this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a fire at a casino hotel in cambodia leaves at least ten people dead, and another 30 are being treated for injuries. the us announces it will require negative covid tests for travellers from china, as alarm grows at the rapid increase in chinese infections. tighter measures are also announced by italy, japan, taiwan and india amid concern china's case numbers aren't accurate. it's sparked an angry response from beijing. 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. pope francis asks people to pray for his predecessor, benedict xvi, who he says is very ill. we start this hour with some breaking news — a big fire is blazing at a casino hotel in north—west cambodia, on the border with thailand. the authorities in the city of poipet say at least ten people are confirmed dead and another 30 are being treated for injuries. our news reporter azadeh moshiri joins us in the studio. what else do we know about

this? what we narine hours at several people have died and at least 30 have been injured. authorities say the flames are under control right now thanks to the efforts of firefighters from both thailand and cambodia, but the police did not give a final last update on the casualties right now. now, when you look at these flames, the word fire seems like it just doesn't cut it because these are massive claims engulfing this entire building. in fact, it is more of a complex, the grand diamond city is one of several casinos along the cambodian — thai cambodian border. many residents and citizens from the area travel there, which is partly because gambling is legal in thailand. there are some restrictions and cambodia but they tend to be looser in the way they

implement them. according to authorities these flames ripped through this building for several hours, starting at around midnight, localtime, around midnight, local time, but around midnight, localtime, but continue to burn through the building. when you look at the building. when you look at the images, there are other incidents this year that come to mind. in august a fire broke out at a tired nightclub injured dozens. and last september a fire broke out at a karaoke bar in southern vietnam where 32 people died. in this instance we still don't know what the final death toll is but we are likely to hear that information trickle through in the coming hours.— pictures we have been seeing look absolutely horrific. do we know of this fire is under control?— know of this fire is under control? �* ., , ., control? authorities right now are saying _ control? authorities right now are saying that _ control? authorities right now are saying that the _ control? authorities right now are saying that the flames - control? authorities right now are saying that the flames are under control but it is hard to say what that means in terms of

casualties was done as i mentioned, given the fact that these flames have been burning through so many hours, and the fact that we do know there are dozens of injuries, it does mean that the death toll could possibly grow, and that is information that authorities will try to keep tight for now, but it is a wait and see. azadeh moshiri, thank you. america has become the latest country to impose mandatory covid tests on chinese tourists, amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus after beijing announced it would reopen its borders next week. the uk is now also considering something similar, while tighter measures have also been imposed by italy, japan, malaysia, taiwan and india. not all countries are on the same page, however. australia has said it will not change its policy on chinese arrivals. china has announced one further death in the last 2a hours, bringing the official death toll to 5,246, although experts believe the real death toll

is far higher. simonjones has this report. china is preparing to open its borders to international travel once again, easing restrictions once again, easing restrictions on visit to the country. travel agents are reporting a surge in bookings but it comes at the same time as a surge in covert cases in the country. hospitals in china appeared to be struggling to cope as the regime moves away from its zero covid policy which it had pursued for almost three years. washington has accused beijing of failing to provide adequate and transparent covid data, china reported just one new death yesterday despite queues outside hospitals for emergency treatment. so from early next year anyone arriving in the us from china will need to show a negative test. italy, india and

japan have imposed restrictions. the british government says there are no plans to reintroduce testing or additional requirements for anyone arriving in the uk. it says it will continue to monitor closely the prevalence and spread of any harmful variants, and keep international data under review. australia is also adopting a similar approach. - will continue to monitor the circumstances that are occurring in china and in other parts of the world as well as we do, we will take the appropriate advice from the health experts and follow that advice. there is no change in the travel advice at this point in time but we are continuing to monitor the situation. fine to monitor the situation. one exert to monitor the situation. one wed in _ to monitor the situation. one expert in infectious _ to monitor the situation. 0ne expert in infectious diseases as the testing regime can only achieve so much. i as the testing regime can only achieve so much.— achieve so much. i can certainly understand the concern for potential importation of new variants from other parts of the world, but in reality, these measures are very unlikely to have any

