this is bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. the headlines: bell chimes the bells toll in st peter's square as the vatican announces the former pope, benedict xvi, has died at the age of 95. pope benedict led the catholic church for nearly eight years until, in 2013, he became the first pope in 600 years to resign. world health officials call on beijing to share accurate covid data — as england becomes the latest country to control arrivals from china. celebrations have begun to mark the start of 2023 with firework displays in auckland, new zealand and at sydney harbour.

a warm welcome to bbc news. the former pope, benedict xvi, has died at the age of 95. the vatican says he passed away this morning at his residence there. his health had been worsening in recent weeks. benedict served as head of the roman catholic church for eight years until 2013, when he became the first pope in 600 years to announce his retirement. he was german by birth, and was known for his conservative theological outlook. bell chimes

this was the moment his death was confirmed in rome — the bells ringing in st peter's square in vatican city. the vatican says pope benedict's body will lie in state from monday in st peter's basilica — and that pope francis will lead the funeral on january 5th. the first pope to do so in recorded history. here's our religon editor, aleem maqbool. cerebral by character, benedict was a prolific author and more at home with scholarship than pastoral work. he led the world's catholics for eight years and then abruptly resigned, the first pope to do so in 600 years. joseph ratzinger was born in southern germany. he was just six when the nazis swept into power. his parents were hostile to the regime, and though their son entered junior seminary in 1939, he was forced to join the hitler youth just two years later. he and his brother georg were ordained on the same day in 1951. georg became a parish priest, joseph chose a quite

different kind of ministry. first, a doctorate, appointments at prestigious universities and then the vatican. a cardinal by his early 50s, an ailing popejohn paul ii made him head of the sacred congregation for the doctrine of faith, formally the roman inquisition. there he upheld traditional catholic teaching on abortion, contraception and homosexuality. he even spoke against rock music and the harry potter books. whenjohn paul died in april 2005, he was one of the church's longest serving cardinals and presided at the funeral. his homily, based onjesus�*s instruction, follow me, proved prophetic. afterjust four ballots, white smoke

from the sistine chapel announced cardinal ratzinger�*s election. the oldest pope for 275 years. as pope benedict xvi, he sought to re—evangelise the west. it was an attempt to roll back the advance of secularism in europe and north america. but in it lay an acknowledgement of the church's declining influence in its traditional heartlands. but he also sparked controversy in 2006 when during a lecture he gave in germany, he quoted criticism of islam by a 14th century christian leader and appeared to link the religion with jihad and holy war. there were violent protests in several muslim countries. the pope apologised and made a point of setting up the first catholic muslim forum. he seemed chastened by the experience, and on visits like this one to britain,

benedict exuded pastoral warmth and warned against marginalisation of religion. but back in rome, the church was beginning to confront the scandal of sexual abuse by priests around the world. he was forced to deny that he'd played any role in covering up abuse. but the cases continued to mount. he later acknowledged he'd made mistakes in handling the matter. in february 2013, he shocked the world, announcing he would resign at the end of the month, citing age and failing health. the election of his successor, pope francis, represented a break with much of what benedict had stood for. the challenge was to find a leader who could close the widening gap between a doctrinally conservative vatican and the church worldwide. pope benedict upheld the creeds of the church and taught them with conviction.

he died as he lived, thinking and writing about how to defend and advance those creeds in an increasingly secular world. let's go straight to our europe correspondent bethany bell who's in vatican city. we know a bit about the funeral arrangements. we have had a lot of international reaction. but this is a very unusual moment in the history of the church, isn't it? it a very unusual moment in the history of the church, isn't it?— of the church, isn't it? it is. the vatican has _ of the church, isn't it? it is. the vatican has confirmed _ of the church, isn't it? it is. the vatican has confirmed that - of the church, isn't it? it is. the - vatican has confirmed that benedict xvi will be buried and his funeral will take place on the 5th of january and that pope francis will lead that service. this is entirely new territory for the church. pope benedict's biographer said it will be the first time in the 2000 year history of the church that a sitting pope will preside over the funeral

of his successor. interesting moment for the church. before that his body will be laid out in st peter's basilica from the 2nd of january to allow people to come and pay their respects to the former pope. there has been reaction _ respects to the former pope. there has been reaction internationally i has been reaction internationally from leaders but presumably also from leaders but presumably also from people actually in rome who happen to be there and happen to be close to the vatican when this announcement came? —— happened. st peter's square has been cleared of the public now but this morning when the public now but this morning when the news broke it was full of people, many tourists who had come here for the new year holiday, and we spoke to a number of people, to one woman from bologna, who was visiting rome and she said as soon as she heard the news she rushed to st peter square to pray for the pope. she said it was a great loss

