hello. here in the uk, senior doctors are warning that some hospital accident and emergency departments are in a "complete state of crisis" because of the extreme pressures facing the national health service this winter. the royal college of emergency medicine says it's impossible to provide the best standard of care — and says there's "no doubt" patients are being harmed. our health correspondent catherine burns reports. we are used to seeing pictures like this every winter now. patients waiting in corridors and outside in ambulances as health experts talk about a crisis in care. this year the warning voices

seem louder than ever. most of the nhs employees would say it has been one of the toughest winters they can remember. i feel uncomfortable, deeply uncomfortable about the level of care we are sometimes, because of the degree of pressure, that we are providing. probably some ptsd from some of the stuff i have seen and just worn out. the data shows that things are worse now than at any time since records started in 200a. one in ten patients who need admitting are waiting over 12 hours for a bed with reports of some waits lasting for days. for a bed with reports of some waits lasting four days. it's dreadful for our patients. patients are waiting a long time for ambulances. once they get an ambulance, they might be waiting outside our emergency departments for a long time to get in our doors. once they make it through, there are long waits to be seen and we are having to treat patients in all sorts of unsatisfactory places such as corridors or areas not meant to house patients. the royal college of

emergency medicine believes that these delays between 300 and 500 people are dying in the uk every week. nhs england says it doesn't recognise those figures and that there are different reasons why the number of people dying could be higher than usual. but it is undeniable that the nhs is under extreme pressure. 18% more people have turned up to a&e departments in england in the last six weeks compared to the same time last year. 9,500 people are in hospital with covid, that's more than doubled recently. add onto that almost 4,000 with flu, another sharp increase, and it means that 13% of hospital beds are being used for covid and flu patients. and all this comes with more strike action planned by nhs workers this month. catherine burns, bbc news.

let's talk more about this. matthew taylor is the chief executive of nhs confederation which represents and speaks for the nhs in england, wales and northern ireland. matthew, thank you very much for being with us. how bad is it, do you think? i being with us. how bad is it, do you think? ~' being with us. how bad is it, do you think? ~ �* , ., , being with us. how bad is it, do you think? ~ 2 .,, being with us. how bad is it, do you think? ~ 2 ., .,, being with us. how bad is it, do you think? ~ 2 think? i think it's as bad as it has ever been. _ think? i think it's as bad as it has ever been, that _ think? i think it's as bad as it has ever been, that is _ think? i think it's as bad as it has ever been, that is what _ think? i think it's as bad as it has ever been, that is what leaders l think? i think it's as bad as it has ever been, that is what leaders i | ever been, that is what leaders i speak to say to me, people who have been working on the health service for 20 and even 30 years say they have never been in a winter as bad as this. the reality is that the nhs is fragile and it is fragile because there is a gap between the demand thatis there is a gap between the demand that is made on our service and the capacity we have to meet that demand, and when you are fragile it doesn't take much for things to become very difficult and that's what has happened with the growth of flu, with the growth of covid. so it is a very difficult situation. we have got to be honest with the public about the situation that we face. we have got to be clear in the messages we give the public about how they should best use the national health service, and also,

as you said, we have got to do something about the threat of industrial action because we cannot industrial action because we cannot in january, industrial action because we cannot injanuary, which is our busiest month come on top of all of this take four more days of industrial action. ., . ~' j take four more days of industrial action. ., ., ~ j ., , action. you talk they're about being honest. action. you talk they're about being honest- the — action. you talk they're about being honest. the royal— action. you talk they're about being honest. the royal college - action. you talk they're about being honest. the royal college of- honest. the royal college of emergency medicine, you heard in the report, they are saying somewhere between 300 and 500 people are dying each week as a result of delays and problems with emergency care. they are warning against any attempt to discredit that figure. do you recognise that figure? i discredit that figure. do you recognise that figure? i think we can an ue recognise that figure? i think we can argue about _ recognise that figure? i think we can argue about particular - recognise that figure? i think we | can argue about particular figures and methodologies. what i don't think we can argue about is that there is high levels of patient risk and high levels of patient harm than we would like to see and we are not able to provide the level of care we want to provide and chris hopson from nhs england himself may have disputed the figures but it doesn't disputed the figures but it doesn't dispute the fact that we are not able to provide the level of care we want to provide. that is the reality and we have to talk firstly about what we have to do to get a through

