this is bbc news. the headlines.... china is accused of a lack of transparency, about the true scale of their covid problem. italy becomes the first european country to impose restrictions on people travelling from china. the us is considering a similar move. it sparks an angry response from biejing translation: the argument. you mentioned is a biased smear campaign and political manipulation with a hidden agenda, which does not stand up to scrutiny or facts and runs counter to the truth. as people flee kherson, ukraine says russia has carried out more than 30 rocket attacks in the past 2a hours alone. a powerful winter storm in north america has claimed more lives in new york state. we'll speak to a charity coordinator in buffalo,

one of the worst—hit cities. and britain is on course to record its warmest year ever, after a summer of heatwaves, wildfires, and drought. we'll look at the impact it's had. hello, and welcome if you're watching in the uk, on pbs in the us, or around the world. welcome to bbc news. the announcement that china's borders are to be reopened next month is prompting a tough response by an increasing number of countries. italy is the latest to announce plans to enforce mandatory covid testing of passengers on flights from china, after tighter measures were outlined by japan, malaysia, taiwan, and india. the us and the philippines are also considering new coronavirus restrictions. american officials accuse the chinese authorities of a lack of transparency,

as cases of covid have been surging there. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. from the world's most populous nation, alarming scenes — china's hospitals overwhelmed, covid infections soaring. the country's abrupt decision to dismantle much of its strict covid regime apparently yielding worrying 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 this funeral home, one of the city's biggest, more evidence of the scale of the problem. one funeral procession after another — workers here say they're so busy they have no time to eat. and yet china is opening up — about to relax rules for inbound travellers and making it easier

for chinese citizens to travel abroad. welcome news for travel companies after three bleak years. translation: since this morning, we have had lots of inquiries - from our customers, they're asking whether they can travel abroad normally again, whether they will need to quarantine on their return and when international tourism will return. it's hard to knowjust how bad china's coronavirus situation really is. china says it recorded 5,231 new covid cases yesterday and just three deaths nationwide. but people are no longer required to declare infections to the authorities, so the official figures are unlikely to tell the full story. and so neighbouring countries — japan, malaysia, taiwan and india, all worried about the possibility of importing covid cases — have already announced tighter measures for chinese travellers, including the requirement for negative tests. much further afield, american officials, citing a lack

of transparency surrounding the virus in china, say they are also considering new restrictions. and, in europe, italy has become the first country to say that it's making coronavirus tests mandatory. back in beijing, officials reject any suggestion china has lost control. translation: the argument. you mentioned is a biased smear campaign and political manipulation with a hidden agenda, which doesn't stand up to scrutiny and runs counter to the truth. after last month's nationwide protest, this is the image china wants to project — 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. straight to a breaking development on that story, the afp news agency reporting as we were watching paul

puzzled report that the us is to require a negative covid test for travellers from china. we were anticipating a move like that, a bit like the italians already imposed, but the us to require a negative covid test for travellers from china. we saw the angry response from beijing earlier, but those new restrictions coming into force. that's only been reported on the afp news agency but it fits very much with all the indicators coming from washington. so we will bring you more as it comes to us. 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're seeing a lot of infections circulating in the population. every time the virus has a chance to spread, it has a chance to mutate. 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 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 the 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 circulating. so many countries are looking at this and monitoring what will happen as china relaxes the policy, allows 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 may be 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. it's worth repeating that breaking developing from the us to require a negative covid test for travellers from china. china is relaxing their travel restrictions, which means people can leave, and so many international countries now looking

at what they should do given the surge of covid cases in china. so a new negative covid test is required for those from china to the us. we will return to that later. 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. when a shell hit. ukraine's advance pushed russian forces out of kherson. they're 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. well that's the latest on the ground — on the battlefield. ukraine's president zelensky has been making his annual address to parliament. here's some of what he said. translation: ukraine has| 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. the huge storm that killed dozens in north america over the christmas weekend continues to inflict misery on new york state. stories have been emerging, of families trapped for days,

during what's being called the "blizzard of the century." many airports are still in chaos with thousands of flight cancellations. southwest airlines is the worst affected. zach griff is a senior reporter at the travel website the points guy, he has more detail on the situation. southwest has cancelled about two thirds of its schedule today. they're doing that through the end of the week, which is such a popular time of course, with the new year holiday coming up. and what happened to southwest is not necessarily an isolated situation — every airline experienced a major disruption from the winter weather that came through much of the country during the christmas week, but southwest has failed so miserably at recovering from that winter storm. and it's really about two things — the first is that the airline has a very unique route network

within the us, not that it typically operate a hub—to—hub service, it goes typically point to point and planes zigzag across the country all day. and when one flight cancels, it puts the crew, the flight attendants, the pilots really out of position. and when the airline went to go reschedule many of those crew members, their crew scheduling system also got backed up, leading to hours—long waits and, of course, into this major meltdown we're seeing today. let's get more on how people are coping with the extreme weather. i'm joined now by crystal selk — she runs a community centre and food pantry, in buffalo. buffalo is one of the worst affected cities. thank you so much for joining us here on bbc news. how's it going, are you going out to people or are people able to actually come to you for help? right now we are — actually come to you for help? right now we are having _ actually come to you for help? i? grit now we are having people come to actually come to you for help? i mt now we are having people come to us. our food now we are having people come to us. ourfood pantry now we are having people come to us. our food pantry is open today. our

