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tv   BBC News  BBC News  January 4, 2023 10:00am-1:01pm GMT

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this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. russia blames a ukrainian rocket strike that killed dozens of servicemen on russian troops using their mobile phones. doctors across the uk say they're facing growing pressure as patients turn away from hospitals for help. the uk prime minister sets out a plan for all students in england to study some form of maths until the age of 18. let me know what you think of the plan, what sort of maths should be taught? we would love to hearfrom viewers right around the world about how maths was taught where you are. you can get in touch on twitter. for the first time in a century, the us house of representatives
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fails to elect a speaker in its opening session. no persons having received a majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname, a speaker has not been elected. and a mountain and a ski—lift, but where's the snow? the record mild temperatures affecting europe's winter sports. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. russia's defence ministry says officials will be held accountable after ukrainian forces located and destroyed an army barracks in the occupied town of makiivka, killing dozens of troops. russia now says 89 people were killed. ukraine says the number was much higher. russia says the unauthorised use
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of mobile phones by russian troops allowed ukraine to target its troops because they were able to use the signal to find the soldiers�* location. here's some more of the russian military statememt. translation: circumstances of the incident are currently being investigated, but it is already obvious that the main reason, despite the restriction, was that the personnel within the range area of enemy firepower turned on and used mobile phones. this factor allowed the enemy to locate the personnel and launch the missile strike. all the necessary measures are currently being adopted to prevent this kind of tragic incident in the future. the aim of the investigation is to bring those responsible to justice. with more details on that new year's day attack on russian troops in makiivka, our correspondent hugo bachega sent us this update from the ukrainian capital, kyiv.
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yesterday we had a statement from the russian defence ministry saying that the use of mobile phones by soldiers was the obvious reason behind this attack, an attack that hit this facility in the occupied town of makiivka on new year's day, and this was a school that had been turned into a base by russian soldiers, apparently the soldiers had recently been mobilised, so they had justjoined the army, were waiting to be deployed when this attack happened. but it is interesting that this morning we are hearing reaction from russian military bloggers who have become influential in this war, and they have criticised this russian statement, they say this is apparently an attempt to shift responsibility onto the victims themselves, rather than the commanders who authorised this deployment, and commanders that kept a large number of soldiers in a single location. now, the russians are saying that ukraine carried out this attack using those long—range missiles provided by the americans
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to ukraine, and they have been vital in the ukrainian offensive against the russians. here in kyiv, the authorities have been silent, this is part of the strategy, they rarely give details about their operations against the russians, but earlier this week they said that up to 400 russian soldiers had been killed as a result of this attack, so devastating impact, an attack that happened in the eastern part of the country, the deadliest attack on russian troops ever admitted by russia in this war. with me is olga ivshina from the bbc russian service. what does this incident say about discipline in the field amongst russian troops, and indeed the
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command structure in the field? h command structure in the field? i think it is a very good question,, and it shows the rift and the challenges which stand in front of the russians, both soldiers on the ground and their authorities. but they want to talk about the fact that, yes, on the one hand and soldiers were using telephones in a band location, but on the other hand they have no other means of communication with their family, which has been raised aloft by the soldiers, by war bloggers, saying there is no way for them to connect with their families, and the question hasn't been solved. but this shows a bigger rift, if we make one step furtherfrom this shows a bigger rift, if we make one step further from the personal issues. the russian army doesn't have a secure means of communication, which can be used for the general amount of soldiers. they don't have a secure means of
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communication within the army, and also between the soldiers and their homes, the soldiers and headquarters. those radio systems which exist, they are so outnumbered that they cannot cover the new masses of soldiers. another very important issue, this is very bad publicity for the ministry of defence in light of rumours about a second wave of mobilisation. there are a lot of rumours, and it seems that tension in the society is growing, and this is sparking even more criticism towards the ministry of defence and even more rift even within those who support the so—called special military operation, which is the de facto invasion into ukraine. find operation, which is the de facto invasion into ukraine.— invasion into ukraine. and the manner in _ invasion into ukraine. and the manner in which _ invasion into ukraine. and the manner in which the _ invasion into ukraine. and the manner in which the defence l invasion into ukraine. and the - manner in which the defence ministry has commented on this, olga, effectively blaming the use of the
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mobile phone by its soldiers for that strike, some people see it as victim blaming — i mean, are you able to gauge what the wider reaction as to how the russian ministry of defence has handled this? , , , ministry of defence has handled this? , , i, , , this? this is very surprising behaviour _ this? this is very surprising behaviour from _ this? this is very surprising behaviour from the - this? this is very surprising | behaviour from the ministry this? this is very surprising i behaviour from the ministry of defence in a number of ways. first of all, it is the first time when they comment on a separate incident for the russian army, before that they have only updated the casualty tolljust they have only updated the casualty toll just twice they have only updated the casualty tolljust twice in the almost 11 months of war already, so this is outstanding. on the other hand, yes, they are commenting on the number of casualties, they have even updated us on the increased number of casualties, but on the other hand, yes, they do blame regular soldiers, not the senior officers, butjust the soldiers themselves. so it is a
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combination, they try to own the narrative, because in recent months we have seen increasing pressure on the ministry of defence, increasing criticism, which is becoming public, and at the moment there is a worrying tendency, because even mr putin is now paying more attention to what military bloggers are saying, pro kremlinjournalist at the front line, rather than generals in the ministry of defence.- in the ministry of defence. thank ou ve in the ministry of defence. thank you very much — in the ministry of defence. thank you very much for _ in the ministry of defence. thank you very much for that, - in the ministry of defence. thank you very much for that, olga - you very much for that, olga ivshana, from the bbc russian service. a 30—hour wait for an ambulance and 12 hours sitting outside a&e — more distressing stories are emerging this morning of the nhs under pressure this winter. the uk's health secretary, stephen barclay, has blamed high numbers of flu and covid cases, and fears of strep a infections. many hospitals are struggling to keep up with demand, with ambulance services declaring critical incidents. graham satchell reports. these are all the ambulances outside king's lynn hospital,
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waiting to take patients in. this phone footage was taken by sarahjones at the queen elizabeth hospital in norfolk. she was with her 84—year—old dad, mervyn. so it's 8:50 and we just got out of the ambulance. 8:50pm. and paramedics came to the house at 8:30am this morning. so we've been almost 12 hours in an ambulance, and we're going now up to the ward. sarah's dad on the stretcher, struggling to breathe with heart failure. we had the doctors team come and look at dad in the ambulance. we had to take him out in the rain, right out on the stretcher, into the hospital to have the x—ray and then bring him back into the ambulance. i've never seen anything like it. the system seems completely broken, and one thing backs up another thing, you know, which leads to an ambulance sitting there for 12 hours when they could be out. maybe somebody else is going to not make it to the hospital because of that.
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the royal cornwall hospital, and again a queue of ambulances. on the ward, 82—year—old marie grubb. she fell in her kitchen and broke her pelvis. marie waited on the floor for 31 hours for an ambulance. it was agony. i was like, "i can't turn over, just too sore to turn." i was on my side, facing away, facing the windows. and itjust was agony. how did you manage to keep going for 31 hours? well, you do, i think. willpower, i suppose, isn't it? winter pressure is nothing new in the nhs, but the combination of flu, covid, staff shortages and delays discharging patients to social care means, for many, this is the worst winter they can remember. we don't want to be seeing patients in corridors. we don't want to be breaking bad news in cupboards. we don't want to be doing that sort of thing.
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and it's quite hard to keep doing that. we know we shouldn't be doing it. it'sjust the only thing we can do to keep the system going. the government in westminster says the nhs is its top priority and it's providing an extra £14 billion over the next couple of years. we've seen significant pressure on the nhs, particularly over this period through a combination of very high rates of flu, persistent and high levels of covid, continuing concerns, particularly amongst many parents, around strep a. and that has combined over that period with a time when primary care services and community services overall are so much more limited. what do we want? fair pay. when do we want it? now! _ more strikes are planned by nhs staff later this month. the labour party has accused the government of 12 years of mismanagement, saying there is now a sense ofjeopardy surrounding the nhs, which is frightening people across the country. graham satchell, bbc news.
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let's bring you the picture from our correspondents across the uk. in a moment, we'll hearfrom emma vardy in dundonald and lorna gordon in glasgow but first to mark hutchings in cardiff. well, another day getting under way here at the wales' biggest hospital, multiple hospitals under the most enormous of pressures, the welsh government say these are unprecedented times. if you look at the picture across wales, at the last count, about 500 patients were in hospital with covid, there is a flu outbreak and staff shortages, that at any one time more than half of the welsh ambulance fleet was actually waiting outside hospitals like this one simply to hand over patients, and playing into that is the fact that one in nine hospital beds is occupied across wales by someone who no longer needs social care. senior medical officials are urging health bodies to look at, wherever appropriate, discharging such patients, even if there isn't a social
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care package in place in order to free up beds for those who need them most acutely. the nhs confederation, representing the bodies across wales, say there is a blame game going on between cardiff and westminster. now for the picture in northern ireland, over to emma vardy. well, hospitals here say the pressures havejust been ramping up week after week, and at times the situation in emergency departments has been compared to the intensity of war—zone hospitals. now, in recent weeks, hospitals have been issuing appeals at the busiest times for off—duty nursing staff to come in and work extra shifts, because the pressures have just got so extreme. one trust here issued four urgent appeals on social media over the last seven days. health executives have been trying to set new targets to ease the pressures, including a maximum three—hour wait for ambulances to hand over patients, but that is just not sustainable,
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staff say, the situation as a whole is critical, and something else needs to happen. an added complication in northern ireland is that we do not have a functioning government here at the moment, because of a separate row over brexit and the dup refusing to go back into power sharing over that. but doctors here say that, without a political leadership, it is even more difficult to address the current problems. lorna gordon is in glasgow. the scottish national clinical director, jason leitch, has been speaking this morning, describing a&e in hospital as the canary in the coal mine, he said it is not the only place that is under immense pressure, not the only area of the nhs under immense pressure — community pharmacies and gp practices are also struggling but a&e is the most evident and obvious place
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where the services are struggling. a&e services in scotland recorded their worst ever waiting times, two health boards here in scotland have asked staff to cut leave short to come in and help out. doctors in the largest health board here in greater glasgow and clyde have requested a declaration of a major incident, a major emergency due to concerns over patient safety and what they described as an overwhelmed a&e department at the queen elizabeth university hospital here in glasgow. their request was denied. well, the conservatives are calling for a debate in parliament, they are asking nicola sturgeon to intervene, the first minister says the challenges are not unique to scotland and that the government is continuing to support the service with record investment and reform.