for the church. we also spoke to barbara from barcelona who was in the square when the news broke. she said she and her boyfriend had been bewildered and she said it was a surreal moment to know that pope benedict was now dead and she said this is an unprecedented historical moment. many people have been coming here to pay their respects and they have now been moved a bit further out of the square but there are still crowds around a little distance from where i am now. there is a sense here of this being a momentous period.— is a sense here of this being a momentous period. is a sense here of this being a momentous eriod. . ., ., momentous period. thanks for “oining us. ican imagine i can imagine there will be many thousands of people travelling to rome in the coming days. the world health organisation says chinese officials must share more real—time information on covid in the country as infections surge. many of the country's strict restrictions have been lifted

over the last few weeks, but cases have soared and several countries are now screening travellers from china. officials at the who want to see more data on hospitalisations, intensive care unit admissions and deaths. the uk is one of the countries that has now announced it will introduce new covid checks for people arriving on flights to england from china. from next thurday, travellers will have to provide a negative test before boarding their flight from china. some random testing will be carried out on arrivals in england. let's speak now to simon calder. he's travel correspondent at the independent. this is now a change in policy, so what are the implications of this and what is being done in other countries? spain made a similar announcement.— countries? spain made a similar announcement. , , �* announcement. yes, they did. and it was this day — announcement. yes, they did. and it was this day in _ announcement. yes, they did. and it was this day in 2019 _ announcement. yes, they did. and it was this day in 2019 when _ announcement. yes, they did. and it was this day in 2019 when the - announcement. yes, they did. and it was this day in 2019 when the world | was this day in 2019 when the world health organisation, the china office, was first told about a

strain of pneumonia that had caused concern for 33 people in the city of wuhan and it seems to be tied around a seafood market which was then closed but we know the way that covid then spread around the world. there are echoes of that time in what is happening now. the uk has come out and said after on thursday, they said they were not going to be any changes but on friday they said they are going to introduce these tests. it will be a lateral flow test, before you are allowed on the fight, that is easy for the government to organise because you just tell the airlines you have got to do this. �* . , ., to do this. and the airlines have not the to do this. and the airlines have got the capacity? _ to do this. and the airlines have got the capacity? exactly. - to do this. and the airlines have i got the capacity? exactly. checking covid certificates _ got the capacity? exactly. checking covid certificates is _ got the capacity? exactly. checking covid certificates is something - got the capacity? exactly. checking covid certificates is something that j covid certificates is something that we have become accustomed to. you

mentioned checking on arrival and that will happen to one fifth of the arriving passengers. they are not large numbers coming into london heathrow today, for example, just three flights compared with more than 20 from new york. if those people test positive they will not need to quarantine. that is in stark contrast with what japan is saying, they say if you test positive and you are coming from china, and they are testing everybody, with a pcr test, then you go into a week of hotel quarantine. similar policy in south korea and the us has gone down the route, we want to test before departure, and italy, which was hit first and hardest by the covid crisis coming from china, said they will test everybody as they come in. simon, we will leave it for now, thanks forjoining us.

the mayor of kyiv, vitaliy klitschko has told the bbc that one person has been killed and 11 people have been taken to hospital — including a journalist from japan — after russia launched more than a dozen missiles targeting cities across ukraine on new year's eve. mr klitschko said several districts had been hit in the capital, including pechersk in the city centre. british intelligence had earlier warned of potential russian attacks — after the kremlin had launched country—wide strikes on thursday — killing at least three people and injuring six, including a child, according to the ukrainian officials. celebrations have begun to mark the start of 2023 around the world. these are pictures from new zealand where thousands of revellers gathered in auckland to watch the countdown projected on to the sky tower. this was the scene in australia, at sydney's harbour in the the last hour. fireworks dazzled crowds gathered to celebrate the first restriction—free party since covid struck.

