this is bbc news — welcome whether you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm ben brown. our top stories a warning over the uk's national health service , senior doctors say some emergency departments are in a "complete state of crisis". ukraine says it has killed hundreds of russian soldiers, in a missile strike over new year. this picture, from the ukrainian military, reportedly shows the scene of the attack. russia says 63 soldiers were killed thousands are paying their respects to the late pope benedict the sixteenth, whose body is lying in state at the vatican in scotland, three people have died,

after a fire broke out at a hotel in perth. the coffin of football legend pele arrives at the stadium of his former club, santos, for a public wake. prince harry accuses buckingham palace of failing to defend him and his wife meghan in an interview for us broadcaster cbs news. the family motto is never complainant never explain. but it doesn't really hold. we start here in the uk, where senior doctors are warning that some hospital accident and emergency departments are in a "complete state of crisis"

due to the extreme pressures facing the national health service this winter. rising covid cases and a severe flu outbreak are being blamed for adding to demand for services, which were already stretched. a number of hospitals have declared critical incidents, meaning they cannot function as usual. the royal college of emergency medicine says there's "no doubt" patients are being harmed. our health correspondent catherine burns reports. this and figures are worse than any time since records started in 200a. one in ten patients who need admitting his weight in over 12

hours for bed. and through patients. we know that for every 82 patients who wait for more than six hours in the apartment there is one associate that. at the moment we are lucky if we even see a patient within six hours. fiur moment we are lucky if we even see a patient within six hours.— patient within six hours. our diet because of— patient within six hours. our diet because of these. _ patient within six hours. our diet because of these. nhs _ patient within six hours. our diet because of these. nhs england | patient within six hours. our diet - because of these. nhs england insist there is no evidence that it says

there is no evidence that it says there are several competent reasons why we are seeing higher death rates than usual coming out of a pandemic. we have some people who are having to wait much longer than they would want. and that is uncomfortable for the nhs which is why and intra— stop are working hard it than he can. you sa the are working hard it than he can. you say they are — are working hard it than he can. you say they are uncomfortable with the level of care and interests are getting right now. yourjob what is your speciality for fixing this? there was a clear plan. recover services get back services and get back to the future. all this comes with more strike action plan to nhs workers this month.— with more strike action plan to nhs workers this month. catherine burns bbc news. earlier i spoke to matthew taylor, the chief executive of nhs confederation which represents and speaks for the nhs in england, wales and northern ireland. he described how bad the current situation was. i think it's as bad as it has 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 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 injanuary, which is our busiest month come on top of all of this take four more days of industrial action. you talk they're about being 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 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 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. when you talk 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 very 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. matthew taylor.

russia has acknowledged that 63 of its soldiers were killed in a new year's eve attack by ukrainian forces using himars rockets supplied by the us. the strikes destroyed a former vocational school in the donetsk region, where the soldiers are said to have been temporarily deployed. ukraine's armed forces say the strike killed hundreds of russian soldiers but human "losses" are still being established. this is what a russian ministry of defence spokesman had to say a short while ago: 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 air defences shot down two of the rockets. as a result of the impact of four rockets with high explosive warheads, 63 russian servicemen were killed.

we can speak now to professor phillips o'brien, professor of strategic studies at st andrews university. thank you for being with us. tell us more about what we know about this attack. these rockets supplied by the united states. tell us more about them and what kind of damage they can do. about them and what kind of damage the can do. , ., about them and what kind of damage they can de— they can do. they are highly accurate _ they can do. they are highly accurate rocket _ they can do. they are highly accurate rocket artillery - they can do. they are highly - accurate rocket artillery system. they have taken what we think of as original artillery and put on a rocket but put it in with terribly high accuracy. so that you can hit a building in over 100 miles away if you have the right ammunition. you can hit it with devastating effect. i think what we can say is what has happened here has made a massive impression because the russian defence mission history came out and confirmed there was an attack. even with mosque but it took days or

weeks before they admitted what happened than ever fully did. but the challenge here was so large they had to come out and admit that something significant had happened. quite unusualfor the something significant had happened. quite unusual for the russian defence ministry to give details about casualties like this. they are sent 63 of their troops died. they may or may not be an accurate total it. but unusual that they give any sort of figure at all.— sort of figure at all. absolutely. they have _ sort of figure at all. absolutely. they have given _ sort of figure at all. absolutely. they have given a _ sort of figure at all. absolutely. they have given a low— sort of figure at all. absolutely. they have given a low overall i they have given a low overall casualty figure for the war so far. thousands, i think, casualty figure for the war so far. thousands, ithink, which casualty figure for the war so far. thousands, i think, which is far less than i think anyone thinks russian casualties are. i think they state 63 have been killed in this one episode, one can assume it is larger than that. it would be impossible to tell right now because of the destruction of the building at least to go from the pictures. what does this attack tell us about the state of the war at the moment? a lot of people have said now that

we are deep in winter it is an attritional phase. there isn't much progress by either side. it attritional phase. there isn't much progress by either side.— progress by either side. it does seem to be _ progress by either side. it does seem to be that _ progress by either side. it does seem to be that the _ progress by either side. it does seem to be that the ukrainians| progress by either side. it does . seem to be that the ukrainians are now targeting russian troop concentrations. they have spent some time before this, earlier in the work, going with the himars against logistics tempos, trucks, vehicles. they don't seem to be a lot of vehicles around the front lines these days. now if they are using these days. now if they are using the himars to go after russian troop concentrations because the russians have generated a large number of new troops through this conscription. so, i think this is an example of that kind of operation at the ukrainians are trying to do right now as they are trying to reduce russian strength in preparation for more ukrainian operations. thank you professor phillips _ more ukrainian operations. thank you professor phillips o'brien _ more ukrainian operations. thank you professor phillips o'brien from - professor phillips o'brien from saint andrews university. and we can