significant impact on reducing risk, so i think these are more about public relations and perhaps a bit about foreign policy than they really are about public health. today the european commission will meet to discuss a potential response, but as china returns to a sense of normality it has accused western countries of a smear campaign. it is clear though international concern is rising, but no consensus over how to best respond to it. simon jones, bbc news. at the vatican, pope francis has urged people to pray for his predecessor, pope—emeritus benedict, whose health has worsened. pope francis was speaking at wednesday's general audience. officials say the former pope's health has deteriorated overnight. benedict xvi, who is 95, left office in 2013 — the first pope to resign in six centuries. earlier, i spoke to matthew bunson from the catholic television network, ewtn, and i asked him

about the pope's current condition. based on our reporting, we also have a number of sources in rome that tell us that as pope francis himself pointed out earlier today, in his general audience, that the pope emeritus' overall medical condition is serious. we understand he is gravely ill, from what the vatican itself refers to as �*the advancing of old age.�* we were able to report that the pope emeritus has kidney failure as well as complications from a pacemaker. so looking at all of these different conditions we certainly need to keep the pope emeritus in our prayers. benedict's resignation caused an unprecedented situation, really, in which both he and his successor were in the vatican at the same time and

his papacy, benedict's was beset by infighting. what do we know of the relationship between benedict and his successor? that is been one of those interesting developments in the hundreds of years in the life of the church. we had the unusual circumstance of a pope, a reigning pope in pope francis and then a pope emeritus in pope benedict xvi. by every measure the two of them, that we are aware of, have cordial relations. pope benedict has been very careful however in always acknowledging that pope francis is the legitimate pope, the reigning pope and i think that has been reflected in many of the decisions he has made in his retirement to keep a very low profile. always acknowledging that pope francis is in fact pope and i think that has been a great assistance to pope francis. francis himself acknowledges as well that pope benedict is one of the very few

people, the only other person on the face of the earth who can give him advice from the very, very unique position of having been a supreme pontiff of the catholic church. 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. 0ur correspondent, hugo bachega, sent this report from kyiv. tears in kherson. a final goodbye for another life lost to the war.

distant explosion 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. distant explosion natalia was in her flat when a shell hit. she was a7. 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 clear just 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. 0n 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. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we'll tell you why a mountain school in australia will be watching king charles�*s coronation closely. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we're gonna use money we picked up in belgium today and then, we'll be in france, and again, it'll be the same money.

it's just got to be the way to go. crowd yelling george harrison, i the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed - at his oxfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool- is being interviewed by police on suspicion - of attempted murder. i think it was good. just good? no, fantastic. big ben bongs this is bbc news. the latest headlines: a fire at a casino hotel in cambodia leaves at least ten

people dead and another 30 are being treated for injuries. the us has announced it will require negative covid tests for travellers from china following growing alarm at the rapid increase in chinese infections. to myanmar now, and a story of one family split down the middle by a coup and a violent civil war. bo kyar yine leads a faction of the pro—democracy fighters there, and four of his sons are fighting alongside him. but two of his other sons are fighting on the side of the country's military, meaning there is a very real chance of meeting their loved ones on the battlefield. we have changed the names and some of the voices in this report by rebecca henschke to protect the family involved. these men used to be farmers.

now, they are fighting their country's military. they want democracy. bo kyar yine, the group's leader, is fighting alongside four of his sons. two other sons are in the military. once a source of great pride, now their enemies. he calls the younger of the two. the elder no longer answers. translation: if you come . to fight me, i won't spare you. i only stand with the people. i cannot stand with you. very well, father, very well. their camps are just an hour's drive from each other. translation: the army destroys homes, sets them on fire, - kills people, shoots protesters unjustly, kills children, rapes women.

you may not know that. this is your view, father. we don't see it that way. citizens should live like citizens. they have to follow the rules, father. translation: son, don't say our views are wrong. - come look at your village. it's all in ashes now. in this fight, they have suffered severe losses. the memory of one day is particularly vivid for this family as one of his sons remembers. translation: we came under fire. _ they were waiting, digging in. there was nowhere to take cover. there were no big trees or anything. we were in a killing field. they shot at us like popcorns popping. translation: the gunfire sounded like rain. - i thought they are in trouble. my sons are under fire.