wherever you are in the world, you are watching bbc news. welcome back. in wales, the chief executive of the nhs has urged people to call 999 only if it's urgent to try to relieve pressure on the health service. the new year is usually one of the busiest times for emergency departments. it comes amid a rise of flu and covid cases across the uk. simonjones reports. siren wails this winter, the health service is experiencing demand like it's never seen before — that's the stark warning from the nhs in wales, which is dealing with a sharp rise in cases of flu and covid. its chief executivejudith paget is pleading with people to only attend emergency departments for urgent care. in a statement, she said...

a message reiterated by one health board. the pressure is on the nursing staff to make sure that we can give the best care. we're working with the a&e departments to make sure the patients are coming in through the ambulance service, getting them up to the wards quickly. but obviously, we've got to isolate quite a lot of patients, so that means looking at our bed base, looking at our side rooms and our wards. as this public health campaign makes clear, flu is back with a vengeance. nhs england says there were more than 3,700 patients a day in hospital with flu last week — that's a sevenfold increase on the situation last month. health bosses say a twindemic of flu and covid is now a reality. it's led a number of ambulance trusts to declare critical incidents. 90—year—old jean stringer was visiting family on boxing day in gloucester when she

fell down the stairs. she spent 23 hours on the landing with a fractured hip, waiting for an ambulance. it's just horrendous because we knew how uncomfortable she was and there was absolutely nothing that we could do, apart from keep her topped up with the paracetamol and codeine and keep asking her if she's 0k, and you know that she's not. when she arrived at hospital, she spent 11.5 hours in the ambulance, waiting to be admitted. the ambulance service admits it's under huge pressure. and gps, too, say they are stretched. this is certainly the worst that i've seen it. speaking to colleagues, they've described it as the worst couple of weeks in their careers. we're asking that the public only use a&e for life—threatening emergencies. with flu cases also rising in scotland and northern ireland, health bosses are urging anyone eligible for a flu or covid jab that has not yet come forward to get vaccinated. and people celebrating the new year tonight are being asked to be sensible. simon jones, bbc news.

four members of the england women's football team that won the european championship this year are among those named in the new year honours list. the lionesses�* coach, sarina wiegman, who is dutch, receives an honorary award. there are knighthoods for queen guitarist brian may and for the artist, grayson perry. the former 0lympic heptathlete, denise lewis, becomes dame denise. lizo mzimba has more. a warning — his report contains flashing images. brian may, on top of the palace and now feeling on top of the world — the guitarist and animal welfare campaigner knighted notjust for services to music but for his charity work too. i do feel that this is notjust a kind of reward or a gong, this is a kind of licence and a kind of commission to carry on doing what i'm doing.

and it gives me a bit more power to my elbow, so i'm very happy about that. a fellow campaigner, virginia mckenna, becomes a dame for her work with wildlife — work that was ignited when she appeared in the film born free. and artist grayson perry says he's surprised and humbled to be knighted. other well—known figures honoured include anne diamond, whose long—standing campaign to help prevent cot death is thought to have saved the lives of thousands of babies. she becomes an 0be, as do actors stephen graham and david harewood and illustrator david sutherland, who's drawn some of the beano's best—known characters for 60 years. few will be surprised to see some of the lionesses honoured. england, european champions! captain leah williamson is made an 0be, top scorer beth mead becomes an mbe... mead! ..along with team—mates ellen white and lucy bronze. i know i've achieved a lot in football, and i've given a lot

to my career in football, so i guess to be recognised for everything that i've done, yeah, it's pretty special, pretty amazing. for helping organise this year's spectacular commonwealth games in birmingham, along with an outstanding sports career, former olympic champion denise lewis is made a dame. once you've accomplished something as meaningful, as iconic as an olympic gold medal, i think it's about giving back, and so i have endeavoured to do that, and so i'm beside myself, i'm overwhelmed and delighted and immensely proud. most people being honoured never expected to be in the public eye — people like louenna hood, a nanny who organised supplies and raised tens of thousands of pounds for people fleeing ukraine. she receives a british empire medal. how does it feel to be honoured like this? i mean, it'sjust absolutely amazing.