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iam going i am going to introduce my guest in a second, but we have some data just down a&e waiting times in scotland for the week ending the 25th of december, 57% of people attending an emergency department was seen or admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, the target is 95%. not all the data is in, so an incomplete picture, but clearly some way between 57% and 95%. dr steve mowle is the spokesperson for the royal college of general practitioners. hejoins us from his practice in south london. very good to have you with us, what is it like at your surgery today? it has been incredibly busy, probably the busiest christmas period in 221 the busiest christmas period in 29 ears of the busiest christmas period in 29 years of me _ the busiest christmas period in 29 years of me being _ the busiest christmas period in 29 years of me being a _ the busiest christmas period “129 years of me being a doctor, so, the busiest christmas period “125 years of me being a doctor, so, you know, we are really feeling the pressure in general practice, it is notjust hospitals
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pressure in general practice, it is not just hospitals feeling pressure in general practice, it is notjust hospitals feeling this increased workload. so notjust hospitals feeling this increased workload.- notjust hospitals feeling this increased workload. so in 29 years of bein: a increased workload. so in 29 years of being a doctor, _ increased workload. so in 29 years of being a doctor, you _ increased workload. so in 29 years of being a doctor, you have - increased workload. so in 29 years of being a doctor, you have neverl of being a doctor, you have never had such a busy period. how are you and the team at the surgery coping? our teams are really stretched, and unfortunately colleagues around the country are either at risk of burn—out or are burning out, and the situation is a chronic one. we know from figures that, just in november, gp and teams are seeing 18% more patients than they were three years ago, before the pandemic. that equates to roughly one extra doctor in an average sized practice. unfortunately, a number of gps has not gone up with demand, it has actually gone down. [30 not gone up with demand, it has actually gone down.— not gone up with demand, it has actually gone down. do you have more atients on actually gone down. do you have more patients on your _ actually gone down. do you have more patients on your books, _ actually gone down. do you have more patients on your books, or— actually gone down. do you have more patients on your books, or is _ actually gone down. do you have more patients on your books, or is it - patients on your books, or is it that the patients you have are coming to you with more issues and more complex issues?— coming to you with more issues and more complex issues? absolutely, it is both the number— more complex issues? absolutely, it is both the number of—
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more complex issues? absolutely, it is both the number of issues - more complex issues? absolutely, it is both the number of issues and - more complex issues? absolutely, it is both the number of issues and the j is both the number of issues and the complexity, and also patients who are waiting to see specialists in hospitals and there is a delight to see them, and we're having to manage them where normally they would be looked after by in hospitals. i spoke a little earlier to the chair of the royal pharmaceutical society in england, and she was talking about how pharmacies are so much busier as well. she said that pharmacists need more power and that this could be part of the solution to taking pressure off gps, for example if someone comes to them with a prescription, if it says tablets, then the pharmacist cannot give out the same medicine in capsule form. that patient has to go back to the gp to get the prescription changed. that seems a bit crazy and a waste of time, doesn't it? would something like that significantly help you. certainly, when we are having shortages of penicillin recently, the emergency rules were not
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relaxed, and there is no reason why very highly skilled pharmacist, who know their stuff, they know that if they change something, they will ensure that it is safe for patients, these things are not rocket science, and we need to make the changes at speed, and they will save time for the system, they will save time for patients. the system, they will save time for atients. �* ., , the system, they will save time for atients. �* . , , , ., patients. and i realise this is a com - lex patients. and i realise this is a complex question _ patients. and i realise this is a complex question with - patients. and i realise this is a complex question with so - patients. and i realise this is a | complex question with so many patients. and i realise this is a - complex question with so many issues causing these pressures, but if there was one thing that could happen immediately to make a difference, what would it be? i guess, at the end of the day, if we are not able to offer all the emergency care that we need to, we need to actually reduce some of the care we are giving. we need to stop doing some things, because the system doesn't look like it can carry on business as usual when critical alerts are going out on a regular basis. that means the system does not have the capacity at the moment to meet the emergency needs of patients, we will need to stop
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doing planned activities. dr mowle, ofthe doing planned activities. dr mowle, of the general _ doing planned activities. dr mowle, of the general college _ doing planned activities. dr mowle, of the general college of _ doing planned activities. dr mowle, of the general college of -- - doing planned activities. dr mowle, of the general college of -- the - of the general college of —— the royal college of general practitioners, good luck to you and your team. in the midst of the crisis in the nhs, the wave of strike action and calls for more help with rising energy bills and increases in the cost of living, the prime minister will make a speech later today outlining his priorities for the year ahead. among the proposals he's expected to talk about, he'll set out plans to ensure all pupils in england study some form of maths until they're 18. but no new qualifications are immediately planned, and there are no plans to make a—levels compulsory. labour has criticised the plans as an "empty pledge". let's talk to our political correspondent damian grammaticas, who's at westminster. damian, before we talk in more detail about this plan formats, the prime minister has a lot of other crises to deal with, cost of living and of course the crisis in the national health service, so how much are we going to hearfrom him on
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thoseissues are we going to hearfrom him on those issues first of all? i are we going to hear from him on those issues first of all?- those issues first of all? i think we certainly — those issues first of all? i think we certainly are _ those issues first of all? i think we certainly are going - those issues first of all? i think we certainly are going to - those issues first of all? i think we certainly are going to hear. those issues first of all? i think. we certainly are going to hear on that, because we have do, don't we? what you were just talking about, hearing about in the last few minutes, that has to be part of what the prime minister is going to talk about, those intense pressures on the nhs, those delays in people getting treatment, concerns amongst doctors about the number of patients dying because of these issues. so the prime minister will, i think, a dress that, and he will definitely face questions on that, i am sure, when he takes questions later today, but i think what we see in the middle of all of the firefighting, these crises, rishi sunak is perhaps attempting at the beginning of the year to set out something where he can give more of a personal stamp, more of a vision of why he is in the job and what he might be able to achieve in the longer term, and that is where i think this maths idea comes in. the difficulty, as you
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point out, is that some will say, well, this seems a little bit off the agenda when there are all these pressing issues — strikes, the health service and all the rest — about rishi sunak, downing street would say, believed in the importance of education, the value of the education he could, and the fact that less than half of those over16 fact that less than half of those over 16 who are still at school do any sort of maths, and that is very different to countries like america, australia, france, germany, and his business to try to change that. we don't know the details of this plan, but as it stands, there are not enough maths teachers around to teach children up to the age of 16 in england, so how is he going to deliver on teaching some form of maths for all pupils up to the age of 18? ~ ., �* ~ ., ., of 18? well, we don't know, and it is not even — of 18? well, we don't know, and it is not even clear— of 18? well, we don't know, and it is not even clear that _ of 18? well, we don't know, and it is not even clear that he _ of 18? well, we don't know, and it is not even clear that he will - of 18? well, we don't know, and it is not even clear that he will set . is not even clear that he will set that out in his speech today, set out anything other than really an
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aspiration, because we do know, we have been briefed that he will say this is something that would not be delivered until after the next election, so it is not something thatis election, so it is not something that is going to happen immediately, and as you say, the teaching unions, the labour party, the liberal democrats have all been pointing out, well, there is a real shortage at the minute of maths teachers, there is huge pressure on teachers already, so how could this be delivered? the only way would be with more maths teachers, so there is going to be sort of practical questions about this, and also questions about this, and also questions being raised by some teachers saying, well, is this really the right way to go about this? you don't want to just bolt on extra maths for children post—16, may be a better idea is to look at broadening the education post—16 anyway so it is not so focused the way it currently it is.— way it currently it is. damian, thank you _ way it currently it is. damian, thank you very _ way it currently it is. damian, thank you very much, - way it currently it is. damian, thank you very much, damian grammaticas. let me bring in some of
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your tweets on this, one says, as a year 12 student, i disagree that everyone should continue maths, there is already immense pressure with the three subjects i have taken, and ifind it very difficult, despite enjoying these subjects. another says, despite enjoying these subjects. anothersays, maths despite enjoying these subjects. another says, maths is applied in almost every aspect of our lives, in ghana it is a mandatory subject from nursery up until the final exams before going to university. another says, maths is vital, for example i have friends coming to my birthday party, i want to be to have the cake myself, how many friends can i invite? i like your sense of humour! on a serious point, from sam, let's hope rishi sunak has exemptions for those of us with dyscalculia, or does he intend extending the torture until we are 18? get in touch on twitter.
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there's political disarray in the us, where the house of representatives — the lower house of congress — has had to adjourn without electing a new leader. kevin mccarthy, the head of the republicans in the house, was expected to be chosen as speaker after his party won a majority in the house at elections in november. but about 20 hardline members of his own party rejected him in three separate votes. it's the first time in a century that the leader of the majority party has failed to get selected as speaker at the first attempt. our north america correspondent peter bowes has more. the heart of us government deadlocked because its members can't agree on who'll be the next speaker. the house of representatives is meeting for the first time at the start of the new congress, with the republicans in charge. pursuant to law and precedent, the next order of business is the election of the speaker of the house of representatives for the 118th congress. with a slim majority, the republicans have the votes to select the next speaker —
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but only if most of them agree. kevin mccarthy is the front—runner. the republican leader enjoys wide support and has been campaigning for the role for months. and i think kevin mccarthy's the right guy to lead us, i really do, or i wouldn't be standing up here, giving this speech. i came in with kevin, we came in the same time, 16 years ago. we haven't always agreed on everything, but i like his fight, i like his tenacity and i like the... i remember kevin told me, i actually wrote about this in a book. i remember kevin told me, he said, "the toughest times in life are when you get knocked down." "the question is — can you come back?" and i have always seen him be able to do that. but this could be a knockdown from which there is no comeback. mr mccarthy is a polarising figure and not universally popular in his party. and that was obvious when the voting started — round after round, three times, he failed to win the majority needed to be declared the new speaker. it was down to a small group on the right of the party
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who voted instead forjim jordan, who'd earlier said kevin mccarthy was the right person for the job. he was opposed by 19 members during the first two rounds, and then 20 in the third round. no persons having received a majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname, a speaker has not been elected. it leaves the house in disarray, unable to move on with the business of running the country. but differences in political ideology also lie at the centre of this impasse with disagreement over the future direction of the republicans. there had been indications that there was going to be this fight going back weeks. obviously, this is not the way the republicans in the house wanted to start their majority, but there had been these indications, and both sides have dug in, and there is no indication yet of when this is going to end. so far, kevin mccarthy has doggedly refused to drop out of the race. it is the first time in 100 years that a speaker has not been elected
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in the opening round of voting. on that occasion, it took several days. history could be about to repeat itself. peter bowes, bbc news. temperatures forjanuary have reached an all—time high in a number of nations across europe. records have been broken in poland, the netherlands, the czech republic and several other countries. tim allman reports. salzburg injanuary is normally a winter wonderland. but this year something is missing — namely, snow. there's not been much of it, and what there has been has mostly melted, which makes skiing something of a challenge. translation: it is really weird - when you ski down the white slope, and on the left and right it is all green. it is a similar story in the swiss alps, where high temperatures are taking a toll on seasonal sport. translation: look, | the snow is really wet.
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it is no longer constant, it's like in spring. the snow actually has to bind, and that does not work with a lot of water. this is just part of a larger phenomenon taking place all over europe. in many places, january, often the coldest of the months, is currently among the mildest. here in the czech republic, it's practically short—sleeve weather — a surprise for locals and tourists alike. in my country, it is freezing cold and snowy, and that is why i bring a thickjacket, because i expected similar, the weather, but apparently this morning it's really, really warm. unseasonably warm weather has been felt across much of the continent. in belarus, they saw a record temperature of 16.1; degrees celsius, 11.5 degrees higher than the previous record. it was a similar story in poland, where it hit 18.9 degrees, four
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degrees higher than the previous record forjanuary. and in the spanish city of bilbao, the temperature reached more than 25 degrees, 10 degrees higher than they've ever seen at this time of year. contrast that with what america has been experiencing in recent days, freezing cold temperatures and a blanket of snow, with more severe weather on the way. if, as many suggest, this is down to climate change, then it seems that that can take many different forms. tim allman, bbc news. earlier i spoke to our climate correspondent, jonah fisher. i asked him whether we're now seeing a pattern of milder winters. what climate scientists like to look at is not specifically events by themselves, because there are many contributing factors that can lead to weather events like the remarkable one we just saw across continental europe. that event is superficially due to a huge mass of warm air
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moving from the coast of west africa, across europe. it has warmed up, basically, europe, from the west to the east, as far as ukraine. of course, the big question is, how is this linked to climate change? scientists will be looking at that question. the way they look at this, the climate scientists, is that they try to calculate probabilities. they look at how likely this sort of extreme weather event would be if there hadn't been any human interference, and then they run their models with the current levels of increased greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide. so they will be looking at that in relation to this specific event. what we can say with some conviction is that with the climate warming, we know that the temperature around the world has raised by more than 1 degrees since pre—industrial times. that does lead to more heat waves.
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this is a winter heatwave, which europe has been experiencing. and those heatwaves will be more intense when they do happen. effectively, what scientists will be trying to crunch with their numbers and models over the next few days is just how much more extreme, how much hotter this winter heatwave has been because of climate change. the headlines on bbc news: russia blames a ukrainian rocket strike that killed dozens of servicemen on russian troops using their mobile phones. gps across the uk say they're facing growing pressure as patients turn away from hospitals for help. for the first time in a century, the us house of representatives fails to elect a speaker in its opening session. and a mountain — and a ski—lift — but where's the snow? the record mild temperatures affecting europe's winter sports.
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let's return to the war in ukraine. russia says it will hold officials accountable for mistakes that led to the deaths of at least 89 russian servicemen in a ukrainian missile strike in the donetsk region. it's deadliest single incident moscow has acknowledged since the start of the war. in a moment we'll speak to film—maker olly lambert who spent two months on ukraine's southern front line with groups made mainly of volunteers from non—military backgrounds. he got a close look at the ordinary people fighting against the russian army and tried to understand how an inexperienced military are holding up against a major military power. his documentary is available on bbc iplayer later today and in the clip we're about to show you, olly joined volunteer special forces trying to destroy a russian tank in southern ukraine with new equipment. sirens.
