he says is very ill. the vatican says benedict's condition has worsened in recent hours. the former pope stepped down in 2013. more than 60 people have been killed in winter storms sweeping across north america. it's described as the "blizzard of the century". thousands are still without power and there is widespread travel disruption. dense fog and ice have caused a huge traffic accident in henan province in central china. just one person was killed, but many were injured.

at least 200 vehicles were involved in the crash.