the next few weeks and then we have to have a conversation about how it is we can avoid going into next winter and is fragile estate as we have entered this one.— winter and is fragile estate as we have entered this one. when you talk about patient — have entered this one. when you talk about patient harm, _ have entered this one. when you talk about patient harm, it _ have entered this one. when you talk about patient harm, it is _ have entered this one. when you talk about patient harm, it is more - have entered this one. when you talk about patient harm, it is more than i about patient harm, it is more than that, it is patient death, that's what is happening, people are dying who should not be dying. it’s what is happening, people are dying who should not be dying.— who should not be dying. it's very difficult to imagine _ who should not be dying. it's very difficult to imagine that _ who should not be dying. it's very difficult to imagine that that - who should not be dying. it's very difficult to imagine that that isn't| difficult to imagine that that isn't the case, when you see how long it is taking four ambulances to reach people and see how long people are waiting in hospital. but i do think it is important to say that when the health service is given the resources it does a greatjob, whether it is the vaccination programme, whether it is the fact we have reduced the number of people waiting a long time for operations, expanding diagnostics. but the problem is we do all of that in a situation when the service is always running on hot and so when you go into winter you get flu and covid and don't have the capacity respond. one of the things leaders are saying to me is it is notjust the challenges day to day and which are really intense and there is patient

harm, no question about that, but also the work they want to be doing on recovering services, getting the waiting list down, that has all got to be put on hold because everything now is focused on the most urgent work. a, ._ ., now is focused on the most urgent work. ., ., ~ , ., now is focused on the most urgent work. ., ., ~ i. ., work. matthew taylor, thank you for our time, work. matthew taylor, thank you for yourtime. chief— work. matthew taylor, thank you for your time, chief executive _ work. matthew taylor, thank you for your time, chief executive of - work. matthew taylor, thank you for your time, chief executive of the - your time, chief executive of the nhs confederation. it is a very depressing picture in the new year for the national health service. thank you. the ukrainian army says hundreds of russian soldiers were killed in a strike on new year's eve using himars rockets supplied by the united states. russia's ministry of defence has acknowledged that 63 of its soldiers were killed. these are the first pictures we've received of the aftermath of the attack, which destroyed a former vocational school in the donetsk region. russian officials say the soldiers had been temporarily deployed there. this is what a russian ministry of defence spokesman had to say a short while ago: translation: the kyiv regime

tar: eted translation: the kyiv regime tarueted a translation: the kyiv regime targeted a temporary _ translation: the kyiv regime | targeted a temporary deployment point used by one of the units of the russian armed forces unit in makiivka in the donetsk republic with six himars rockets. russian edifice done shot down two of the rockets. as a result of the impact of four rockets with high explosive warheads, 63 russian servicemen were killed. ., warheads, 63 russian servicemen were killed. . , ., warheads, 63 russian servicemen were killed. . , . ,, ., , killed. that is what the russians are sa in: killed. that is what the russians are saying officially _ killed. that is what the russians are saying officially about - killed. that is what the russians are saying officially about that l are saying officially about that attack. our correspondent hugo bachega is in the ukrainian capital kyiv and has the latest. i think this is the fear here after four days of attacks by russian forces targeting the city. i think you mentioned this attack in donetsk and the russian defence ministry has confirmed that 63 russian soldiers were killed after this ukrainian attack targeting this facility in the occupied town of makiivka in the eastern donetsk region. the russians are saying that this facility, a school being used by russian forces as a base was hit by himars missiles, those missiles that have been provided by the americans to ukraine. this attack happened

