this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories... italy is the latest country to tighten entry restrictions for travellers from china — after beijing announced it would reopen its borders next month. it comes as coronavirus cases surge in china, putting hospitals under severe pressure. as people flee kherson, ukraine says russia has carried out more than 30 rocket attacks in the past 2a hours alone. 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 have died in winter storms sweeping across north america. we'll have the latest from buffalo — hardest hit by the "blizzard of the century".

hello and welcome. italy has become the first european country to order covid tests for visitors from china, after concern at the rapid rise in chinese infections. earlier, taiwan said it would introduce a similar scheme. japan and india have already ordered travellers from china to be monitored. the us could follow. there's concern travellers could bring new variants of the disease now that beijing is lifting travel restrictions. our 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. outside 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.

professor anne rimoin from ucla fielding school of public health told me why she was concerned about china's recent surge in covid cases. i think the issue here is that we don't have a lot of data coming out of china right now. we don't have case counts, we don't have good mortality data, and we certainly don't have good sequencing data that could tell us a lot about what variants are circulating and what we could expect. i think the idea of requiring testing, which will allow us to have an idea of what is happening and be able to follow the sequencing and the data, will be a smart move. what is the major concern? is it that there are really high numbers, case numbers, in china? is it new variants? what exactly is the real area of concern here? every time you have a surge, you are seeing a lot of infections circulating in the population. every time the virus has a chance to spread, it has a chance to mutate.

the mutations can eventually result in a new variant. these mutations can eventually result in a new variant. that's what we saw with india and the delta variant. we saw this with omicron, too, when we saw big surges. if there is checked spread of the virus and it's spreading so quickly in a large and vulnerable population, you could see the opportunity for a new variant to arise could threaten the rest to arise that could threaten the rest of the world. infection anywhere is potentially infection everywhere. what about vaccination rates within china and the types of vaccines they have been using? is that a worry? the chinese have been using vaccines that have been available there in china. they're an older technology. while most of the population has received the initial doses, they have not been well boosted. so you don't have a population that's had natural immunity from infection, or excellent protection from a boosted population that has relatively recent boosters. so, we have a very susceptible

population, a very large population, and very contagious variants are collating. variants circulating. so many countries are looking at this and monitoring what will happen as china relaxes the policy, allowing people to travel abroad. in terms of that monitoring, what are people like you, what should we be looking out for in the coming weeks? we should be getting a sense of if people are coming in with covid, what variant it might be and being circulating and being able to ensure that we understand what is happening globally. global surveillance is a great idea. whether or not we have a new variant surging, a large outbreak occurring, to be able to have information to get ahead of this virus is always going to be important. in this scenario, where we have a very large outbreak, getting that data and being able to get ahead of it before it's too late is going to be

critically important. ukraine says russia has stepped up mortar and artillery attacks on the recently liberated city of kherson in the south of the country. kyiv�*s armed forces said in the last 2a hours, 33 rockets had targeted the city. russian forces abandoned kherson last month in one of ukraine's most significant gains of the war, but it's come under renewed attack. on saturday, a russian strike on kherson killed at least ten people and wounded nearly 60. 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. ukraine's president zelensky has been making his annual address to parliament. here's some of what he said. translation: ukraine hasj united the european union. now, europe is defending itself. europe is overcoming the crises despite the enormous amount of resources that russia is deploying to break our continent. everything russia has tried to do against europe has not worked. pope francis has asked roman catholics to pray for his predecessor, pope 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 that pope francis visited his ailing predecessor on wednesday morning, right after the general audience.

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. benedict xvi is now 95, and his health has been deteriorating. michael kelly, managing editor of the irish catholic newspaper, spoke to me about today's development. pope francis was with his regular wednesday audience with the pilgrims who come to rome every wednesday to receive his blessing, and he just mentioned at the end and this really started a lot of activity among the journalists who tried to find out what exactly is going on. so, we did find out a little bit later directly from the vatican press office that they are concerned that pope benedict's condition did decline in the early hours of the morning. they say it's steady and it's been monitored by doctors, but undoubtedly, there is concern about this — his health has been in decline. we have seen him greeting people in december.

he had recipients of a prize visit him in december. but they did say he was very weak, that his voice was almost inaudible, so there would be serious concern around that, given his age and frailty. we are in unusual territory, because benedict, the first to stand we're in unusual territory, because benedict, the first to stand down in about 600 years. we've got accustomed to the various procedures around a pope passing whilst in office, but not a situation like this. no, this really is unprecedented. and i knowjournalists use that word a lot, but i think we can use it with confidence here because, normally when the pope dies, the first thing that concerns catholics is that we need to elect a new pope. but obviously that is not the case here. we have pope francis, hale and hearty. the vatican have consistently over the last ten years refused to say what the procedures or the protocol would be around benedict xvi's death when that does in fact happen.