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it looks like something is wrong with the mortar tube itself. let's go. but six minutes is up and he is out of time. now we are the target. the fear is that the russians can now pinpoint this position. explosion. we are staying here. i don't like movement during this time.
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explosion. olly lambert is the director of ukraine, the peoples fight — he's with me now speak ago you were just telling me that you are last in ukraine in august, you have been editing since then. i can see why you wanted to do this. this is a compelling story to tell. but incredibly dangerous. what was the thought process, as you are deciding to do this or not? i’zre deciding to do this or not? i've made a lot _ deciding to do this or not? i've made a lot of _ deciding to do this or not? i've made a lot of films _ deciding to do this or not? ia: made a lot of films in areas deciding to do this or not? i�*e: made a lot of films in areas of conflict. when russia invaded in february, it felt like this was one of the biggest conflicts of our time. you know, probably in my lifetime. it seems like it was somewhere i was quite keen to go, if i'm honest. itjust felt it was something that should be covered. it's quite difficult to get under the skin of it. it's a very hard water to access, it's very difficult to see what is really going on. and yet it's also very, very important.
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so, we were given quite a lot of time to go out there, a couple of months, to try to really bad in and try to understand who the people where he were fighting, what they were fighting for. in a way, the bigger question was how on earth with such a a huge military force. one of the reasons, by no means the only one, but one of the reasons that people are so interested in what is going on in ukraine is the fact that ordinary people, from all walks of life, as you say, have ended up fighting on the front line. tell us about some of the people you met. ., tell us about some of the people you met. . . , .,, , met. that was the most interesting thin about met. that was the most interesting thing about the _ met. that was the most interesting thing about the trip, _ met. that was the most interesting thing about the trip, it _ met. that was the most interesting thing about the trip, it wasn't - met. that was the most interesting thing about the trip, it wasn't so i thing about the trip, it wasn't so much what the people were doing, but when i first went there, it was five months of war. eventually, people were admitting they had lost a lot of soldiers. men and women. they have lost a lot of people. more and more, the fighting ranks were being filled up by volunteers, often with no military experience whatsoever, on a weaker�*s training. you can see
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huge pitfalls in that because they are inexperienced. at what they are bringing to it as a real commitment to take the fight back to russia and to take the fight back to russia and to push people back. i to take the fight back to russia and to push people back.— to take the fight back to russia and to push people back. i wonder if you could tell us — to push people back. i wonder if you could tell us a _ to push people back. i wonder if you could tell us a little _ to push people back. i wonder if you could tell us a little bit _ to push people back. i wonder if you could tell us a little bit about - to push people back. i wonder if you could tell us a little bit about the - could tell us a little bit about the people we are seeing in these pictures. i people we are seeing in these ictures. , , ., ., ., pictures. i spent a lot of time with seven volunteer _ pictures. i spent a lot of time with seven volunteer special _ seven volunteer special forces troops. two then had military experience, the other five troops. two then had military experience, the otherfive had never served in the army before. one used to make rugs for a luxury car, the other worked in advertising, and another was a sailor. what they all had in common was that when the war started they looked at their own skill set and thought, what can i do. the guy that worked on a ship was pretty good with maths. he knew how to fly a drone. within a few weeks, he is correcting artillery on the front line. the guy who worked in advertising was good with computers, so he was very involved in the technical side of it also taking part in the fight. it was most striking that when you first meet them, they are handling themselves very professionally. and
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yet the more i got to know them, i realised how incredibly inexperienced they were. the more time i spent there, the more people i metjust like that. i time i spent there, the more people i met just like that.— i met 'ust like that. i guess when ou i metjust like that. i guess when ou talk i metjust like that. i guess when you talk about — i metjust like that. i guess when you talk about transferable - i metjust like that. i guess when | you talk about transferable skills, they never thought their skills would be used in such a way. i presume you're trying to keep in touch with as many of these people as possible?— as possible? yes, i had a chat with the commander _ as possible? yes, i had a chat with the commander yesterday. - as possible? yes, i had a chat with the commander yesterday. he - as possible? yes, i had a chat with i the commander yesterday. he didn't want me to say zaki where he was, but they have all had a big break, they spent time with their families. in the next few days they will be back on the front line on back at it again. all of them are fine, nobody killed, nobody injured. to be honest, what i felt at the time and what i feel now is that they are just not going to stop. than? what i feel now is that they are just not going to stop. any plans for ou just not going to stop. any plans for you to _ just not going to stop. any plans for you to follow _ just not going to stop. any plans for you to follow up _ just not going to stop. any plans for you to follow up this - for you to follow up this documentary? i for you to follow up this documentary?— for you to follow up this documentary? for you to follow up this documenta ? _ ., documentary? i did say to them yesterday. _ documentary? i did say to them yesterday. it — documentary? i did say to them yesterday, it sounds _ documentary? i did say to them yesterday, it sounds like - documentary? i did say to them yesterday, it sounds like the - yesterday, it sounds like the meeting you are about to have is going to be really interesting, i would love to feel not. he said i would love to feel not. he said i would be very welcome. i will be discussing that with my wife later. really good to talk to you. thank you so much.
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and you can watch ukraine: the people's fight on bbc iplayer. the chinese government says that travel restrictions imposed by several countries on chinese arrivals are politically motivated and has warned that it may retaliate. some countries have already introduced their own measures, but an eu—wide decision is expected on wednesday. china adopted a zero—covid strategy with strict restrictions for most of the pandemic, but abruptly eased them in december. azadeh moshiri reports. china is opening up again. or at least it's trying to. the country has seen almost three years of strict covid restrictions and mostly closed borders. now, china is scrapping its travel restrictions in and out of the country from the 8th of january. but with an easing of its strict covid policies has come a rise in cases. and there are fears the chinese government may be under reporting infections, as well as deaths.
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some experts predict there could already be more than 2 million cases a day. we want to limit case numbers so the virus doesn't get the opportunity to replicate and accumulate these mutations which may result in a variant that can spread more easily, or evade immunity. in response, more than a dozen countries such as the united kingdom, the united states and india are putting up roadblocks. they are demanding mandatory covid testing upon arrival. but china is crying foul, and warning it will retaliate in kind. translation: we have noticed that| health experts in many countries had recently said that the coronavirus trains currently circulating in china had been seen in other parts of the world before. china always believes that the national pandemic prevention measures should be scientific and appropriate, and should not be taken as a chance for political manipulation.
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the world health organization is urging china to share real—time information. and, in the meantime, the european union has offered free covid vaccines to help contain the virus. that's an offer china quickly rejected as one of the world's toughest anti—covid regimes comes to an end. let's get some of the day's other news. reports from somalia say at least nine people have been killed in two simultaneous car bomb attacks in the central region of hiran. a local official told the french news agency the attackers had targeted a civilian area in the town of mahas. myanmar has marked 75 years of independence from britain with a military parade. the leader of the ruling junta was greeted with a gun salute. there's been protests against military rule since the coup almost two years ago. los angeles county in
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california is to pay almost $20 million for a beachfront property that was seized from a black family almost a century ago. bruce's beach was bought in 1912 to create a resort for black people at a time of widespread racial segregation. it was forcibly taken by the local council in 192a. the american football star damar hamlin remains in a critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest during an nfl game. the buffalo bills player fell to the ground after colliding with an opponent — watched by millions on prime time tv. his injury has highlighted concerns about the safety of the sport. our washington correspondent, gary o'donoghue, has been following the story. something no sports fan wants to see — a player rushed off to hospital following a serious injury. it was in the first quarter of the game that damar hamlin made a tackle and was struck in the chest by another player's helmet. after getting up for a moment, he then collapsed,
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suffering a cardiac arrest. medics then rushed onto the field, other players clearly distressed at what had happened. the game was soon abandoned. fans gathered outside the hospital to express their concern. you feel like you need to do something. and so this is a way ofjust showing that you care. life's more important than a game and people are more important than a game. i hope he's ok. his mum is here, buffalo is praying for him. and whatever you believe in, like good vibes and positive energy towards them and hopefully he's ok. the club have said on social media that the player spent last night in intensive care and was in a critical condition. they praised the outpouring of support they received. it was during the european championships 18 months ago that denmark's star, christian eriksen, collapsed during a game against finland. he suffered a cardiac
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arrest as well, but wasn't involved in any collision. fellow stars are all too aware that it can happen in any sport. the safety of our of players in all sports is always the most important. so, you know, it was a terrible thing to see. and i wish, you know, nothing but the best for that kid. american football, like other sports, has become much better at monitoring the risks of head injuries and concussion in particular. but doctors say heart injuries are still a risk. football players, they don't start out having head injuries before they start playing. all of those occur during play, and all of all of the players are at risk for that. the cardiac screening is a little bit of a different situation because you're looking for people that may have relatively rare underlying cardiac conditions. most athletes don't have any underlying heart conditions. damar hamlin's family have praised the actions of the paramedics and doctors and have asked everyone to keep the football star in their prayers. gary o'donoghue, bbc news.
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the hollywood actorjeremy renner has thanked fans for their support after he was seriously injured by his snow plough. sharing a picture of his bruised face on instagram, he was "too messed up to type" but he was sending his love to all. he was airlifted to hospital on sunday after the accident outside his home in reno in nevada. the two—time oscar nominee is well—known for playing hawk—eye in the marvel cinematic universe. the last surviving member of apollo 7 mission has died at the age of 90. us astronaut walter cunningham died on tuesday from natural causes. apollo 7 was an 11—day manned mission in 1968 that tested the ability to dock and rendezvous in space. but was also the first mission to ever broadcast live tv from orbit, which gave them an emmy. for decades, women in cuba have been banned from competitive boxing. the rule has kept them out of one of the island's most popular sports — cuba has won more than a0 gold medals in men's boxing over the years.
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now, the cuban government has allowed women to compete and has started the process of selecting a national women's boxing team. in havana, our correspondent, will grant, met the women hoping to be the first boxers to represent cuba at next year's olympic games in paris. bell rings. it is seconds out for women's boxing in cuba. after decades watching from the sidelines as cuban men dominated the sport, women on the island were banned from competing under an arcane — and critics say sexist — rule. until now. among those hopeful of progressing to the olympic games in paris next year is idamelys moreno. the recent selection for the first cuban women's boxing team, she was chosen to represent her country in the featherweight category. translation: we are behind the rest of the world because this change - has just been passed, and i'm already 30. but training hard, and under the people who know about boxing,
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and putting all my effort into it, i'm sure we will bring home a good result. every four years, boxing remains cuba's greatest hope of olympic gold. but by refusing to let women compete in the ring, many feel the island has let its guard down. it's no longer the country with the greatest number of boxing golds in the world. that is something that these fighters hope to address soon. women's boxing first became an olympic sport at london 2012. a few years later, i met namibia flores in havana. she told me it was her dream to win gold for the island and her trainers were convinced she had what it takes. unfortunately for namibia, the rule didn't change in time and she missed her shot. now, though, she is one of the leading women's boxing trainers in cuba, and hopes to still fulfil her olympic dream, albeit as the teen's coach, rather than inside the ring herself. translation: it�*s a bittersweet moment for me. i'm really happy it's happened, of course.
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but at the same time a little sad, as i'd hoped it would be my fists, my gloves, which would bring cuba victory. that wasn't possible, but i'm still here, ready to do my part. as well as coming to the fight a decade too late, cuba's women boxers also face unique challenges to other competitors. the island is in the grip of its worst economic crisis since the cold war. essentials like boxing gloves, punching bags and skipping ropes have long been hard to come by. these days it's tough even to find enough food or vitamins, especially for an elite fighter�*s regime. it's like boxing with one arm tied behind your back, says heavyweightjoanna rodriguez, who works as a bouncer in a bar at night to make ends meet. for years, women were excluded from combat sports in cuba through a misplaced sense of protection, largely from raul castro's late wife, vilma espin. today, though, these boxeadoras are determined to bring
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the island its first women's olympic boxing gold. or at least take pride in being the first women to try. will grant, bbc news, havana. we all have a song that makes us dance, cry or smile — but music has the power to affect us in so many other ways. a new exhibition is exploring how it can help people with life—changing illnesses, affect how much we exercise, and even influence how we shop. owain wyn evans went to find out more. two, three, four... music has an amazing power to change people's lives. the bbc breakfast drumathon is a memory that will stay with me forever. we raised millions for children in need, and it showed just how incredible music can be. i can remember music always being around me when i was a child.