on new year's eve. this number, 63, is a very different number from the one that has been released, given by the ukrainian authorities. the army here say that hundreds, 400 russian soldiers were killed, 300 wounded after this attack. obviously we cannot independently verify these numbers. but again, now the russians confirming that a facility that was being used as a russian base in donetsk has been attacked by ukraine and they have confirmed that 63 russian soldiers have been killed. hugo bachega reporting from kyiv. catholics have begun paying their respects to the former pope, benedict xvi. his body is lying—in—state after his death at the weekend. mourners will be able to file past the casket before

the funeral on thursday. our religion editor aleem maqbool reports. at dawn, the late pope was moved from the monastery in the vatican, where he died, for this short, solemn, private procession to st peter's basilica. # santa maria....# there, he was taken through the nave to be placed in front of the altar. # santa maria...# outside, while the ceremony was taking place, thousands had formed a queue that snaked around st peter's square. these were among the first allowed in through the doors to pay their respects in person. it's expected around 30,000 people a day will file past the pope emeritus on each of the three days he lies in state. this is one of those once—in—a—lifetime moments where you kind of feel quite, more and more emotional as you get closer to viewing the pope's body

and realise the impact that he's had, i guess, on everybody. so there was a kind of a sombre mood as the walk progressed, i guess. what was that moment like for you when you were paying your respects? that moment, i feel so honoured, because pope benedict, he was a servant of god. we honour him and we follow his example. in scotland, three people have died after a fire broke out at a hotel in perth emergency services, including 21 ambulance crews and nine fire trucks, were called to the new county hotel at about 5:00am local time. police cordoned off the road and urged members of the public to avoid the area. let's get more for our correspondent morag kinniburgh in perth. what more details do you have?

the alarm raised at 5am this morning prompted a full—scale emergency response, 66 firefighters and 21 ambulances, including an operations specialist team here. it tookjust over an hour and a half to bring the blaze under control to stop the fire and conduct a thorough search of the new county hotel. three people and a dog were found to have died. 11 people were treated for minor injuries at the scene and nobody needed to go to hospital. the hotel guests and some residents from neighbouring properties were moved out of their buildings and the city council here in perth has helped them find alternative accommodation as needed. is there any idea yet what caused this fire? police and firefighters are not responding to questions like that. they are saying simply this was a challenging and complex fire. they

have begun an investigation which they say will take some time, so they say will take some time, so they either don't know or won't to say at this stage what caused the fire, simply that they have thanked many local people for their support and are urging patients as many roads have been close around the city centre of perth, that has disrupted people trying to get about their daily business, their day—to—day lives. it could be some time yet before the roads reopened during this very sensitive investigation. mckinna bro, thank you for bringing us up to date on the fire. now we will look at a full round—up of the day's sports news. we start in brazil where mourners are paying their respects to pele, who's lying in state at the football ground of his former club santos. the three—time world cup winner died at the age of 82 last week. millions of mourners are expected to descend on the coastal city of santos across 2a hours.

these the first into the stadium with some having slept outside overnight. as the public files past the coffin which is at the centre of the fooball pitch, guests are gathering for a public wake. they include fifa president gianni infantino. whilst pele's wife and 100—year—old mother have also paid their respects along with other family members. a funeral procession will take place through the city's streets ahead of tuesday's burial. martina navratilova says she'll fight with all she's got after being diagnosed with throat and breast cancer. the nine—time wimbledon singles champion, who previously had breast cancer in 2010, will start treatment in new york later this month. navratilova, who's 66, says both cancers have been caught at an early stage. she's called it a double whammy which is serious, but fixable, and she's hoping for a favourable outcome. next to scotland where rangers were two minutes away from winning the old firm derby and closing the gap to celtic at the top of the premiership to six points. but a late equaliser at ibrox denied the home side a crucial win. rangers were 2—1 up with 88 minutes on the clock when kyogo furuhashi salvaged a point. it means celtic remain nine points