we know that he himself is a very meticulous man, so this is something that will be planned very, very closely. but it won't be like the previous papal funerals, for example, quite apart from the religious significance of the pope. benedict xvi is just like a retired head of state, like any other monarch, in any other part of the world. he no longer has an international role. that will make anything around his death much more simple than would have been the case. the united states and european union have appealed to kosovo and serbia to exercise maximum restraint, as tensions are rising in northern kosovo. kosovan police have closed the main border crossing into serbia after roadblocks were set up on the serbian side. ethnic serbs have been blocking roads in northern kosovo for weeks, in protests sparked initially by a dispute over car number plates. kosovo's prime minister is urging the nato—led peacekeeping force in kosovo to remove these blockades. let's get some context. kosovo was part of the former yugoslav republic serbia until war broke out between them in 1998. this ended the following year

after nato troops forced serb troops out of kosovo. in 2008, kosovo declared its independence from serbia. lars—gunnar wigemark is head of the eu rule of law mission to kosovo. hejoins me from pristina. thank you so much for being here on bbc news. just how concerned are you by these developments we're seeing? i think we've all been very concerned by the increasing tensions and escalations that we've seen, especially over the last couple of weeks since these barricades went out. in response to the rest of the police officer. this is really unprecedented. we have to come back at least ten years to see anything like this. it comes at a time weren't all eyes are on ukraine and the war. the last thing that europe

needsis the war. the last thing that europe needs is another conflict. fire needs is another conflict. are their calls for maximum _ needs is another conflict. are their calls for maximum restraints, - needs is another conflict. are their calls for maximum restraints, i - needs is another conflict. are their. calls for maximum restraints, i read out. what do you think are the dangers here? the out. what do you think are the dangers here?— out. what do you think are the dancers here? . , , ., dangers here? the dangers is that ou have dangers here? the dangers is that you have an _ dangers here? the dangers is that you have an escalation _ dangers here? the dangers is that you have an escalation in - dangers here? the dangers is that| you have an escalation in violence. what started as peaceful protests can turn into barricades, shootings against kosovo police and attacks at our patrols. we've seen violence, beatings, tensions, alleged kidnappings of several people in kosovo. this is what happens when you have a general breakdown in the rule of law, and that is the preparation at the advanced stage of the possible conflict. we hope of course that will be avoided. we have tried to fill the security vacuum that appeared when kosovo police

officers resigned. as well as the entire judiciary officers resigned. as well as the entirejudiciary in officers resigned. as well as the entire judiciary in kosovo. officers resigned. as well as the entirejudiciary in kosovo. but we have limited needs that are disposal —— at our disposal, but this has been a relatively calm situation for the past ten years. you been a relatively calm situation for the past ten years.— the past ten years. you referenced nato troops- _ the past ten years. you referenced nato troops- i _ the past ten years. you referenced nato troops. i read _ the past ten years. you referenced nato troops. i read out _ the past ten years. you referenced nato troops. i read out the - the past ten years. you referenced nato troops. i read out the prime. nato troops. i read out the prime minister saying time was running out for the peacekeepers to remove the roadblocks. how practical is that call to intervene and actually do that? ~ , , a, , call to intervene and actually do that? , , a, , a, a, a, that? well, this is really for nato. but i did attend _ that? well, this is really for nato. but i did attend a _ that? well, this is really for nato. but i did attend a meeting - that? well, this is really for nato. but i did attend a meeting with i that? well, this is really for nato. | but i did attend a meeting with the major general and the prime minister just two days ago, and i think the general made it very clear he had every intention in case it was not a negotiated solution to remove these barricades. we've heard from prime minister and others in kosovo that

they would like to see their own kosovo police remove these barricades. in either case, this could lead to further violence and this is something we want to avoid. that's why we're advocating for a de—escalation. these illegal barricades are removed and rule of law prevails, and also the rest of the kosovo police officers, he has a right to do process. he is under arrest today. right to do process. he is under arrest today-— right to do process. he is under arrest today. you said in your first answer this _ arrest today. you said in your first answer this was _ arrest today. you said in your first answer this was the _ arrest today. you said in your first answer this was the most - arrest today. you said in your first answer this was the most serious| answer this was the most serious threat in over a decade. do you understand why tensions have exploded in the way they have now? there's been a slow build—up. we've seen over the past year starting