intrepid volunteers who could walk to the pantry are distributing food to the pantry are distributing food to anyone who can get to our pantry right now. to anyone who can get to our pantry riaht now. ., ., , , .,, ., ya, right now. how many people are you seeinu ? right now. how many people are you seeing? we — right now. how many people are you seeing? we are _ right now. how many people are you seeing? we are seeing _ right now. how many people are you seeing? we are seeing our— right now. how many people are you seeing? we are seeing our regular i seeing? we are seeing our regular numbers which _ seeing? we are seeing our regular numbers which is _ seeing? we are seeing our regular numbers which is surprising. - seeing? we are seeing our regular i numbers which is surprising. people are also finding ways to get us despite the travel ban. find are also finding ways to get us despite the travel ban.- are also finding ways to get us despite the travel ban. and in terms of what you're _ despite the travel ban. and in terms of what you're providing _ despite the travel ban. and in terms of what you're providing and - of what you're providing and helping, how are you getting your own supplies? we've seen so much chaos with the weather, how are you getting food that you then try to distribute? irate getting food that you then try to distribute? ~ ., ., ., distribute? we were fortunate enough to have restocked _ distribute? we were fortunate enough to have restocked our— distribute? we were fortunate enough to have restocked our food _ distribute? we were fortunate enough to have restocked our food bank- to have restocked ourfood bank before the holidays, so we were able to get all that food as well as supplies for babies in the neighbourhood.— supplies for babies in the neighbourhood. supplies for babies in the neiuhbourhood. ., , ., �* neighbourhood. now you've lived in that area, you've _ neighbourhood. now you've lived in that area, you've done _ neighbourhood. now you've lived in that area, you've done this - neighbourhood. now you've lived in that area, you've done this work- neighbourhood. now you've lived in that area, you've done this work for such a long time — we're looking at pictures of the extraordinary scenes within the weather, i mean, put this in some sort of context, how bad is

this? �* , ~ ., , �* this? it's unlike anything i've ever seen. normally _ this? it's unlike anything i've ever seen. normally we _ this? it's unlike anything i've ever seen. normally we get _ this? it's unlike anything i've ever seen. normally we get a - this? it's unlike anything i've ever seen. normally we get a couple i this? it's unlike anything i've ever. seen. normally we get a couple feet of snow over the course of the entire winter season, and right now it's been that much in a couple hours in a few days. {lii it's been that much in a couple hours in a few days. of course, laces hours in a few days. of course, places like _ hours in a few days. of course, places like yours, _ hours in a few days. of course, places like yours, you've - hours in a few days. of course, l places like yours, you've become familiar with regular people that you help, have you been able to track, trace and contact some of those people you regularly see to see if they're ok, especially the elderly? irate see if they're 0k, especially the elderl ? ~ ., �* , elderly? we have, we've been in touch with _ elderly? we have, we've been in touch with all _ elderly? we have, we've been in touch with all our _ elderly? we have, we've been in touch with all our older- elderly? we have, we've been in touch with all our older adults i elderly? we have, we've been in i touch with all our older adults that use our services. everybody is at home, most have their power back on, and they'rejust home, most have their power back on, and they're just writing out the storm so we can get to them and offer food storm so we can get to them and offerfood or storm so we can get to them and offer food or services and storm so we can get to them and offerfood or services and connect them with other resources. offer food or services and connect them with other resources. there's been a driving _ them with other resources. there's been a driving ban _ them with other resources. there's been a driving ban in _ them with other resources. there's been a driving ban in place, - them with other resources. there's been a driving ban in place, we - been a driving ban in place, we continue as we are talking to just show some of the worst pictures. it

looks hellish in terms of honour screams. when are they hoping to lift all that which gives you the chance to get on about, and actually get to people, rather than people just coming to you? irate get to people, rather than people just coming to you?— get to people, rather than people just coming to you? we are hoping that tomorrow— just coming to you? we are hoping that tomorrow the _ just coming to you? we are hoping that tomorrow the travel _ just coming to you? we are hoping that tomorrow the travel ban - just coming to you? we are hoping that tomorrow the travel ban will l just coming to you? we are hoping l that tomorrow the travel ban will be lifted. but right now, the city's efforts are really on removing the snow and just getting access to public transportation.— snow and just getting access to public transportation. crystal, it is oppositely — public transportation. crystal, it is oppositely vital _ public transportation. crystal, it is oppositely vital work - public transportation. crystal, it is oppositely vital work in - public transportation. crystal, it is oppositely vital work in these | is oppositely vital work in these sorts of days, so thank you for that and forjoining us here on bbc news, just giving us a snapshot of the things you're doing.— just giving us a snapshot of the things you're doing. thank you. let's return _ things you're doing. thank you. let's return to _ things you're doing. thank you. let's return to that _ things you're doing. thank you. let's return to that breaking - things you're doing. thank you. i let's return to that breaking news from a little bit ago. the united states will require a negative covid tests for all travellers from