clear of their rivals. into the second half in all the days other matches in the scottish premiership. hearts are looking good to consolidate their hold on third place. they lead hibs 2—0. it is livingston i—i motherwell. the nfl playoff picture is becoming clearer with the penultimate week of the league's regular season almost over. two teams clinched a place in the postseason, including the tampa bay buccaneers. tom brady orchestrated yet another fourth quarter comeback, throwing three touchdown passes all to wide receiver mike evans as the bucs claimed the nfc south division title by beating the carolina panthers. the new york giants are in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. their quarterback danieljones rushed for two of his four touchdowns in their win over the indianapolis colts. while both

the pittsburgh steelers and green bay packers are still alive. the packers beating division rivals minnesota for a fourth straight win that takes them one victory from the postseason. i think the cowboys wre playing well and philly was number one in the league. i think we can win the last five. i didn't really go around saying that because you don't really want to say, hey, if we can get one of the next three, we can make the play—offs. but in my head that's what i was thinking. there is more reaction to that on the bbc sport website. we have more for you later but now back to you, ben brown. thank you very much, happy new year. brazilians have begun to say farewell to the football legend pele as a 24—hour wake gets under way in the stadium of his former club santos. his coffin was placed in the middle of the pitch or fans and dignitaries his coffin was placed

in the middle of the pitch for fans and dignitaries to pay their respects ahead of a private family burial on tuesday. the funeral procession drove through santos before dawn, with large crowds lining the roadsides and setting off fireworks. president lula of brazil is expected to attend the wake, his first engagement since he regained the presidency of brazil on sunday. pele died last thursday aged 82. joining me now is camilla mota from bbc brasil — who's in sao paulo for us. a chance for brazilians to say their farewells to the great legendary pele, some of them obviously too young to have ever seen him play, but still such a superstar in that country. but still such a superstar in that count . ~ .. , but still such a superstar in that count .~ , country. wright, exactly. many brazilians didn't _ country. wright, exactly. many brazilians didn't see, _ country. wright, exactly. many brazilians didn't see, youngerl brazilians didn't see, younger generations didn't see pele play. pele retired at the year of 1977 so many brazilians didn't see him on the pitch. but the worldwide reaction we saw over the past few

days, people from all over the world paying their respects, and speaking about their admiration for pele has made many brazilians realise how big he was, how big of and why he was called... his body arrived at 6am at the santos football stadium, santos is the brazilian football club in which pele played throughout his career. at 6.30 there were 100 people in line to see him but gates open at ten p. right now it is a hot sunny day and there are hundreds of people lined up outside the stadium waiting to pay final respects to brazil's king of football. he had been ill for— brazil's king of football. he had been ill for quite _ brazil's king of football. he had been ill for quite a _ brazil's king of football. he had been ill for quite a while - brazil's king of football. he had been ill for quite a while so - brazil's king of football. he had been ill for quite a while so his| been ill for quite a while so his death wasn't unexpected. but there has been a huge outpouring of national grief, hasn't there? right. as ou national grief, hasn't there? right. as you were _ national grief, hasn't there? right. as you were saying, _ national grief, hasn't there? right. as you were saying, pele _ national grief, hasn't there? right. as you were saying, pele died - national grief, hasn't there? right. as you were saying, pele died last| as you were saying, pele died last thursday on december 29 at the age of 82 of colon cancer. he had been

ill for a while and for the past few days brazilians were able to remember the key moments of his career. his most beautiful goals. he scored 1283 of them. so it was a time for brazilians to remember stories of the past. pele was a key figure in the making of brazil's image abroad. at the age of 17 he won brazil's first world cup in 1958. and just to give a little bit of context, 1958 was also the year in which brazil's great composer's song that inaugurated the bossa nova movement so it was a big year for brazil. in 1962 he won his second world cup and in 1970, the third world cup and in 1970, the third world cup, that one has been talked about amongst brazilians because