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i remember mum and dad playing carpenters, beatles, wings, and that stuff really has stayed with me. i've suffered from anxiety — oh, my goodness, ever since i was a child it's something that's kind of always been there. it's been a constant, unpleasant companion. so music, and drumming in particularfor me, has been a vital tool that's really kept me going over the years. because you're hitting these things and you're using your feet and your brain isjust concentrating on that. and all of the other things you're worried about or thinking aboutjust sort of fizzle away. wahey! oh, my goodness! who is it? it's you! going to the city game today. yeah. music plays a big part in barry and charlie's life. when does it start? four o'clock. barry is 8a. he's living with dementia.
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and his grandson charlie has found singing along to songs at his beloved manchester city really helps. # na, na, na, na # na, na, na, na # city.# they're part of a new exhibition at manchester's museum of science and industry. yeah. look — names everywhere. it's celebrating music and its impact on us. stephen, this is fab. what do we have here? this is the very first thing you'll see in the exhibition. this is a wall of audio playback devices. the things that brought music to all of our ears. the two tape decks, i remember having one of those, and i remember recording the radio. we want to represent, basically, from gramophones to iphones. so really it's about connecting people to their memories and finding a connection point, and realising that we're all musical and we all have this amazing connection to music. i would love to. i mean, i'mjust throwing them on the grid here.
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is this what a building block musician does? absolutely. and once you've got a shape you're happy with, when you press �*play�*, you can hear your music realised. everyone loves making music, and just being creative and expressing themselves. music is notjust a nice to have in our lives. it's actually quite essential. for example, i've done some work with colleagues on music and parkinson's, and music and dementia. it's clinical. it has an impact on people living with these awful conditions. music helps us to bond as humans. you know, that's everywhere in our lives. we dance, we sing, we use music to grieve, we use music to celebrate. we use music to come together. shall we give it a go and see how this sounds? yeah. right. here we go. oh, it's stunning! i think that's a modern classic. it's a masterpiece! thank you. well, �*shop till you drop' — that's something i'm familiar with. yeah. so this whole section is about how music affects our everyday life. it can really change and influence our behaviours in ways we don't even really know or don't even really recognise. french music plays.
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i quite like this. this is definitely making me want to buy a french wine. or go on holiday to the riviera, or something. orthat — yeah! if you've got french wine and german wine in the same aisle, if you play stereotypically french music, you can basically go buy more french wine. if the german music's playing, you'll buy more german wine. german music plays. hold music — it's something most of us have had to endure. oh, it's so irritating. yeah, so people have actually done studies about which kind of tracks make us stay on hold for the longest. so, track two is a pan pipe version. love a pan pipe! pan pipes play. oh, this is quite nice, i quite like this. this is the thing that they found people stayed on hold the longest for, because it's a slightly different variation on what that familiar track is. "please hold while your call is being connected." - this isjust a person telling me i'm on hold. yeah. which is the worst thing you can do if you want people to stay on hold. she's quite incessant. yes. she's going on and on.
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"your call is very important to us." she said my call�*s very important. do you know what? i'm going to go back to the pan pipes. beautiful. i think i mightjust stay here and enjoy this. relax. have you got a favorite type of music, or maybe a favorite song? um, i have a favorite type of music. it's k—pop. k—pop! do you play any instruments? ooh, what do you play? a guitar. does playing the guitar make you feel happy? yeah. especially if it's my sister's. excellent! how does your sister feel about that? not happy. how do you feel when you hear music that you like? uh, happy. are we ready to make some music? yes! all right — one, two, three, four, press those buttons! music plays. 0h, sounds good.
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sounds great! you are excellent musicians. woo! yeah! well done, that was great! great work! speak ago those drums, sounding great _ speak ago those drums, sounding great as— speak ago those drums, sounding great as always. now — let's bring you up to date with the latest progress of thor the walrus — who's been touring the coast of the uk over the last few weeks. after spending new year's eve in the north yorkshire resort of scarborough, the half—tonne male has now set off from his latest stopping—off point, the northumberland town of blyth, about 100 miles further north. wildlife experts say it's a good sign that thor is continuing to head in the direction of his natural arctic habitat.
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hello again. it was a very mild start to the day to day. that mild team is set to continue over the next few days. you can see the days here, the mild conditions represented by the yellow and ambers. the cooler weather by the blues. the cold does not stay around for very long, blues. the cold does not stay around forvery long, it blues. the cold does not stay around for very long, it is usually replaced by the amber and yellow in the next few days. what we have had this morning is a lot of cloud and some rain. through the course of the afternoon, a lot of that will break up. much of the rain moving away, we will hang onto some showers across northern ireland, southern scotland and northern england. not all of us are seeing them. some of them will be sharp and it is going to be windy. but it's going to be mild. temperatures, seven to 13 degrees. later we will see the clouds thicken with spots of rain moving across
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southern counties. that pulls through the night. a transient ridge of high pressure across us. many of the showers will ease and by the end of the night we have the next weather system coming from the west. potentially a touch of frost across north—east scotland, but for many it will be a mild night, just not as mild as last night. this is the weather front bringing in the cloud in the patchy rain from the west by the end of the night. low pressure is approaching is. as it does so, the rain will turn heavier. later in the rain will turn heavier. later in the day come across northern ireland and also western scotland. you can see the first weather front, producing this cloud and odd spot of rain. some will miss the rain altogether. the wind will the day in the west with the risk of gales later across north—west scotland. we are still in this mild air. temperatures, 7—13. if we pick up the area of low pressure, through the area of low pressure, through the overnight period, you can see how it drifts northwards and eastwards, taking rain with it, followed by heavy showers. gales, gusts of wind up to 70 moles per hour with exposure across north—west
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scotland. where it will be windy, the wind is slowly moderating over the wind is slowly moderating over the course of friday. as the rain clears away, a lot of dry weather, just a few showers and a fair bit of sunshine before the next weather system comes in from the west. again, still mild for the time of year. we look at the weekend now and you can see just how unsettled it is. low pressure areas crossing us. look at the isobars. it's going to be pretty windy at times until we see spells of rain moving from the west to the east during the course of saturday, followed by some showers. also showery on sunday. windy through the weekend.
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this is bbc news, i'mjoanna gosling. the headlines at 11am. doctors across the uk say they're facing growing pressure as patients turn away from hospitals for help. we don't want to be seeing patients in corridors, we don't want to be breaking bad news in cupboards, we don't want to be doing that sort of thing. the prime minister will address struggles facing the nhs and the need for more maths taught in schools in a major speech later this afternoon. russia blames a ukrainian rocket strike that killed dozens of servicemen on russian troops using their mobile phones. and a mountain... and a ski—lift... but where's the snow? the record mild temperatures affecting europe's winter sports. and coming up this hour... has the pandemic changed our working habits for good? the people turning their backs
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on city life in favour of the �*zoom towns'. a 30—hour wait for an ambulance and 12 hours sitting outside a&e. more distressing stories are emerging this morning of the nhs under pressure this winter. the government is blaming high numbers of flu and covid cases, and fears of strep a infections. nhs england says there are several contributing factors... these include 18% more people coming into a&e in the last six weeks compared to the same period last year, and there are nearly 10,000 nhs staff absent at the moment due to covid. there are still a significant number of covid patients in hospitals, too.
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in england the number has more than doubled to 9,500 from a few weeks ago. delayed discharges of medically fit patients, who could leave if there was provision in the community, is also causing bed—blocking in hospital. we'll be live in glasgow, dundonald, and cardiff in the next few minutes but first, our correspondent, graham satchell, reports. these are all the ambulances outside king's lynn hospital waiting to take patients in. this phone footage was taken by sarahjones at the queen elizabeth hospital in norfolk. she was with her 84—year—old dad, mervyn. so it's 8:50 and we just got out of the ambulance. 8:50pm. and paramedics came to the house at 8:30am this morning. so we've been almost 12 hours in an ambulance, and we're going now up to the ward. sarah's dad on the stretcher, struggling to breathe
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with heart failure. we had the doctors team come and look at dad in the ambulance. we had to take him out in the rain, right out on the stretcher, into the hospital to have the x—ray and then bring him back into the ambulance. i've never seen anything like it. the system seems completely broken, and one thing backs up another thing, you know, which leads to an ambulance sitting there for 12 hours when they could be out. maybe somebody else is going to not make it to the hospital because of that. the royal cornwall hospital, and again a queue of ambulances. on the ward, 82—year—old marie grubb. she fell in her kitchen and broke her pelvis. marie waited on the floor for 31 hours for an ambulance. it was agony. i was like, "i can't turn over, just too sore to turn." i was on my side, facing away, facing the windows. and it just was agony.
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how did you manage to keep going for 31 hours? well, you do, i think. willpower, i suppose, isn't it? winter pressure is nothing new in the nhs, but the combination of flu, covid, staff shortages and delays discharging patients to social care means for many, this is the worst winter they can remember. we don't want to be seeing patients in corridors. we don't want to be breaking bad news in cupboards. we don't want to be doing that sort of thing. and it's quite hard to keep doing that. we know we shouldn't be doing it. it's just the only thing we can do to keep the system going. the government in westminster says the nhs is its top priority and it's providing an extra £14 billion over the next couple of years. we've seen significant pressure on the nhs, particularly over this period through a combination of very high rates of flu, persistent and high levels of covid, continuing concerns, particularly amongst many parents, around strep a. and that has combined over that period with a time when primary care services and community services
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overall are so much more limited. what do we want? fair pay. when do we want it? now! more strikes are planned by nhs staff later this month. the labour party has accused the government of 12 years of mismanagement, saying there is now a sense ofjeopardy surrounding the nhs, which is frightening people across the country. graham satchell, bbc news. let's bring you the picture from our correspondents across the uk, im a moment we'll hearfrom emma vardy in dundonald and lorna gordon in glasgow, but first to mark hutchings in cardiff. well, another day getting under way here at the wales' biggest hospital, like multiple hospitals, is under the most enormous of pressures, the welsh government say these are unprecedented times. if you look at the picture across wales, at the last count, about 500 patients were in hospital with covid, there is a flu outbreak and staff shortages,
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that at any one time more than half of the welsh ambulance fleet was actually waiting outside hospitals like this one simply to hand over patients, and playing into that is the fact that one in nine hospital beds is occupied across wales by someone who no longer needs medical care, but social care. senior medical officials are urging health bodies to look at, wherever appropriate, discharging such patients, even if there isn't a social care package in place in order to free up beds for those who need them most acutely. the nhs confederation, representing the bodies across wales, say there is a blame game going on between cardiff and westminster. now for the picture in northern ireland, over to emma va rdy. well, hospitals here say the pressures have just been ramping up week after week, and at times the situation in emergency departments has been compared to the intensity of war—zone hospitals.
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now, in recent weeks, hospitals have been issuing appeals at the busiest times for off—duty nursing staff to come in and work extra shifts, because the pressures have just got so extreme. one trust here issued four urgent appeals on social media over the last seven days. health executives have been trying to set new targets to ease the pressures, including a maximum three—hour wait for ambulances to hand over patients, but that is just not sustainable, staff say, the situation as a whole is critical, and something else needs to happen. an added complication in northern ireland is that we do not have a functioning government here at the moment, because of a separate row over brexit and the dup refusing to go back into power—sharing over that. but doctors here say that, without a political leadership, it is even more difficult to address the current problems. lorna gordon is in glasgow.
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the scottish national clinical director, jason leitch, has been speaking this morning, describing a&e in hospital as the canary in the coal mine, he said it is not the only place that is under immense pressure, not the only area of the nhs under immense pressure — community pharmacies and gp practices are also struggling but a&e is the most evident and obvious place where the services are struggling. a&e services in scotland recorded their worst ever waiting times, two health boards here in scotland have asked staff to cut leave short to come in and help out. doctors in the largest health board here in greater glasgow and clyde have requested a declaration of a major incident, a major emergency due to concerns over patient safety and what they described as an overwhelmed a&e department at the queen elizabeth university hospital here in glasgow. their request was denied. well, the conservatives are calling for a debate in parliament, they are asking nicola sturgeon to intervene, the first minister says the challenges are not unique to scotland and that the government
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is continuing to support the service with record investment and reform. the government says it is providing £14 billion in additional funding for health and social care over the next two years. earlier this morning, labour's ministerfor mental health, dr rosena allin—khan, told bbc breakfast the proposals were a small sticking plaster over a gaping wound. it is really, really heartbreaking for staff like myself to go to work and feel as though we have one arm tied behind our backs. we are having to perform intimate examinations, for example, on people who are coming in, where they might have bowel cancer, in cupboards.