and i think, because we've had a bit of a gap and i'm able to look back and reminisce, it is incredible what you can do in such a short amount of time. i think if i'd planned it, it would never have happened, but we just... we just went with it and, yeah, it was amazing. just one of the many being recognised for making a difference to others. lizo mzimba, bbc news. with the accession of king charles comes a new era in the british monarchy and the role the monarchy plays in countries where the king is head of state. it's brought a lot of contemplation in the caribbean — where barbados last year ended its relationship with the uk. jamaica is expected to follow, but first it has to hold a referendum. so what's stopping it? 0ur correspondent katy watson reports from the island. it was in these fields that enslaved africans toiled sugar cane, it was in these fields that enslaved africans toiled. sugar cane fed britain's colonial wealth but created a painful

legacy forjamaicans. in 1953, the queen first visited jamaica to visit the island's old capital. this place the ultimate symbol of colonial power. it was in the same square in 1838 that slaves were finally set free. today, though, it's abandoned — history that so many want to forget yet never want to stop remembering. so you're looking at an architecture which has been realized. architectural historian dr green says the role that jamaica's people had from the original tejanos who inhabited the island to african slaves is often forgotten. we as jamaicans claim this as ours. however, the history books and the writing and others have tried to tell us it's not. as an architect, i know how to reinterpret that history to allow it to be owned by the jamaicans and the caribbean people because we owned it and we build it. what we have to now do going forward is to begin to erase the onus

of european domination on us. long gone is britain's national anthem. kids today sing "jamaica the land we love." do you understand what i'm saying? yes. history teacher kimberly binning says understanding jamaica's past is a crucial part of shaping how the younger generation sees themselves. as a child, i was taught history based on the european perspective of history. what the masters would have wanted us to know about history with little exposure to the experiences of the africans during enslavement. we have to take control of our destiny. we have to ensure that where we're heading is somewhere that's going to be betterfor us in the long run. the national motto is,

"out of many, one people". jamaica's united, no more so than in their view of where the country is headed. more than 60 years on from independence, the monarchy feels so irrelevant to people here. there are those who want to draw a line under a dark past, but many more just feel disconnected from a distant monarch. and almost everyone i've spoken to here thinks now is the time for a new future forjamaica. many would argue it's well past that time. it's a very interesting moment. former prime minister pj patterson met the queen on her last visit 20 years ago, not long after he said jamaica needed to become a republic. but political obstacles have held it back. so how long untiljamaicans lose their patience? i think it's in danger of being exhausted. and that was no more evident than when, as part of the platinum jubilee tour, william and kate were here.

as visitors to the island, the monarchy is warmly welcomed, but jamaicans now want their own kings and queens to shine. katie watson, bbc news, injamaica. lots of people take up running in the new year as a way to get fit, but how about running a marathon every morning? every day? for a year? that's what gary mckee has been doing this year since the 1st of january, and today he'll be setting off on his final run of the year. abi smitton reports. good morning on the 1st of january 2022. today, we'll set off on what will be a difficult challenge, but nothing's more difficult than facing cancer. this was gary mckee at the start of the year — the very beginning of his epic challenge. every day this year, he has laced up his trainers and hit the road —

in the heat, the freezing cold, even on christmas day — surrounded by supporters, running 26.2 miles each day, all to raise money for charity. # every day is christmas #. no matter how bad the rain is, somebody is going to ring the bell in the cancer ward to signify that they have finished their treatment. and go outside and, when you see the rain, it is going to be the nicest rain they have ever seen. so we always say we are running in somebody else's rain. by the time gary finishes, he will have covered nearly 10,000 miles, burned almost 1.5 million calories and runn through 25 pairs of trainers. hi, gary, guess where i am. he has had support from famous faces. all i can say is well done — 300 marathons, incredible. not long to go. and he has beenjoined by someone who knows what it is like to take on a mammoth challenge. i think what he has done is fantastic. and to be here and running with him is awesome. it is incredible. today, it's the end of the road —

the final hurdle. the finish line is in sight, just 26.2 miles to go. let's return to our top story this hour. the former pope, benedict xvi, has died in the vatican at the age of 95. he was chosen to lead the roman catholic church in 2005 — but in 2013, he became the first pope to resign since the middle ages. let's speak now to father thomas reese — a senior analyst for the religion news service & author of inside the vatican: the politics and organization of the catholic church. in some ways, is it fair to say that the impact of benedict was as much about what happened inside the church as it was in his role as the public face of the church because of his long career at the heart of the