over a year ago, allegedly over licence plates. it's really a question of who has jurisdiction licence plates. it's really a question of who hasjurisdiction in northern kosovo. we talk about the rule of law — who really has the jurisdiction? there was quite a successful integration ofjudiciary. this has been going on almost ten years. this is part of the original dialogue. we've seen how the results of this dialogue have been undermined, which is why we're encouraging all parties to return to the dialogue, to the agreements. some 30 agreements were reached. there's also a new proposal now supported by all our member states as well as the united states, and

it's a negotiating table that this conflict need to be resolved on, not on the streets.— on the streets. that's the hope and we shall watch _ on the streets. that's the hope and we shall watch in _ on the streets. that's the hope and we shall watch in the _ on the streets. that's the hope and we shall watch in the coming - on the streets. that's the hope and we shall watch in the coming days. | we shall watch in the coming days. thank you so much forjoining us live on bbc news. you're welcome, thank yom — here in the uk, police are continuing to question a man and a woman in connection with the fatal shooting of a woman on christmas eve. ellie edwards, who was 26, was shot outside the lighthouse inn pub in wallaseyjust before midnight on saturday. police have suggested she was not the intended target of the attack. our correspondent danny savage joins us from wallasey. just tell us the latest, bring us up—to—date. just tell us the latest, bring us up-to-date-— just tell us the latest, bring us u-to-date. , , ., , up-to-date. this is the lighthouse pub. up-to-date. this is the lighthouse pub- peeple _ up-to-date. this is the lighthouse pub. people have _ up-to-date. this is the lighthouse pub. people have been _ up-to-date. this is the lighthouse pub. people have been in - up-to-date. this is the lighthouse pub. people have been in the - up-to-date. this is the lighthouse pub. people have been in the pub| pub. people have been in the pub here all evening. a group of people, including ellie, were sitting in a covered seating area, which had heaters on because not the usual

time of year to be sitting outside for a drink. there was a covered area they were sitting when the shots were fired. ellie edwards received a fatal wound to her head at that time. she was taken to hospital not farfrom at that time. she was taken to hospital not far from here and died a short time afterwards. since then, there's been an intense investigation going on here on merseyside into who fired the shots, where the weapon is and who else was involved in the targeted of that shooting. the update today is that merseyside police said one of their senior officers here —— sent one of their senior officers to give us an update, talking about the fact they were still looking for information of who was involved in where the weapon is. our staff at merseyside police are working relentlessly to find out who is responsible for this appalling act. we will not rest until we bring the offenders to justice, and by that i mean the person who pulled the trigger of the gun,

in the most indiscriminate way, in this public house on christmas eve. anybody who was responsible for arranging, facilitating or harbouring this individual, and anybody who continues to withhold information on who has done this or, indeed, where the weapon is that has led to this tragic totality, we will not rest of that will be tireless in our approach to find justice for ellie and her family. police have made a couple of arrests so far on monday, so two days ago, two people were arrested. a 30—year—old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and a 19—year—old woman was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. they remain in custody and we understand the police can hold ——

they are still being held in question. it's clear that police are still missing pieces to this jigsaw and they want more information. they've released a very slick video to be put about here in the uk at the moment. to try and get more information from people who might know things. just from talking to people here, they are scared of the people here, they are scared of the people who are responsible and as a result, there are lots and lots of police officers on the streets at the moment. to reassure people who feel very worried about what happened and that the centre of this is an innocent young woman, aged 26, who was murdered and devastated family. who was murdered and devastated famil . . ~' ,, , who was murdered and devastated famil . ., ~ , . who was murdered and devastated famil. ., , . �*, family. thank you very much. let's -ause. sport, and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's holly hamilton. hello, matthew. we start with the premier league, as manchester city travel to leeds today as they look to reduce the gap on leaders arsenal.