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patients are sleeping on floors while nurses are trying to hold up sheets so that they can be examined. and we have a government that are asleep at the wheel and trying to blame covid and the flu. when i work in a&e and i do paediatric shifts and i see a waiting room full of patients and parents desperate to get antibiotics, the government knew that strep a and invasive strep a was on the rise, where was the planning for getting the antibiotics? i'm with drjulia patterson now, she's the chief executive of everydoctoruk, which is a doctor—led campaigning organisation fighting for a better nhs for patients and doctors. welcome. thank you forjoining us. welcome. thank you forjoining us. we heard from the doctor there that many doctors feel as though they are going to work with one arm tied behind their backs. we heard from
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the daughter of one patient left waiting for hours in a&e that the system seems completely broken. how would you describe it? i system seems completely broken. how would you describe it?— would you describe it? i would agree with everything _ would you describe it? i would agree with everything that _ would you describe it? i would agree with everything that you _ would you describe it? i would agree with everything that you are - would you describe it? i would agree with everything that you are hearing| with everything that you are hearing from front light doctors such as the one you interviewed, in fact she is a fantastic advocate for nhs staff being one herself. the situation is being one herself. the situation is being framed in terms of money and they are essentially washing the hands of the situation, the government. what we have in our hands is a humanitarian crisis. as a government, they are tasked with running a safe service, a public service, for patients. we are all reliant on the nhs for certainly our emergency treatment and they have a duty to provide a comprehensive self service in the uk. they seem to have reduced this into some debate about the amount of funding they are putting in one year of the necks and they are mr misrepresenting the situation, blaming things on covid,
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the flu, blaming things on staff, it is extremely irresponsible. every single day that goes past where they turn the other way and ignore the situation and don't take responsibility, patients are dying and that comes down to them. it's up to them to do something. so and that comes down to them. it's up to them to do something.— and that comes down to them. it's up to them to do something. so when you sa that the to them to do something. so when you say that the government _ to them to do something. so when you say that the government is _ to them to do something. so when you say that the government is very - to them to do something. so when you say that the government is very much l say that the government is very much framing this in terms of money, it does boil down to that, doesn't it? resources?— resources? over a long period of time, resources? over a long period of time. yes- _ resources? over a long period of time. yes- they _ resources? over a long period of time, yes. they have _ resources? over a long period of time, yes. they have cut - resources? over a long period of time, yes. they have cut 25,000 | time, yes. they have cut 25,000 hospital beds since 2010, they have made the smallest amount of real terms investment in the nhs during the 2010-2021 terms investment in the nhs during the 2010—2021 period of the entire nhs's history. they have treated staff so badly that we are now missing almost 10% of the entire workforce in england so yes it does come down to resources and money on a long—term basis but right now... just to come in there, you are talking about the historic levels of
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funding which the nhs funding was protected through very difficult times, but there were the austerity years... times, but there were the austerity ears... ~ . ., i. years... which are you referring to? goina years... which are you referring to? going back — years... which are you referring to? going back through _ years... which are you referring to? going back through the _ years... which are you referring to? going back through the austerity - going back through the austerity years. nhs spending was protected but has an increase in line with inflation. ii but has an increase in line with inflation. , ., ., but has an increase in line with inflation. . . but has an increase in line with inflation. ., ., ., inflation. if you have a look at u-rahs inflation. if you have a look at graphs showing _ inflation. if you have a look at graphs showing decade - inflation. if you have a look at graphs showing decade to - inflation. if you have a look at - graphs showing decade to decade real term investment into the nhs, the funding in the nhs to chew 1.6% increase year upon year real terms investment. that is the lowest in the history. prior to that, the amount had been between four and 6% on average each decade. we need to come as a baseline, for the increase in health care funding to increase by about 3.5% each year. this government have done that. they have squeezed the service, cut the beds, they have put the staff under more pressure, lots of staff have left, they haven't recruited more staff, they haven't recruited more staff, they haven't recruited more staff,
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they have scapegoated staff for problems, they have provided inadequate mental health support for staff, they haven't paid them properly, we now have a situation where patients are calling ambulances and the ambulances aren't arriving. people are dying. find ambulances and the ambulances aren't arriving. people are dying.— arriving. people are dying. and this is a very clear _ arriving. people are dying. and this is a very clear picture _ arriving. people are dying. and this is a very clear picture that - arriving. people are dying. and this is a very clear picture that we - arriving. people are dying. and this is a very clear picture that we are i is a very clear picture that we are hearing from patients, we are hearing from patients, we are hearing the pressures that doctors are under, we are discussing come of the sea, the finances of the picture but it is also that there is increasing demand. so what are the immediate solutions to that? because the money is going to be a much longer term investment, isn't it? but can you see things that would make a quick difference to doctors anti—patients? i make a quick difference to doctors anti-patients?— anti-patients? i 'ust want to go back to your — anti-patients? i just want to go back to your point _ anti-patients? i just want to go back to your point about - anti-patients? i just want to go . back to your point about increasing demand, we went into the pandemic with over 4 million patients waiting for nhs treatment, we didn't go in there in a good state of affairs. the government are blaming things on the pandemic, the pandemic has made things worse but the major waves of the pandemic ended about 18 months ago and since then health care
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campaigners, health care leaders have been telling the government month on month on month that the waiting list have gone up, we are going to face a situation where there is a humanitarian crisis. they haven't listened, the waiting lists are now the worst they have ever beenin are now the worst they have ever been in the nhs so in saying that there is increased demand, this hasn't suddenly happen. it's... find hasn't suddenly happen. it's. .. and i didn't hasn't suddenly happen. it's. .. and i didn't mean _ hasn't suddenly happen. it's. .. and i didn't mean to _ hasn't suddenly happen. it's... and i didn't mean to imply that it is sudden, it's clearly been growing and is something that has been talked about for a number of years but it seems like we are now at some point of a tipping point so i am wondering what your solutions are, what your suggestions would be? we what your suggestions would be? - have been running a campaign for two months, over10,000 members of have been running a campaign for two months, over 10,000 members of the public have now contacted their mp via our tool asking mps to act because it was predictable this would happen this winter, we ran an emergency mp meeting in november, we had the same in december, we are doing the same thing next week, we will be telling them what is happening on the front nine of the nhs. we have five policy points which the government could be taking
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action on now which would improve things in the short term for patients and staff. the first one is a simple admin backlog at the home office. we have been recruiting lots of staff from overseas to help plug gaps within the stuffing in the nhs, lots of these staff are being offered nhsjobs lots of these staff are being offered nhs jobs and then the paperwork required is not being processed in a timely manner by the home office which is preventing nhs doctors from starting jobs. just home office which is preventing nhs doctors from starting jobs.— doctors from starting “obs. just in a nutshell because _ doctors from starting jobs. just in a nutshell because we're - doctors from starting jobs. just in a nutshell because we're going i doctors from starting jobs. just in a nutshell because we're going to doctors from starting jobs. just in i a nutshell because we're going to do run through the five points quickly, what timeframe should that paperwork be done in and what is actually happened? it’s be done in and what is actually happened?— be done in and what is actually hauened? �*, m , ., ,., happened? it's taking six months and should be done _ happened? it's taking six months and should be done in _ happened? it's taking six months and should be done in a _ happened? it's taking six months and should be done in a week. _ happened? it's taking six months and should be done in a week. secondly, | should be done in a week. secondly, there is something called locum caps which caps the amount that the nhs trust can pay staff who are doing temporary work, out of our shifts, etc. the government have tried to reduce the locum staff bill in recent years which is understandable that this is a temporary emergency situation, they need to be paying
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staff more money to come in and do extra shifts because the service is desperate and people aren't being paid enough. that's the second thing. the third thing is pensions, terrible situation with senior doctors are being taxed so highly on the pension contributions for working extra hours that they are paying to go to work. nhs staff go above and beyond every single day but i don't know many people who will pay to go to work, certainly not in this situation. so that needs to be sorted. they need to provide additional mental health support for staff who are being completely unsupported in this awful situation and finally we are all living through an energy crisis, the government has not made a long—term plan to absorb the energy cross which are being sustained by nhs workplaces. they need to do that. there are lots of things, some of these could be done very quickly by these could be done very quickly by the government, and said they are ignoring the situation and saying the nhs has enough money and frankly thatis the nhs has enough money and frankly that is gas lighting patients, staff, and people are dying. thank
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ou for staff, and people are dying. thank you forjoining _ staff, and people are dying. thank you forjoining us. _ staff, and people are dying. thank you forjoining us. do _ staff, and people are dying. thank you forjoining us. do let - staff, and people are dying. thank you forjoining us. do let us i staff, and people are dying. thank you forjoining us. do let us knowl you forjoining us. do let us know your thoughts. join the conversation, you can get in touch with me on twitter. in the midst of the crisis in the nhs, the wave of strike action and calls for more help with rising energy bills and increases in the cost of living, the prime minister will make a speech later today outlining his priorities for the year ahead. among the proposals he's expected to talk about, he'll set out plans to ensure all pupils in england study some form of maths until they're 18. but no new qualifications are immediately planned and there are no plans to make a—levels compulsory. labour has criticised the plans as an "empty pledge". the prime minister is expected to make his first speech of the year later this afternoon. earlier our political correspondent, damian grammaticas, outlined what rishi sunak is expected to cover. those intense pressures on the nhs, those delays in people getting treatment, the concerns amongst doctors about a number of patients who are dying because of these issues. so, the prime minister will, i think, attempt to address that.
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he will definitely face questions on that, i am sure, when he takes questions later today. but i think what we see in the middle of all of this, sort of, firefighting, these crises, rishi sunak is, perhaps, attempting at the beginning of the year to try to set out something that he can give a little bit more of a personal stamp, a bit more of a vision of why he is in thejob and what he might hope to achieve in this longer term. and that's where i think this maths idea comes in. the difficulty is, as you point out, some might look at this and say while this seems a little bit off agenda when there are all of these pressing issues, the strikes, the health service and all the rest. but rishi sunak, downing street say, he certainly believes in the importance of education, the value of the education he got and the fact that less than half of those over—16 who are still at school do any sort of maths and that is very different to countries like america, australia, france, germany, and his vision is to try to change that.