china, , tests for all travellers from china,, saying beijing is not sharing enough information about the code cases there. those new restrictions will come into effect from the 5th of january. all those passengers from two years and older originating from china will be required to get a test no more than two days from their departure from china or hong kong, and to show a negative test result of the airlines upon departure. that comes from the federal health officials, giving the age categories of those who have to be tested, to giving the timeline in terms of when those tests have to be recorded, the negative test result, and also vitally getting the date that all kicks in, the 5th of january. the reason for that is the lack of transparency us officials have been talking about in terms of coming from china, the information about the surge of code cases they

are dealing with right now. beijing announcing a relaxation of their border rules which means people can travel abroad, but of course that has sparked all sorts of fears and a number of countries, the us the latest to bring in new restrictions to cope with the changing situation. so those new restrictions will come in from the 5th of january. if we get more on that, we will come to it. 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 the 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 veegermark is head of the eu rule of law mission to kosovo. he told me of his increasing concern at what's happening. i think we've all been very concerned by the increase in tensions and escalations that we've seen, especially over the last couple of weeks and since these illegal barricades went up in response to the arrest of a former kosovo police officer. this is really unprecedented. we have to come back at least ten years to see anything like this. of course, it comes at a time where all eyes are on ukraine and the war. the last thing that europe needs is another conflict. i read out there are calls for maximum restraint. 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 live pictures coming in from the vatican, so that's another life story we're keeping our eyes on. if there more developments, we will return to that story. sport and for a full round—up — from the bbc sport centre, here's holly hamilton. hayek, matthew.

manchester city go into tonight's match at leeds aiming to avoid suffering consecutive league defeats for the first time since december 2018. manchester city go into tonight's match at leeds aiming to avoid in their first premier league game since the world cup, they're looking to come back from that defeat at home to brentford before the break. pep guardiola's side are third in the table, city are looking in control in this half, they are currently eight points behind arsenal. elsewhere, it's a busy night in the scottish premiership... six games under way. seventh—placed hibs hosting leaders celtic is currently 0—0, and second—place rangers are 1—0 up at home to motherwell. follow all the latest on the bbc sport website, and those watching on bbc scotland can watch the highlights on sportscene later. 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 first grand slame of the year in melbourne, injanuary. the nfl and their players union are conducting a review after miami dolphins quarterback tua tagovailoa suffered his third concussion of the season. the injury happened during sunday's clash with the green bay packers. the league say he showed no signs of concussion during the game, which he completed. dolphins head coach mike mcdaniel says they are

prioritising his health. he is in the building. but beyond that, as medical professionals will tell you, anything beyond that date does not behove the process at all, they take that very seriously and worry about his health first and foremost. australia are closing in on a series win against south africa after day three of the second test, having declared after reaching 575 for eight. 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. that's all the sport for now. we'll have more for you on the bbc

news channel later on. here in the uk, merseyside police have made a new appeal for people to come forward with any information following the fatal shooting of a woman on christmas eve. ellie edwards, who was 26, was shot outside the lighthouse pub in wallasey, just before midnight on saturday. police have suggested she was not the intended target of the attack. this report from our correspondent danny savage. she was killed four nights ago now, but still the night was sealed off. we understand she was sitting off a covered area just at the other side of the car park there by patio heaters just before midnight when those shots were fired. since then, two arrests have been made. a 30—year—old man has been detained on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. the 19—year—old woman has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. today, a senior officer from merseyside police did come to the scene to give us an update, and the point they are making today as they are notjust after the person who fired the shots

here on christmas eve, but all the people involved in this crime. irate people involved in this crime. we make 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's led to this tragic fatality, we will not rest, we will be tireless in our approach to find justice for ellie and herfamily. approach to find 'ustice for ellie and her family.— approach to find 'ustice for ellie and her family. police then piling on the pressure _ and her family. police then piling on the pressure to _ and her family. police then piling on the pressure to get _ and her family. police then piling. on the pressure to get information from a community who are scared. we talked to some of the people putting down flowers today who didn't want to talk on camera, they are genuinely fearful that the people who carried out this crime, and at the centre of this all, ellie edwards cosmic family who have been dots of dust devastated.

i was date democrat danny savage, will have more on this travel and restrictions imposed by the us on people coming from china. hello there. we've seen cloud and outbreaks of rain sweeping north eastwards across the uk today. just about everyone has had some soggy weather, and there is a bit more rain that 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 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 world news, the headlines the united states has announced it will require negative covid tests for travellers from china, following growing alarm at the rapid increase in chinese infections. tighter measures have also been announced by italy, japan, taiwan and india. as people flee kherson, kyiv says russia has carried out more than 30 rocket attacks in the past 2a hours. air raid sirens have sounded across ukraine. people have been asked to stay in shelters. pope francis has asked 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.

it's described as the 'blizzard of the century'. thousands are still without power and there is still widespread