city are now eight points off the top—spot with a game in hand, having gone into the world cup break with a defeat at home to brentford. manager pep guardiola is aware that any more mistakes could prove costly in the title race. after our defeat against brentford, and how strong arsenal is, we have to be alert, careful, because if the distance is bigger, it will be so difficult to catch them. chesea and england defender reece james says his run of injuries has affected him mentally — describing this year as his toughest to date. james had to be taken off in the 53rd minute in their win over bournemouth yesterday. it was his first game since returning from his first knee injury that ruled him out of the world cup. in a post on twitter, he said he was trying to deal with the cards he'd been dealt. in the wsl, brighton have named jens scheuer as hope powell's successor as head coach,

subject to the german being granted a work permit. if everything goes to plan, scheuer�*s first match in charge will be a crucial one, with brighton playing at the wsl�*s bottom club leicester city when the season resumes on 15 january. novak djokovic is back and training in australia almost a year after he was deported over his covid vaccine status. the nine—time australian open winner had an automatic three—year visa ban overturned in november. djokovic has been practising in adelaide ahead of the aussie open in melbourne injanuary. australia are closing in on a series win against south africa after day three of the second test, having declared after reaching 575—8. wicketkeeper alex carey scored a maiden century, following on from david warner's 200, as australia replied to south africa's 189. south africa lost the early wicket

of their captain dean elgar in the second innings, finishing on 15—1 before play was abandoned because of rain. meanwhile, new zealand have a slender two—run lead after day three of the first test in pakistan. captain kane williamson and tom latham both scored centuries on their way to 440—6 in reply to pakistan's first innings score of a38 all out. williamson finished the day on 105 not out. one of the nfl�*s greatest ever defensive players is to retire at the end of the season. jj watt wrote on social media that it had been an "honour and a pleasure." the arizona cardinals defensive end was voted nfl defensive player of the year three times. watt has spent the last two seasons with the cardinals, after playing for the houston texans between 2011 to 2020.

and that is all your sport for now. matthew, it's back to you. the huge storm that killed dozens in north america over the christmas weekend continues to inflict misery on new york state and air travellers across the continent. stories have been emerging of families trapped for days, during what's being called the "blizzard of the century." meteorologist for spectrum news buffalo, dan russell, joined me earlier as conditions continue to ease. we're finally seeing conditions improved today. the sunshine is out, and we are going to begin a prolonged period of warmer weather. a lot of the snow we have seen is going to be melting in the coming days. at its worst, what is it like? you look at the weather, that is all you effectively do as a job. what has this one been like? i've been covering the lake effect snow for two decades, i've grown up by the lakes, and i've never seen conditions this harsh. in buffalo, we pride ourselves on how much snow we deal with. we had two and a half metres of snow through the season. we saw half of that in five days. conditions are at their absolute

worst because of the wind. i'm back with more in 30 minutes. hello there. we've seen clouds and outbreaks of rain sweeping northeastwards across the uk today. just about everyone has had some soggy weather and there is a bit more rain to come through the next few days. as we close out 2022, it will often be windy. some snow is possible, but only really over hills in the north of the uk. in fact, as this weather system continues to pivot through, we will see some snow continuing to fall over high ground in the north of scotland. some further rain showers further south, but some of those could be on the heavy side, maybe even with the odd rumble of thunder. overnight temperatures between 4—7 degrees. and it is going to stay windy, particularly around some of these western and southern coasts. and tomorrow is going to be a blustery day. there will be some spells of sunshine, but there'll also be some showers, in fact, some quite frequent showers

pushing across scotland through the afternoon. again, some of these will be wintry over high ground. those are the wind gusts we can expect. it is going to be a windy day pretty much across the uk. and temperatures, well, just a little down on where they have been today, but still 5—10 degrees is not bad going for this time of year. now, as we move into friday, we see another weather system hurtling in from the atlantic. that will bring some heavy rain and, again, some strong winds. but for many places, that rain will sweep northwards and eastwards quite quickly. we will see some snow mixing in for a time over northern scotland, particularly over high ground. something a little brighter following on behind and turning milder again, 6—13 degrees. now, as we get into the new year period, we develop something of a split in our weather fortunes, because whilst southern areas will stay mild, northern parts will see some colder air trying to dig in with the chance for some wintry showers. but for southern areas, in the mild air, these weather fronts bring the chance for some outbreaks of rain.

so quite a messy weather picture, actually, for new year's eve. we will see rain threatening southern parts of the uk, maybe another band of rain across central areas, northern northern ireland into northern england. cold enough for some wintry showers across northern parts of scotland. as we head towards midnight, southern areas may see rain, northern areas are likely to be cold. and through new year's day, if this wet weather does drift northwards into the cold air, it does give the chance for some snow over high ground in scotland. it'll be rain further south. temperatures north to south, 5—12 degrees.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme.

a year the world mourned queen elizabeth ii. # i am the resurrection her funeral a show of pomp and precision like few had ever seen. # he that believeth in me... # thousands joined the queue to see the queen lying in state.