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i'm nowjoined by professor chris budd. he's a professor of applied mathematics at the university of bath. welcome. thank you forjoining us. do you think everybody should be learning maths up until the age of 18 in this country? i learning maths up until the age of 18 in this country?— 18 in this country? i very much think so- _ 18 in this country? i very much think so. we _ 18 in this country? i very much think so. we have _ 18 in this country? i very much think so. we have been i 18 in this country? i very much i think so. we have been thinking this for a very long time. the announcement today, although very welcome, is essentially nothing new, it's something we have been saying for a long time is very important that we live in a world where mathematics is increasingly important and our young people need to be prepared to engage with that world. , ., , , to be prepared to engage with that world. , ., ,, , ., world. obviously, people have different strengths. _ world. obviously, people have different strengths. does i world. obviously, people have| different strengths. does mass world. obviously, people have i different strengths. does mass come into every field that people will go into? it into every field that people will go into? . ., , ., into every field that people will go into? _, , ., , into every field that people will go into? , ., , ., , into? it comes into very many fields. about _ into? it comes into very many fields. about 7094. _ into? it comes into very many fields. about 70% of - into? it comes into very many fields. about 70% of jobs i into? it comes into very many i fields. about 70% of jobs require fields. about 70% ofjobs require some level of mathematics to work
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there. we have been hearing a lot about the nhs, there is a vast amount of data that the nhs has to deal with everyday, and mathematics is incredibly important in that. sorry to come to what level does there need to be an understanding of maths? because when you say 70% of jobs, it's an element of it, it could be a fairly rudimentary level, can't it? ,, , . ., , ., can't it? students certainly need to know how mathematics _ can't it? students certainly need to know how mathematics can - can't it? students certainly need to know how mathematics can be i can't it? students certainly need to i know how mathematics can be relevant to their lives. to do that, you need, as well as understanding gcse, you need to keep that knowledge going post—gcse and one of the problems with dropping maths at gcse, which is what the majority of students do in the uk, is that you are not keeping that knowledge going. what we are proposing, is not that every student should do a level maths, but every student should do some sort of mass post—gcse, as i say, to prepare them for the modern world. i
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say, to prepare them for the modern world. ., �* , , say, to prepare them for the modern world. ~' �* , , , world. i think it's very interesting the way you _ world. i think it's very interesting the way you phrased _ world. i think it's very interesting the way you phrased it, - world. i think it's very interesting the way you phrased it, the i world. i think it's very interesting the way you phrased it, the thing i world. i think it's very interesting i the way you phrased it, the thing of how understanding mass can be relevant in lives because i think a lot of parents have heard from kids, why do i have to do it? i'm not going to do mass going forward, i don't need it. it's an important conversation.— conversation. mathematics is incredibly _ conversation. mathematics is incredibly important - conversation. mathematics is incredibly important to i conversation. mathematics is i incredibly important to everyone, in terms of understanding how your finances work, how data is relevant to the world, as i say, a huge majority ofjobs require some sort of numeracy. google was founded by mathematicians. and look at the impact that google has had on our lives. so we are in a world where mass is becoming more and more important and if you are not learning maths then you are not going to be able to engage with that world. ., ., going to be able to engage with that world. ., ~' ,, temperatures forjanuary have reached an all—time high in a number of nations across europe. records have been broken in poland, the netherlands, the czech republic and several other countries. tim allman reports. salzburg injanuary is normally
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a winter wonderland. but this year something is missing — namely, snow. there's not been much of it, and what there has been has mostly melted, which makes skiing something of a challenge. translation: it is really weird - when you ski down the white slope, and on the left and right it is all green. it is a similar story in the swiss alps, where high temperatures are taking a toll on seasonal sport. translation: look, | the snow is really wet. it is no longer constant, it's like in spring. the snow actually has to bind, and that does not work with a lot of water. this is just part of a larger phenomenon taking place all over europe. in many places, january, often the coldest of the months, is currently among the mildest. here in the czech republic, it's practically short—sleeve weather — a surprise for locals and tourists alike. in my country, it is freezing cold and snowy,
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and that is why i bring a thickjacket, because i expected similar, the weather, but apparently this morning it's really, really warm. unseasonably warm weather has been felt across much of the continent. in belarus, they saw a record temperature of 16.1l degrees celsius, ll.5 degrees higher than the previous record. it was a similar story in poland, where it hit 18.9 degrees, four degrees higher than the previous record forjanuary. and in the spanish city of bilbao, the temperature reached more than 25 degrees, 10 degrees higher than they've ever seen at this time of year. contrast that with what america has been experiencing in recent days, freezing cold temperatures and a blanket of snow, with more severe weather on the way. if, as many suggest, this is down to climate change, then it seems that that can take many different forms. tim allman, bbc news.
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joining me now is professor peter stott, a climate scientist with the met office and the university of exeter. welcome. thank you forjoining us. how do you explain what we are witnessing?— how do you explain what we are witnessin: ? ~ . ., , , witnessing? what we are witnessing at the moment _ witnessing? what we are witnessing at the moment is _ witnessing? what we are witnessing at the moment is extreme - witnessing? what we are witnessing at the moment is extreme weather, i witnessing? what we are witnessing i at the moment is extreme weather, as you have said. across europe and records are being broken by large margins. we expect extreme weather from time to time but i think there is a link with climate change because climate change is making these extremes more frequent and making heatwaves more intense. it is really striking what we are seeing across europe at the moment and it is showing us also the vulnerability that we have even in relatively wealthy parts of the world it is showing the impact, for example, on the ski industry and the mountains. more frequent, more intense. can you run us through the statistical
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evidence, the statistical themes? the first point to make is that it is something that climate scientists have been predicting for many, many years that what may seem like a relatively gradual increase in global temperatures is going to have a very substantial impact on extremes. what it is doing, and we are seeing this more and more frequently, as it is making previously unprecedented extremes much more likely, it is making the chances of record—breaking extremes much more likely, and when we get the meteorological conditions that are favouring heatwaves, and you know, heatwaves which at the time of season, a winter heat wave, so we are seeing temperatures much, much wider than you would expect in the winter season, wider than you would expect in the winterseason, it wider than you would expect in the winter season, it is making those heatwaves more intense. it is really adding to the fuel, if you like, of those weather events when they are forming. this is part of the natural processes of the climate, when they are forming, it is making a much
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more substantial and much more intense and therefore the impact are much greater. you intense and therefore the impact are much greater-— much greater. you mentioned the im act on much greater. you mentioned the impact on business, _ much greater. you mentioned the impact on business, the - much greater. you mentioned the impact on business, the ski i impact on business, the ski industry, and what is happening this season. is it necessarily going to follow that it will be the same next season? it follow that it will be the same next season? ., , �* ., ., follow that it will be the same next season? ., ,�* ., ., ., season? it doesn't follow that it will be exactly _ season? it doesn't follow that it will be exactly the _ season? it doesn't follow that it will be exactly the same - season? it doesn't follow that it will be exactly the same next i will be exactly the same next season, no, because there is plenty, as everyone will know, there is a lot of variation of whether from day—to—day and also from season to season. it could be, next year, that we have a colder winter in the skiing season. but the people running the skiing lifts in switzerland and austria and other parts of the european mountains know extremely well that year on year they are seeing more and more times when there isn't any snow on the mountains. and of course this is now one of those mall adaptations, there is much more artificial snow making which of course requires a lot of
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energy and water. they can see the clear trend is that the snow line is rising up the mountain from season to season. so yes, next winter, i'm sure they are hoping that there is a much better season but they also know, in a skiing industry, that over the future years the snowline is rising further and further away. and there is a limit to how much they can make snow and they can't make snow when the weather is so mild as it is this window. what mild as it is this window. what ex - lains mild as it is this window. what exolains why _ mild as it is this window. what explains why we _ mild as it is this window. what explains why we see _ mild as it is this window. what explains why we see extremesi mild as it is this window. what explains why we see extremes at the other ends of the scale like we are in the states? we other ends of the scale like we are in the states?— in the states? we are still seeing cold extremes _ in the states? we are still seeing cold extremes around _ in the states? we are still seeing cold extremes around the - in the states? we are still seeing cold extremes around the planet| in the states? we are still seeing i cold extremes around the planet as well as hot extremes but we are seeing far fewer of them. that is the first point to make. the global weather patterns are all connected so the extreme cold in the us is to do with the jet stream, this ribbon of very energetic air in the high atmosphere and that has an impact downstream over in our latitudes.
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but what we are seeing potentially with the cold extremes is more moisture in the atmosphere and more snowfall so the impact of those cold extremes, when they do come, can be greater due to climate change because there is more snow falling and that has a bigger impact. so we are expecting to see fewer cultures with climate change which is what is happening but we have got to remember that those cold extremes as we are seeing in the us will still occur and we also have to remember there is this impact from climate change which is that there is greater snowfall in those cold extremes when they do happen. thank ou for joining us. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. after this morning's cloud and rain, things are going to brighten up as we go through the course of the day. and for most of us, it's going to be drier and sunnier than it was yesterday. the exception to that is across parts of northern ireland, southern scotland and northern england, where we will see some showers, some of them will be heavy.
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and we're also looking at gusty winds today, but still mild, up to m degrees in the south. now, some cloud coming in across southern areas will move away through the course of the night as a ridge of high pressure builds across as many of the showers will fade. and by the end of the night, we've got another system coming our way in from the west. it's still going to be a mild night, just not as mild as last night. so through tomorrow, if we pick up this band of clouds, some spots of rain on it, pushing northwards and eastwards, it's through the day. the rain picks up across northern ireland and also parts of scotland. the winds going to pick up as well, but could see some gales across the north west of scotland move away from that drier and brighter and mild. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: gps say they're facing growing pressure as patients turn away from hospitals for help. we don't want to be seeing
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patients in corridors, we don't want to be breaking bad news in cupboards, we don't want to be doing that sort of thing. the prime minister will address struggles facing the nhs and the need for more maths taught in schools in a major speech later this afternoon. russia blames a ukrainian rocket strike that killed dozens of servicemen — on russian troops using their mobile phones. and a mountain — and a ski—lift — but where's the snow? the record mild temperatures affecting europe's winter sports. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre. thank you. good morning, michael smith has admitted he got no sleep last night because he was staring at his new world darts championship trophy. smith beat his opponent 7—4 at alexandra palace producing the sport's nine dart finish. in a leg
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labelled the greatest of all time rebecca wood reports. third time lucky for michael smith who is now champion of the world. he has made the final twice before, but this was his moment in the spotlight. it wasn't going to be easy, though, he had a three time world champion to tackle first. this was a game where one missed opportunity could make all the difference. when holding your nerve is essential. there haven't been any nine dart in this world so where better to see first than at the final? in what has been called the greatest ever leg of darts, michael smith handled the pressure to put on a public display. i can't speak! pressure to put on a public display. i can't speak!— i can't speak! despite trailing, he went onto to _ i can't speak! despite trailing, he went onto to take _ i can't speak! despite trailing, he went onto to take four— i can't speak! despite trailing, he l went onto to take four consecutive sets. the dutchman wasn't going down without a fight, pushing the 32—year—old all the way. he held on,
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though, a new title for the new year, world champion and world number one. there was a very different atmosphere at goodison park as pressure continues to pile on everton manager who was booed off last night at full—time. brighton had some disastrous defending other ministers scored three goals in six minutes. it means everton could drop into the relegation zone if results go against them later. at the top of the table arsenal have an eight point lead after an entertaining cold —— goalless draw. they came close but newcastle managed to get their tenth clean sheet of the season so far to stay third. manchester city could cut the lead at the top 25 points if they chelsea
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tomorrow. 4—0 win. goals sealed the win, united opened up a gap over tottenham. fulham are up to seventh after beating leicester 1—0, thanks to an alexander first—half goal. great britain are at the inaugural united cup after suffering a 3—1 defeats —— they are out of. it wasn't the best start for britain, madison keys coming from a set down to defeat katie, but then british number one levelled in three sets. the us then it took the lead in the third contest, jessica pegula
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greeting six two —— wrecked 6—2, 6-0. the greeting six two —— wrecked 6—2, 6—0. the american full—back one, to put his country into the semifinals. in cricket, sydney against the brisbane heat had to be called off and it the big bash afterjust 13 overs due to torrential rain at the north of sydney oval. england fast bowler chris jordan north of sydney oval. england fast bowler chrisjordan picked up a brilliant make in the tenth over. but the match had to be called off pretty soon afterwards, due to the heavy rains. they remained second in the table. that is all of the sport for now, you can find more on all of these are stories on the bbc sports website. studio: thank you very much. russia's defence ministry says officials will be held accountable after ukrainian forces located and destroyed an army barracks in the occupied town of makiivka,
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killing dozens of troops. russia now says 89 people were killed, ukraine says the number was much higher. russia says the unauthorised use of mobile phones by russian troops allowed ukraine to target its troops — because they were able to use the signal to find the soldiers' location. here's some more of the russian military statememt. translation: circumstances of the incident _ are currently being investigated, but it is already obvious that the main reason, despite the restriction, was that the personnel within the range area of enemy firepower turned on and used mobile phones. this factor allowed the enemy to locate the personnel and launch the missile strike. all the necessary measures are currently being adopted to prevent this kind of tragic incident in the future. the aim of the investigation is to bring those responsible to justice. with more details on that
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new year's day attack on russian troops in makiivka, our correspondent hugo bachega sent us this update from the ukrainian capital, yesterday we had a statement from the russian defence ministry saying that the use of mobile phones by soldiers was the obvious reason behind this attack, an attack that hit this facility in the occupied town of makiivka on new year's day, and this was a school that had been turned into a base by russian soldiers, apparently the soldiers had recently been mobilised, so they had justjoined the army, were waiting to be deployed when this attack happened. but it is interesting that this morning we are hearing reaction from russian military bloggers who have become influential in this war, and they have criticised this russian statement, they say this is apparently an attempt to shift responsibility onto the victims themselves, rather than the commanders who authorised this deployment, and commanders that kept
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a large number of soldiers in a single location. now, the russians are saying that ukraine carried out this attack using those long—range missiles provided by the americans to ukraine, and they have been vital in the ukrainian offensive against the russians. here in kyiv, the authorities have been silent, this is part of the strategy, they rarely give details about their operations against the russians, but earlier this week they said that up to 400 russian soldiers had been killed as a result of this attack, so devastating impact, an attack that happened in the eastern part of the country, the deadliest attack on russian troops ever admitted by russia in this war. with me is olga ivshina — from the bbc russian service.