brazil was going through a ruthless military dictatorship in that time and the regime used that to try to divert a little bit of the international community's attention from what was going on in brazil. politics aside, pele was one of the greatest ambassadors brazil could ever ask for and one of the greatest athletes of all time, definitely. he certainly was. camilla mota from bbc brasil in sao paulo, thank you. let's get some of the day's other news. at least four people have died and several others injured after a helicopter crash on australia's gold coast. two helicopters collided mid—air close to the sea world theme park in queensland, before crash landing on a sandbank. police say initial evidence suggests the crash happened as one helicopter was taking off and the other was landing. gunmen have attacked a prison in northern mexico, killing ten guards and helping at least 2a inmates to escape. at least four prisoners also died in the incident in ciudad juarez. the mexican army has joined efforts to restore security,

and locate the fugitives. for the first time in nearly seven years, private vehicles can join cargo crossing the border between colombia and venezuela. the full opening of the shared border follows years of tense diplomatic relations between the two countries, which have eased since president gustavo petro took office in august last year. we've just come to the end of a year of great economic turbulence, particularly with energy instability caused predominantly by the war in ukraine and soaring inflation elsewhere. now the international monetary fund has warned that the year ahead will be tougher still. it notes that the three big economies, the united states, the european union and china are slowing down simultaneously, with the latter likely to be a drag on global growth for the first time in a0 years. speaking to face the nation on cbs, the imf�*s managing on cbs,

the imf�*s managing director explained why much of the rest of the world would suffer, too. when we look at the emerging markets and developing economies, there the picture is even direr. why? because on top of everything else, they get hit by high interest rates and by the appreciation of the dollar. for those economies that have high levels of debt, this is a devastation. more than 17,000 shops in the uk's high streets closed in 2022, the highest numberforfive years — that's according to the centre for retail research. the study showed that closures were up by almost 50% compared to the previous year as retailers continue to grapple with challenges related to the rising energy prices and the cost of living. let's get more on this from the director of the centre for retail research, professorjoshua bamfield.

would you say this is more closures than perhaps had been expected? i think there are more closures. it is part of a continuing trend that's been going on for ten years because of the growth of online retailing, which is meant there are really too many shops. in addition, some of the items that you mentioned in your programme like higher energy prices, the cost of heating and lighting for retailers have had a big impact because obviously the new modern large shops that one has to use a lot of energy. so these things are very, very important for retailers. but the other thing is that most of the companies that are not very well run have already gone bust. and what we now see is retailers trying to transform their estates. get rid of

poorly trading stores, get rid of duplications in town centres. and at the moment in 2022, and probably in 2023, this is going to be a trend where retailers are cutting back in order to improve their profits. you have identified the short term trends and long—term trends but what are your predictions for the coming yearin are your predictions for the coming year in 2023? will it be bad or will it get better? we year in 2023? will it be bad or will it get better?— it get better? we see 2023 is very much looking _ it get better? we see 2023 is very much looking like _ it get better? we see 2023 is very much looking like 2022, _ it get better? we see 2023 is very much looking like 2022, with - it get better? we see 2023 is very | much looking like 2022, with about 15,000 - 18,000 much looking like 2022, with about 15,000 —18,000 shops closing in the uk, and perhaps 150,000 job losses. so this process of rationalisation will continue. i think retailing will continue. i think retailing will be better at the end of 2023 thanit will be better at the end of 2023 than it is now. just

will be better at the end of 2023 than it is now.— than it is now. just briefly, christmas _ than it is now. just briefly, christmas is _ than it is now. just briefly, christmas is always - than it is now. just briefly, christmas is always a - than it is now. just briefly, christmas is always a big l than it is now. just briefly, . christmas is always a big time than it is now. just briefly, - christmas is always a big time for retailers. they make so much of their profits in that christmas period. was this christmas, was it good for retailers or was it disappointing? figs good for retailers or was it disappointing?— good for retailers or was it disappointing? good for retailers or was it disauointinu? a. �*, ., disappointing? as always, it's a name of disappointing? as always, it's a game of two — disappointing? as always, it's a game of two halves. _ disappointing? as always, it's a game of two halves. some - disappointing? as always, it's a - game of two halves. some retailers will be absolutely enthusiastic about it. the postal strikes and the rail strikes have meant that people haven't been able to get to the major cities where they usually go in or spend money in department stores and non—food stores, as well as getting involved in hospitality, staying in hotels and restaurants, and so on. but although some people have done well, i think we will find that christmas shopping in total and the january sales have been down on 2021. very good to talk to you,