vatican? ., ., ., , , vatican? you are absolutely right. po -e vatican? you are absolutely right. pepe benedict _ vatican? you are absolutely right. pope benedict saw— vatican? you are absolutely right. pope benedict saw himself - vatican? you are absolutely right. pope benedict saw himself as - vatican? you are absolutely right. pope benedict saw himself as a i pope benedict saw himself as a teacher and of course before he became a bishop he was a german professor so he wrote a very popular bookin professor so he wrote a very popular book in germany on christianity and he taught at different universities so he saw himself as a teacher. 0n the positive side he was a clear writer and speaker in describing traditional catholic teaching. the negative side was like the german professor, if you gave the wrong answer, he would flunk you, so during his time as the pope there was not a lot of free discussion in the church and we have returned to that now. under pope francis we have a lot more freedom to discuss things in the church then we had

previously. in the church then we had previously-— previously. he made this announcement _ previously. he made this announcement very - previously. he made this . announcement very abruptly previously. he made this - announcement very abruptly that previously. he made this _ announcement very abruptly that he was going to retire and that therefore there would be a vacancy before he died. how much do you think his decision was influenced by his experience of seeing the decline of his predecessorjohn paul ii? i think that is true. he did not want to be a public figure in decline as john paul ii was and he truly believed that the church can go on without him. he was a humble man and he trusted in the holy spirit and when he got to the point where he was physically and mentally incapable of doing the job, was physically and mentally incapable of doing thejob, he was physically and mentally incapable of doing the job, he felt that was a signal from god that it was time to go and to pass the torch to a new pope. and that is what he did. , , ._ . to a new pope. and that is what he did. , , . ., ., ., did. did he play much of a role in the exaansion — did. did he play much of a role in the expansion of— did. did he play much of a role in the expansion of the _ did. did he play much of a role in the expansion of the church? - did. did he play much of a role in the expansion of the church? in i the expansion of the church? in places like africa. the

the expansion of the church? in places like africa.— the expansion of the church? in places like africa. the church has been exnanding _ places like africa. the church has been expanding in _ places like africa. the church has been expanding in africa - places like africa. the church has been expanding in africa very - places like africa. the church has i been expanding in africa very much, at the same time as it has been declining in europe and the us and evenin declining in europe and the us and even in latin america. so that was going on before he became pope and it has continued. but most of those conversions were from people who were in indigenous faiths and we do not see any conversions amongst muslims, for example. as more and more of the continent becomes either catholic or evangelical i think we are going to see growth simply through population growth and not through population growth and not through conversions any more. fin through population growth and not through conversions any more. on the thou~ht of through conversions any more. on the thought of his — through conversions any more. on the thought of his attitude _ through conversions any more. on the thought of his attitude to _ through conversions any more. on the thought of his attitude to other - thought of his attitude to other churches and to other faiths, in an age where there is a lot of expectation, people take a more open

approach to other forms of belief, is that something he could engage with? intellectually if not practically?— with? intellectually if not practically? with? intellectually if not racticall ? . ., practically? he was much more concerned _ practically? he was much more concerned about _ practically? he was much more concerned about being - practically? he was much more concerned about being clear. practically? he was much more i concerned about being clear about where the church stood. he was in favour of interreligious dialogue and ecumenical dialogue but he did not want to be wishy—washy. there are differences and he tended to emphasise the differences, whereas other people involved in the dialogue likes to look for the areas in which we had common agreement. he upset some people in the ecumenical movement. ., ., ., , ., upset some people in the ecumenical movement. ., ., movement. father thomas, a pleasure to seak to movement. father thomas, a pleasure to speak to you- _ movement. father thomas, a pleasure to speak to you. thanks _ movement. father thomas, a pleasure to speak to you. thanks for _ movement. father thomas, a pleasure to speak to you. thanks forjoining - to speak to you. thanks forjoining us.

now on bbc news, the weather with ben rich. hello. it is not a straightforward end to the year weather—wise. we've already seen flooding rain in places. there is more rain in the forecast, but also snow across parts of scotland. so this combination could bring some new year's eve travel disruption. it is also quite windy, particularly across england and wales where we will continue to see outbreaks of rain through the afternoon. some rain for northern ireland, the south of scotland, where we really don't need any more rain. northern scotland is seeing some wintry showers and it will be cold here. three degrees for aberdeen, 15 in london. and then tonight, the rain shifts northwards, turning to snow over high ground in southern and central scotland. but perhaps some wintry weather even to quite low levels at times. so that could make for some really tricky travelling conditions, minus ten in the north highlands where there will be some ice, nine degrees above freezing in southern england and south wales tomorrow. rain and snow continuing to affect scotland. some rain for northern ireland, showers for northern england and wales, some heavy and thundery mainly dry further south and east and highs of 13 degrees.