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tell us more about the reaction to russia's reaction to what happened. we were hearing that some are seeing this effectively as victim blaming? there actually has been a different depending on which part of the society you look at. but this example is truly extraordinary. previously russian ministry defence have almost never commented on exact cases, they have updated their death toll count twice over the past 11 months. so this is quite an extraordinary step. they have updated the death toll this morning as well, which is again very unusual. it seems they are in a damage limitation mode and try to control the narrative. that is why they made the statement blaming soldiers for using their cell
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phones. the russian ministry of defence has come under significant criticism during the past couple of months and this criticism is starting to come, not only from independent experts or independent media, but also from pro—kremlin and military bloggers, reporters in the war zone and they are bringing more and more issues. the very story itself says that soldiers used their cell phones without authorisation and this points to one of the biggest troubles russia faced in this conflict, during this invasion, that they don't have a reliable systems of communication and many soldiers who are currently fighting at the front told us that actually most of the time soldiers are using their cell phones to communicate with their commanders, to communicate with artillery, because no other secure and reliable means
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of giving occasion are available for them, because all of those systems advertised or promoted by the ministry of defence, they are insufficient in amount or are unavailable or they are not operating properly. 50 unavailable or they are not operating properly. so how significant _ operating properly. so how significant than _ operating properly. so how significant than is - operating properly. so how significant than is this i operating properly. so how- significant than is this moment, in terms of that conversation being had and the reaction to it in russia? it seems that russian... that putin and some of his close circles are getting quite annoyed by the behaviour of the minister of defence, it seems putin, at least over the past few months he if you times said it is very important to have the criticisms and, as far as we know, he had us if you are in official meetings with the russian war operators on the front line. it seems like you're struggling to get other sources of information and
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that he is getting more critical of the minister of defence. so the investigation had already been ordered. but it is a big question whether they will find who was really responsible, orjust some blame goes elsewhere.- really responsible, orjust some blame goes elsewhere. thank you very much. new figures suggest fresh food prices rose at a record rate in december, at a time when many families would have been stocking up for christmas. fresh food inflation hit 15% in december, up from 14.3% in november, according to the british retail consortium. it marks the highest monthly inflation rate for fresh food since records began in 2005. our business reporter noor nanji is here. that is extraordinary, isn't it? tell us more about these figures are. ~ ~ ., , . tell us more about these figures are. ~ ., , . ., tell us more about these figures are. , are. we know the price of pretty much everything _ are. we know the price of pretty much everything is _ are. we know the price of pretty much everything is going i are. we know the price of pretty much everything is going up, i are. we know the price of prettyj much everything is going up, we feeling that and experiencing that all around us. but food prices are rising particularly fast, as these new figures from the british retail consortium shows. they found that overall food price inflation hit
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13.3% in december. remember inflation is the rate at which prices are rising. so to put that into real life terms, that means if you brought a drink a year ago for £1, that same could now cost you £1 30 p. within that, fresh food prices are rising even faster so inflation there hit 15% in december. don't forget, this will be at a time when many of us stocking up on groceries and other items heading into the big christmas day celebrations. so why are prices rising are so fast? well, experts say the war in ukraine has pushed up the price of things like energy, animalfeed and pushed up the price of things like energy, animal feed and fertiliser and that is making the cost of producing the food increasingly more expensive. of course the big question is how long will prices stay high? well, the british retail consortium has warned that inflation shows no signs of waning any time soon and that could mean another difficult year for consumers. as well as a business is a. bid
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difficult year for consumers. as well as a business is a. did they say anything — well as a business is a. did they say anything about _ well as a business is a. did they say anything about support i well as a business is a. did they say anything about support for i say anything about support for business? , ., �* , ., say anything about support for business? , . �* , ., , business? yes, that's an interesting oint, to business? yes, that's an interesting point. to take _ business? yes, that's an interesting point. to take a _ business? yes, that's an interesting point, to take a step _ business? yes, that's an interesting point, to take a step back _ business? yes, that's an interesting point, to take a step back in, i business? yes, that's an interesting point, to take a step back in, they i point, to take a step back in, they did say that shopkeepers have tried as much as possible to keep prices low and not to pass on price rises to consumers if they could help it. but they did warn that they might not be able to do that if that support for businesses with energy bills is not extended and that could mean that shoppers face even higher prices from april. don't forget, businesses and households are being supported with their energy bills. but, for businesses, that package is due to expire at the end of march, it is not currently clear what will happen after that. there are some expectations that the currency board level could be halved after then. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, he is meeting with business groups later today to brief them on what will come next. we should get clarity on this very soon, we will bring you that as soon as we get it. shot millions of people are starting
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work this week after the christmas break, but how do people make it into the office. research shows that new research shows that shows that, as more people work from home, i many city centres are quieter than before the pandemic while small towns and neighbourhoods are considerably busier. david sillito reports. welcome to budleigh salterton in devon. this is the longboat cafe on the waterfront, and for the first time, it's planning to stay open through the winter. last year we were open for the week after christmas and it was just as busy as it was in the height of summer. the high street... there isn't a single empty shop. how's business? yeah, we're doing very well, thank you. i would say 20% up on what we were pre—covid. and the housing market is what estate agents describe as buoyant. it's just been crazy down here during covid — crazy. in what way? well, people were gazumping people — 60,000 80,000, 100 grand a house. a town that used to be a place to retire is changing. i met two of the more recent arrivals, adam and mark.
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so we moved into budleigh 2021 - june 2021. so you arrived during covid here? we were very, very lucky to find our dream home in budleigh during covid. how often do you have to go to the office? um, twice a week, probably now. and the rest of it i just do from home. has it made a difference? oh, it's fabulous. look at it! i mean, it'sjust stunning, isn't it? it's just beautiful. and have you noticed a difference since you arrived here and the people moving into budleigh? there's sort of 10, 20 families in our area that have all moved in. i know a lot of people as well that are sort of waiting to move into budleigh. it's become quite a family—friendly area. all of which is backed up by new data, which shows the number of people in and around the town centre is up by nearly 60%. however, many city centres, most notably the city of london, have gone the other way.
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it is just after 5 o'clock. this is the bank of england, the city of london, and what used to be called the rush hour. this was a rush hour on london bridge in 2018. this is what friday rush hour now looks like. the big property companies now accept there's a new pattern to the week in big city centre offices. what we see is tuesdays, wednesdays, thursdays, incredibly busy. mondays, 50% to 60% of those days, friday is almost like another weekend day. do you think it will ever go back to what it was before in 2018, 2019? we certainly believe that there are going to be fewer people in offices for the longer term, and we're planning accordingly. the office industry sees a future
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of fewer desks, more space for meeting, chatting, collaborating. the option to be more flexible, i think that's here with us now forever. and i think most people would agree that that's a good thing. indeed, who really misses doing this every day? and there is also an upside. i think local residential neighbourhoods is one area where you really can see both the permanent shift and where we're reverting back, because the pandemic has been a great catalyst for you to discover if you have a fantastic neighbourhood restaurant. places like the volunteer inn here in ottery st mary back in devon. the lunch trade has been doing very well recently. so compare 2019 with now. there is no comparison, i don't think. we're so much busier. yeah. massively busy. thank god. there are winners and losers. but for many of us a bit more time where we live,
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a bit less commuting, things could be worse. david sillito, bbc news, devon. we all have a song that makes us dance, cry or smile — but music has the power to affect us in so many other ways. a new exhibition is exploring how it can help people with life—changing illnesses, affect how much we exercise, and even influence how we shop. owain wyn evans went to find out more. two, three, four... music: bbc news theme music has an amazing power to change people's lives. the bbc breakfast drumathon is a memory that will stay with me forever. we raised millions for children in need, and it showed just how incredible music can be. i can remember music always being around me when i was a child. i remember mum and dad playing carpenters, beatles, wings, and that stuff really has
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stayed with me. i've suffered from anxiety — oh, my goodness, ever since i was a child it's something that's kind of always been there. it's been a constant, unpleasant companion. so music, and drumming in particularfor me, has been a vital tool that's really kept me going over the years. because you're hitting these things and you're using your feet and your brain isjust concentrating on that. and all of the other things you're worried about or thinking aboutjust sort of fizzle away. wahey! oh, my goodness! who is it? it's you! going to the city game today. am i? yeah. music plays a big part in barry and charlie's life. when does it start? four o'clock. barry is 81l. he's living with dementia. and his grandson charlie has found singing along to songs at his beloved
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manchester city really helps. # na, na, na, na! # ci—ty! they're part of a new exhibition at manchester's museum of science and industry. yeah. look — names everywhere. it's celebrating music and its impact on us. stephen, this is fab. what do we have here? this is the very first thing you'll see in the exhibition. this is a wall of audio playback devices. the things that brought music to all of our ears. the two tape decks, i remember having one of those, and i remember recording the radio. we want to represent, basically, from gramophones to iphones. so really it's about connecting people to their memories and finding a connection point, and realising that we're all musical and we all have this amazing connection to music. so shall we have a go at making some music using duplo? i would love to. i mean, i'mjust throwing them on the grid here. is this what a building block musician does? absolutely. and once you've got a shape you're happy with, when you press �*play�*,
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you can hear your music realised. everyone loves making music, and just being creative and expressing themselves. music is notjust a nice to have in our lives. it's actually quite essential. for example, i've done some work with colleagues on music and parkinson's, and music and dementia. it's clinical. it has an impact on people living with these awful conditions. music helps us to bond as humans. you know, that's everywhere in our lives. we dance, we sing, we use music to grieve, we use music to celebrate. we use music to come together. shall we give it a go and see how this sounds? yeah. right. here we go. oh, it's stunning! i think that's a modern classic. it's a masterpiece! thank you. well, "shop till you drop" — that's something i'm familiar with. yeah. so this whole section is about how music affects our everyday life. it can really change and influence our behaviours in ways we don't even really know or don't even really recognise. french music plays
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i quite like this. this is definitely making me want to buy a french wine. or go on holiday to the riviera, or something. orthat — yeah! if you've got french wine and german wine in the same aisle, if you play stereotypically french music, you can basically go buy more french wine. if the german music's playing, you'll buy more german wine. german music plays hold music — it's something most of us have had to endure. oh, it's so irritating. yeah, so people have actually done studies about which kind of tracks make us stay on hold for the longest. so, track two is a pan pipe version. love a pan pipe! music: pan pipe arrangement or yesterday, by the beatles oh, this is quite nice, i quite like this. this is the thing that they found people stayed on hold the longest for, because it's a slightly different variation on what that familiar track is. "please hold while your call is being connected." - this isjust a person telling me i'm on hold. yeah. which is the worst thing you can do if you want people to stay on hold. she's quite incessant. yes. she's going on and on. "your call is very important to us." she said my call�*s very important.
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do you know what? i'm going to go back to the pan pipes. beautiful. i think i mightjust stay here and enjoy this. relax. have you got a favourite type of music, or maybe a favourite song? um, i have a favourite type of music. it's k—pop. k—pop! do you play any instruments? ooh, what do you play? a guitar. does playing the guitar make you feel happy? yeah. especially if it's my sister's. excellent! how does your sister feel about that? not happy. how do you feel when you hear music that you like? uh, happy. are we ready to make some music? yes! all right — one, two, three, four, press those buttons! music plays
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0h, sounds good. sounds great! you are excellent musicians. woo! yeah! well done, that was great! great work! a walrus named thor has been touring the coast of england. he a walrus named thor has been touring the coast of england.— the coast of england. he has now mirrated the coast of england. he has now migrated 100 _ the coast of england. he has now migrated 100 miles north - the coast of england. he has now migrated 100 miles north in i migrated 100 miles north in northumberland where he has been relaxing on a pontoon. wildlife experts say it is a good sign he is heading ina heading in a northerly direction towards arctic waters. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. it was a very mild start to the day today and that mild theme set to continue over the next few days.