it wasn't until that evening when the army posted pictures of those they'd killed that the family knew they'd lost their mother's favourite son. translation: i am angry at the loss of 15 people, i including my son. i feel it more because i can't pick up their bodies. they are still washing the bodies. the father has a clear message for his sons in the military for when they meet in battle. translation: kill me if you get to fire first. | if i get to fire first, i will kill you. you may give me a chance, but i will not. this divided family is a symbol of a divided nation. rebecca henschke, bbc news. afamily a family divided in myanmar. let's get some of the day's other news.

newly elected republican congressman george santos is under criminal investigation in new york according to us media. investigators are looking into george santos's finances. news of the probe comes after he admitted to lying about parts of his background, including his education and work experience. bolivian police have detained the governor of santa cruz on charges of fomenting a coup. luis fernando camacho, a prominent right—wing opposition leader who helped oust president evo morales from power in 2019, is believed to have been taken to the administrative capital, la paz. his arrest has sparked protests and supporters have condemned his arrest as a kidnapping. the serbian president says that ethnic serbs in northern kosovo, who have been blocking roads for nearly three weeks, will begin dismantling their barricades on thursday. ethnic serbs have been blocking roads in protests sparked initially by a dispute over car numberplates. the united states and

european union have appealed to kosovo and serbia to exercise maximum restraint. in may next year, king charles will be crowned — an event that will be watched closely in australia where he is also the head of state. while most of his school years were spent in the uk, for two terms in 1966 he was sent to the mountains of australia, and to a campus offering a very different kind of education. the bbc has been given exclusive access to timbertop in rural victoria to meet the man hand—picked to accompany the future king on his aussie adventure, and the students studying there today. shaimaa khalil reports. newsreel: the students here cut a great deal of the 500 tonnes - of firewood used annually. some things have changed at timbertop since the 1960s. for one, there are boys and girls here now. but a lot hasn't.

you have to chop wood to have hot showers. and if you don't? then we have cold showers, which is pretty unpleasant. foraging for fuel has been going on for decades at this rural campus of australia's geelong grammar school, and in this rare footage, you can see teenage charles getting stuck in. this was a very different experience to what the young prince was used to back home. it was here that he took a breakfrom his royal duties and enjoyed a much quieter life away from the close and relentless gaze of the cameras. it was, he said, by far the best part of his schooling. newsreel: the accent is on the outdoor life. | the physical fitness plus self—reliance. .. i'm not sure why the royal parents chose timbertop. they certainly wanted him to be in a practical environment and learn to live with others out of the hurly— burly of royal engagements, and that's what happened. he mucked in with

everyone else, working away, linking — to the other boys who weren't scared of him, were very interested. in fact, one of them called him a pommy bleep... laughs ..and he laughed. i'm not sure how he took that! he laughed! 17—year—old prince charles was preparing for university during his time here, and as an older student, he took on a supervisory role, but still participated in the tough stuff. stuart mcgregor was his companion. the school had arranged it, and stuart, a former pupil, was happy to return and help. this is a very special place, it's really a focal point for the school and for the students... it was an unusual experience for both young men, and a lot to take in for the new student. it started out as almost bemusement to some extent — "what on earth is going on? why am i here?" but that quickly resolved itself and he started to embrace the concept. of course when we look up here, that brings back a lot of memories, and that's where i shared quarters with our king.

it worked pretty well. there was no snoring that i can remember. perhaps i was guilty! laughs i think it must have been pretty daunting for him suddenly to be thrust into a very small suite with someone he never knew in the same bedroom, but he seemed to handle it very well. the media were kept at bay and i think it allowed him to develop in a way that wouldn't have been possible in other circumstances, and certainly not back in the english environment. and so he could be himself, and i think he was for the very first time perhaps in his life. for the students here, it's slightly unreal to know that the monarch was once in their shoes. it's crazy to feel like he's had this experience pretty much very similar to mine, like, having that connection. it's an honour, i think, because we're pretty much doing the same thing is what he did, probably been in the same mountains as him, he's seen the same views, so it's pretty incredible.