also get the capital and join our correspondent hugo bachega what our nation about sadat? then correspondent hugo bachega what our nation about sadat?— nation about sadat? then we have a statement saying _ nation about sadat? then we have a statement saying you _ nation about sadat? then we have a statement saying you current - nation about sadat? then we have a statement saying you current this i statement saying you current this have confirmed they are behind this attack. i knelt working to confirm the number of victims. this is after an earlier statement in which they said hundreds, 400 russian troops had been killed. this latest statement came after the admission by moscow that 63 soldiers had died as a result of this attack. so, the ukrainians have confirmed that they were behind this strike. this location hit was a school, apparently it had been turned into a base for russian troops in this town in the eastern don't ask region. there was anger on nine, russian military bloggers had questioned the

decision by commanders to house so many soldiers in a single location. we heard from the army spokesman in moscow up trees in ukraine of using those himars, long—range rockets provided by the americans. and have been vitalfor provided by the americans. and have been vital for the ukrainians against the russians. the been vital for the ukrainians against the russians. the sort of wea on against the russians. the sort of weaponry that — against the russians. the sort of weaponry that the _ against the russians. the sort of weaponry that the ukrainians - against the russians. the sort of. weaponry that the ukrainians have been asking the west four. more sophisticated kind of long—range weaponry. sophisticated kind of long-range weaon . , ., ., sophisticated kind of long-range weaon . , . . , weaponry. exactly, and we have seen in the ast weaponry. exactly, and we have seen in the past that _ weaponry. exactly, and we have seen in the past that the _ weaponry. exactly, and we have seen in the past that the ukrainians - weaponry. exactly, and we have seen in the past that the ukrainians have l in the past that the ukrainians have been using himars rockets to target russian positions. in places away from the front lines we saw that before the ukrainians recaptured her son back in november. and last week again the ukrainians have been targeting some locations that have been helped by the russians in occupied areas away from the front

line. so it seems that this is the case again. the ukrainians using these long—range weapons to target russian positions in places away from the front lines. for quite some time, they have been saying they need this kind of weapon to continue with this cons are try to take back territory that is now under russian occupation. {eek territory that is now under russian occunation-— occupation. 0k thank you to go there. thousands of people have begun paying their respects to the former pope, benedict the sixteenth. following his death at the weekend, his body is now lying—in—state, in st peter's basilica at the vatican. 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 the short, solemn private procession to saint peter's basilic. # santa maria...#.

there he was, taken through the nave to be placed in front of the altar. 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 just the first five hours, vatican police say 40,000 people filed past benedict the 16th, and they came from all over the catholic world. it's just one of those once in a lifetime moments where you kind of feel more and more emotional as you get closer to viewing, you know, the pope's body and realise the impact that he's had, i guess, on everybody. so there was a kind of a somber mood as the walk progressed. what was that moment like for you when you were paying respects? that moment, i feel so honoured because pope benedict was a servant of god. we honour him.

we follow his example. there's been much discussion about the failings of pope benedict, particularly in dealing with abuse perpetrators. but those here today were focused on paying tribute to a man they felt was a great theologian, and who dedicated his life to the church. aleem maqbool, bbc news, at the vatican. three people have died, after a fire at a hotel in perth. guests at the building in the centre of the city were evacuated shortly afterfive in the morning. our scotland correspondent, james shaw, has more details. around 5am this morning, flames burst from a window at the new county hotel. the fire is burning fiercely but appears to be confined to the second floor. video captured by another eyewitness shows the scale of the emergency response — 21 ambulance crews and around 60 firefighters.

our firefighters worked extremely hard in a very complex and challenging environment to prevent the further spread of fire and damage where possible. after the blaze had been put out, firefighters discovered three bodies. a dog also died in the fire. no other guests in the hotel were seriously injured. from those that were evacuated, i can confirm that the 11 people were given treatment by the scottish ambulance service but did not require hospitalisation. the police have sealed off a large part of the centre of the city. that disruption is likely to continue for some time to come. the 2nd of january as a public holiday in scotland, but the tranquillity of the day has been shattered by this tragic fire. the investigation into it is onlyjust beginning. the names of those who died will not be revealed until they have been formally identified and loved ones have been told.

james shaw, bbc news, perth. the tennis legend, martina navratilova, has revealed she's been diagnosed with throat and breast cancer. the 18 time singles grand slam champion says her prognosis is good as both cancers have been detected early. she will start treatment in new york later this month. brazilians have begun to say farewell to the football legend pele as a twenty—four 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 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 on sunday.pele died

last thursday aged 82. one of those who's been at the stadium to pay their respects is the head of fifa — gianni infantino — who's called for countries across the world to name one of their football stadiums after pele. let's take a listen to him now. of course we pay tribute to him by being here. we pay tribute to him by asking all the federations now to pay and minutes of silence and tribute to panic. we are also going to ask every country in the world to name one of their football stadiums with his name. because 50 or a hundred years from now. when children are asking who was pele. they need to remember them all over the place where you score goals.

earlier i spoke to camilla mota from bbc brazil. she described how all generations were paying their respects. many brazilians, the younger generations didn't see pele play. he retired in 1977, so a lot of brazilians didn't see him on the pitch. but the worldwide reaction we saw in the past few days, people from all over the world paid their respects and were speaking about their admiration for pele, has made many brazilians realise how big he was. 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 already 100 people in line to see him, but gates opened at 10pm. right now, it's a hot, sunny day and there are hundreds of people lined up outside the stadium, waiting to pay their respects to brazil's king of football.

he had been ill for quite a while, so his death was not unexpected, but there has been a huge outpouring of national grief, hasn't there? right.