professorjoshua bamfield, director professor joshua ba mfield, director of professorjoshua bamfield, director of the centre for retail research, thank you very much indeed. you've been watching _ thank you very much indeed. you've been watching bbc— thank you very much indeed. you've been watching bbc news. _ thank you very much indeed. you've been watching bbc news. thank - thank you very much indeed. you've| been watching bbc news. thank you very much for watching. hello there. it was a cold and frosty start for northern parts of the country this morning but today arguably the best day of the week, the winds are lighter, there is more dry weather around, more sunshine, but it is a bit colder. this was the window in between the cloud that we are in today, that was the cloud that gave us the rain overnight tonight but if you look into the atlantic this is what's coming our way once again, more cloud on the way, later tonight and tomorrow, these weather fronts will bring rain our way but also introduce some higher temperatures. milder air on the way tomorrow despite the fact we'll have more cloud and some rain around. ahead of that rain, temperatures will be falling quite quickly during this evening. it's been quite cold through much of the day in scotland and there will be an early frost around tonight,

and a few showers coming to the far south—east perhaps, and moving away and a few showers coming in to the far south—east perhaps, and moving away from north—west scotland. ahead of the rain band that comes in from the atlantic and that because here temperatures will fall as snow over higher parts of scotland because here temperatures by the end of the night still close to orjust below freezing and there could be a touch of frost in north—eastern parts of england, otherwise temperatures will have risen elsewhere. we have this band of wet weather initially in the morning, again some more snow over higher ground in scotland moving through. maybe a brief brightening up and sunshine in northern scotland but there is thickening cloud bringing rain more widely again in from the atlantic later in the morning and through the afternoon. and the winds strengthening as well, a windier day than today, particularly windy across wales and south—west of england where we will likely find some heavier bursts of rain over the wind. double temperature figures for most places, bit colder in scotland in northern parts of the country. given how wet it has been across all areas of scotland and with more rain to come during the day and overnight, as much as two inches of rain, there may be some further travel

disruption and local flooding across central and western parts of scotland. that rain quite widely through the evening and overnight, clearing away on wednesday. following on from that it's going to be a case of sunshine and showers. there may not be too much sunshine around. most of it for eastern parts of england. the showers feeding in across these western areas, particularly in the north—west of england and across parts of scotland and northern ireland. the winds in northern areas not quite so strong but again it's quite a brisk wind across many parts of england and wales. here temperatures will be up to around 12—14 degrees, a few degrees lower than that in scotland.

hello again, you are watching bbc hello again, you are watching bbc news. i'm ben brown. news. i'm ben brown. the headlines: the headlines: health bosses in the uk warn some health bosses in the uk warn some accident and emergency departments accident and emergency departments are in a "complete state of crisis". are in a "complete state of crisis". the president of the royal college had been called to the incident. the president of the royal college of emergency medicine says as many of emergency medicine says as many as 500 people are dying every week as 500 people are dying every week in the uk as a result in the uk as a result of delays to emergency care. of delays to emergency care. ukraine says it has killed hundreds ukraine says it has killed hundreds of russian soldiers, of russian soldiers, in a missile strike over new year. in a missile strike over new year. this picture, from the ukrainian this picture, from the ukrainian military, reportedly shows military, reportedly shows the scene of the attack, the scene of the attack, but russia says 63 were killed. but russia says 63 were killed. three people have died after a fire three people have died after a fire broke out at a hotel broke out at a hotel in perth in scotland. in perth in scotland. emergency services, emergency services, including 21 ambulance crews including 21 ambulance crews

and nine fire trucks, and nine fire trucks, had been called to the incident.