back then, prince charles also got involved in all other activities like hikes and cross—country running, which are still a big part of the school curriculum. it's a tough programme, albeit an exclusive one — fees are more than au$75,000 a year. a view years after he left timbertop, charles visited with his sister, princess anne. everyone we talked to says the king is welcome back here any time, and if he does return, safe to say he won't be made to chop any firewood. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, in rural victoria, australia. somehow i don't think he will either. now for something a bit different. scientists have been warning us for years that we face potential disaster unless we do something about climate change. in belgium, the mission to help the environment has taken an unconventional turn,

marie has heard good things about this beauty salon in brussels, but she is notjust getting her hair done. she may, in a small way, be helping to save the environment. you see all those discarded locks? well, they are brushed up, bagged and given to patrickjanssen, who takes them away, puts them through a machine, and you end up with this. translation: so, here, we manufacture carpets. that measure about 60cm square. that requires about ikg of hair. that can absorb around 7—8 litres of hydrocarbon or oil. that's handy for absorbing oil linked to pollution. here is patrick's hair carpets in action at a local garage. they come in various forms — floor mats that can soak up leaking oil and otherfluids, and here, a longer snake—like version that can be used to clean up waste underground.

translation: | find it - very environmentally friendly and very nice in the sense that normally we chuck hair away. here, we use it to collect hydrocarbons that arrive at the waste water treatment plant. no—one is under any illusions. this is only a very small part of a much bigger crusade, but hopefully, eventually, when it comes to carbon emissions, it will be hair today, gone tomorrow. tim allman, bbc news. if only we could say the same about climate change. let's bring you an update on our top story. a big fire is blazing at a casino hotel in northwest cambodia on the border with thailand. at least ten people have been killed in a fire at that cambodian hotel casino and police say the blaze broke out at the grand diamond city hotel casino on the border town of poipet

at around 23:30 local time on wednesday. according to the police, around 400 people were inside the building when it caught fire. you are watching bbc news. hello there. new year's eve just around the corner. and if your plans involve being outside, please keep watching the forecast. there's a lot of rain in the story over the next few days. the winds will be a feature as well. gale—force gusts on exposed coasts not out of the question. the only snow is really to the tops of the mountains in scotland, so we're not too concerned about that for the time being. but as this low pressure moves away, plenty of isobars on the southern flank, the winds very much a feature. so for thursday's weather, that's going to be blowing in plenty of showers from the word go, most frequent across scotland, northern ireland and northwest england. but there will be some across west—facing coasts of wales. the only good news is with the strength of the winds, gusts in excess of a0 to maybe 50mph in exposed coasts,

it's going to push those showers through at quite a pace. top temperatures as we go through the day on thursday ranging from 6 to 10 degrees, so just a degree or so down on what we've seen just recently, but still not too bad for the time of year. there's more wet weather to come, though, as we move towards the end of the week. as you can see, these weatherfronts pushing in. they will for a time on the leading edge bring some snow, but that moves away quite quickly and turns to rain across scotland as that frontal system moves through. and then it will leave a trail of showers through friday afternoon for many. 4 to 7 degrees in scotland, highest values of 13 perhaps in the southeast. as we head towards the new year's eve and the weekend, well, we're going to see this milder air clinging on across england and wales, the cold air sitting in place in scotland. that's in some ways where the driest and the brightest of the weather, any showers here to higher ground still wintry, but these frontal systems still open to uncertainty as to exactly where they'll be sitting

through new year's eve and into new year's day. so keep abreast of the forecast if you do have outdoor plans because the rain mightjust be that little bit further north or south. but it looks likely that it is going to be unsettled, wet and windy at times for england and wales, crisper and a little bit colder, but drier into scotland. but then those frontal systems will start to push their way steadily north for the start of 2023. so, lots to play for at the moment. but look at the temperatures — still on the mild side by new year's day with highs of 12 degrees. happy new year.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a large fire has broken out at a casino hotel in north—west cambodia on the border with thailand. the authorities in the city of poipet say at least ten people are confirmed dead and several people are still reported to be trapped. the fire in the gambling complex is still blazing. 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 amid concern china's case numbers aren't accurate.

the head of the catholic church, pope francis has urged