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you can see the days here, the mild conditions represented by the yellows and ambers, the cooler weather by the blues, the cool doesn't stay around for very long. it's usually replaced by the ambers and the yellows in the next few days. now, what we've had this morning has been a lot of cloud in some rain, but through the course of the afternoon, a lot of that will break up. much of the rain moving away will hang on to some showers across northern ireland, southern scotland and northern england. not all of us seeing them, but some of them will be sharp and it's going to be windy, but it's going to be mild. our temperatures 7 to 13 degrees later. we'll see the cloud thicken with some spots of rain move across southern counties that pulls away through the night, a transient ridge of high pressure builds across us, so many of the showers will ease. and by the end of the night, we've got this next weather system coming in from the west. potentially a touch of frost across northeast scotland. but for most of us, it's going to be a mild night, just not as mild as last night. so this is the weather front, bringing in the cloud in the patchy rain from the west by the end of the night. but low pressure is approaching us. and as it does so, the rain will turn heavier later in the day
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across northern ireland and also western scotland. but you can see our first weather front producing all this cloud and the odd spot of rain. some of us will miss the rain altogether. the winds also going to strengthen through the day in the west with the risk of gales later across northwest scotland. but we're still in this mild air, temperatures, 7 to 13 degrees. now, if we pick up the area of low pressure through the overnight period, you can see how it drifts northwards and eastwards taking its rain with it, followed by heavy showers, gales. we could have a gust of wind up to 70 miles an hour with exposure across northwest scotland. but it's going to be windy. the wind slowly moderating during the course of friday. and as the rain clears the way, the way, a lot of dry weather, just a few showers and a fair bit of sunshine, before the next weather system comes in from the west. but again, still mild for the time of year. so we look at the weekend now and you can see just how unsettled it is, low pressure areas crossing us. look at those of isobars. it's going to be pretty windy at times as well. and so we'll see some spells of rain
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moving from the west towards the east during the course of saturday, followed by some showers and also showery on sunday and remaining windy throughout the weekend.
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this is bbc news. the headlines. gps say they're facing growing pressure as patients turn away from hospitals for help. we don't want to be seeing patients in corridors, we don't want to be breaking bad news and cupboards, we don't want to be doing that kind of thing. the prime minister will address struggles facing the nhs and the need for more maths taught in schools in a major speech later this afternoon. russia blames a ukrainian rocket strike that killed dozens of servicemen — on russian troops using their mobile phones. the stars of the 0scar—winning1968 film romeo and juliet are suing paramount pictures for sexual abuse over a nude scene they appeared in.
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and british stars rule the british charts with a clean sweep of this years top ten and that's a record! a 30 hour wait for an ambulance and 12 hours sitting outside a&e — more distressing stories are emerging this morning of the nhs under pressure this winter. the government is blaming high numbers of flu and covid cases, and fears of strep a infections. nhs england says there are several contributing factors. these include 18% more people coming into a&e in the last six weeks compared to the same period last year, and there are nearly 10,000 nhs staff absent at the moment due to covid. there are still a significant number of covid patients in hospitals, too.
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in england, the number has more than doubled to 9,500 from a few weeks ago. delayed discharges of medically fit patients — who could leave if there was provision in the community — is also causing bed—blocking in hospital. we'll be in glasgow, dundonald, and cardiff in the next few minutes but first our correspondent, graham satchell, reports these are all the ambulances outside king's lynn hospital waiting to take patients in. this phone footage was taken by sarahjones at the queen elizabeth hospital in norfolk. she was with her 84—year—old dad, mervyn. so it's 8:50 and we just got out of the ambulance. 8:50pm. and paramedics came to the house at 8:30am this morning. so we've been almost 12 hours in an ambulance, and we're going now up to the ward. sarah's dad on the stretcher, struggling to breathe with heart failure. we had the doctors team come and look at dad in the ambulance. we had to take him out in the rain,
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right out on the stretcher, into the hospital to have the x—ray and then bring him back into the ambulance. i've never seen anything like it. the system seems completely broken, and one thing backs up another thing, you know, which leads to an ambulance sitting there for 12 hours when they could be out. maybe somebody else is going to not make it to the hospital because of that. the royal cornwall hospital, and again a queue of ambulances. on the ward, 82—year—old marie grubb. she fell in her kitchen and broke her pelvis. marie waited on the floor for 31 hours for an ambulance. it was agony. i was like, "i can't turn over, just too sore to turn." i was on my side, facing away, facing the windows. and it just was agony. how did you manage to keep
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going for 31 hours? well, you do, i think. willpower, i suppose, isn't it? winter pressure is nothing new in the nhs, but the combination of flu, covid, staff shortages and delays discharging patients to social care means for many, this is the worst winter they can remember. we don't want to be seeing patients in corridors. we don't want to be breaking bad news in cupboards. we don't want to be doing that sort of thing. and it's quite hard to keep doing that. we know we shouldn't be doing it. it's just the only thing we can do to keep the system going. the government in westminster says the nhs is its top priority and it's providing an extra £14 billion over the next couple of years. we've seen significant pressure on the nhs, particularly over this period through a combination of very high rates of flu, persistent and high levels of covid, parents, around strep a. and that has combined over that period with a time when primary care services and community services overall are so much more limited.
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what do we want? crowd: fair pay! when do we want it? crowd: now! more strikes are planned by nhs staff later this month. the labour party has accused the government of 12 years of mismanagement, saying there is now a sense ofjeopardy surrounding the nhs, which is frightening people across the country. graham satchell, bbc news. let's bring you the picture from our correspondents across the uk, im a moment we'll hearfrom emma vardy in dundonald and lorna gordon in glasgow, but first to mark hutchings in cardiff. well, another day getting under way here at the wales' biggest hospital which, like multiple hospitals, is under the most enormous of pressures, the welsh government say these are unprecedented times. if you look at the picture across wales, at the last count, about 500 patients were in hospital with covid, there is a flu outbreak and staff shortages, that at any one time more than half of the welsh ambulance fleet was actually waiting outside hospitals like this one simply to hand over patients, and playing into that is the fact
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that one in nine hospital beds is occupied across wales by someone who no longer needs medical care, but social care. senior medical officials are urging health bodies to look at, wherever appropriate, discharging such patients, even if there isn't a social care package in place in order to free up beds for those who need them most acutely. the nhs confederation, representing the bodies across wales, say there is a blame game going on between cardiff and westminster. now for the picture in northern ireland, over to emma va rdy. well, hospitals here say the pressures have just been ramping up week after week, and at times the situation in emergency departments has been compared to the intensity of war—zone hospitals. now, in recent weeks, hospitals have been issuing appeals at the busiest times for off—duty nursing staff to come in and work extra shifts, because the pressures have just
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got so extreme. one trust here issued four urgent appeals on social media over the last seven days. health executives have been trying to set new targets to ease the pressures, including a maximum three—hour wait for ambulances to hand over patients, but that is just not sustainable, staff say, the situation as a whole is critical, and something else needs to happen. an added complication in northern ireland is that we do not have a functioning government here at the moment, because of a separate row over brexit and the dup refusing to go back into power—sharing over that. but doctors here say that, without a political leadership, it is even more difficult to address the current problems. lorna gordon is in glasgow. the scottish national clinical director, jason leitch, has been speaking this morning, describing a&e in hospital as the canary in the coal mine,
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he said it is not the only place that is under immense pressure, not the only area of the nhs under immense pressure — community pharmacies and gp practices are also struggling but a&e is the most evident and obvious place where the services are struggling. a&e services in scotland recorded their worst ever waiting times, two health boards here in scotland have asked staff to cut leave short to come in and help out. doctors in the largest health board here in greater glasgow and clyde have requested a declaration of a major incident, a major emergency due to concerns over patient safety and what they described as an overwhelmed a&e department at the queen elizabeth university hospital here in glasgow. their request was denied. well, the conservatives are calling for a debate in parliament, they are asking nicola sturgeon to intervene, the first minister says the challenges are not unique to scotland and that the government is continuing to support the service with record investment and reform.
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i spoke tojulia patterson a while ago. i i spoke to julia patterson a while auo. ., ., , ago. i would agree with everything that ou ago. i would agree with everything that you are _ ago. i would agree with everything that you are hearing _ ago. i would agree with everything that you are hearing from - ago. i would agree with everything that you are hearing from front - that you are hearing from front light doctors such as the one we have just heard from he was a fantastic advocate for nhs staff being one herself. this situation is being one herself. this situation is being framed in terms of money and the government are essentially washing the hands of the situation. what we have in our hands is a humanitarian crisis. as a government, they are tasked with running a safe service which is a
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public service for patients. we are all reliant on the nhs for our emergency treatment and they have a duty to provide a comprehensive health service in the uk. they seem to have reduced this into some kind of debate about the funding they are putting in one year of an necks and they are misrepresenting the situation, as you say, blaming things on covid orflu. they situation, as you say, blaming things on covid or flu. they have been scapegoating staff in the news in recent months. it's extremely irresponsible of them and every single day that goes past where they turn the other way and ignore the situation and don't take responsibility, patients are dying and that comes down to them. it is “p and that comes down to them. it is up to them to do something now. when ou sa that up to them to do something now. when you say that the — up to them to do something now. when you say that the government is very much framing this in terms of money, it does boil down to that, doesn't it? resources.— it does boil down to that, doesn't it? resources. over a long period of time, it? resources. over a long period of time. yes- — it? resources. over a long period of time. yes- they _ it? resources. over a long period of time, yes. they have _ it? resources. over a long period of time, yes. they have cut _ it? resources. over a long period of time, yes. they have cut 25,000 . time, yes. they have cut 25,000 hospital beds since 2010. they made the smallest amount of real terms
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investment in the nhs during 2010-2021 of the investment in the nhs during 2010—2021 of the entire nhs�*s history. they have treated staff so badly that we are now missing almost 10% of the entire nhs workforce of england. it does come down to resources and money on a long—term basis but right now, approaching this as a... basis but right now, approaching this as a- - -_ this as a... just to come in, you are talking _ this as a... just to come in, you are talking about _ this as a... just to come in, you are talking about the _ this as a... just to come in, you are talking about the historic i are talking about the historic levels of funding which the nhs funding was protected through very difficult times, but there were the austerity years, . .. difficult times, but there were the austerity years, . . ._ austerity years,... which are you referrin: austerity years,... which are you referring to? _ austerity years,... which are you referring to? nhs _ austerity years,... which are you referring to? nhs spending - austerity years,... which are you referring to? nhs spending was| referring to? nhs spending was rotected referring to? nhs spending was protected going _ referring to? nhs spending was protected going through - referring to? nhs spending was protected going through the - protected going through the austerity years but it hasn't increased in line with inflation. if you have a look at graphs showing decade to decade real term investment into the nhs, the funding dipped to 1.6% increase year upon year real terms investment. that is the lowest in the nhs�*s in thai
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history. priorto the lowest in the nhs�*s in thai history. prior to that, the amount had been between four and 6% on average each decade. we need, as a baseline, for the increase in health care funding to increase by about 3.5% each year. this government have done that. they have squeeze the service, cut the beds, they have put the staff under more pressure, lots of staff have left, they haven't recruited more staff, they have scapegoated staff for problems, they have provided inadequate mental health care for staff, they haven't paid them properly, we now have a situation where patients are calling ambulances and the ambulances are deriving and people are dying. julia patterson. in the midst of the crisis in the nhs, the wave of strike action and calls for more help with rising energy bills and increases in the cost of living, the prime minister will make a speech later today outlining his priorities for the year ahead. among the proposals he's expected to talk about, he'll set out plans to ensure
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all pupils in england study some form of maths until they're 18. but no new qualifications are immediately planned and there are no plans to make a—levels compulsory. labour has criticised the plans as an "empty pledge". here's our political correspondent damian grammaticas with a preview of what the prime minister is expected to talk about. those intense pressures on the nhs, those delays in people getting treatment, the concerns amongst doctors about a number of patients who are dying because of these issues. so, the prime minister will, i think, attempt to address that. he will definitely face questions on that, i am sure, when he takes questions later today. but i think what we see in the middle of all of this, sort of, firefighting, these crises, rishi sunak is, perhaps, attempting at the beginning of the year to try to set out something that he can give a little bit more of a personal stamp, a bit more of a vision of why he is in thejob and what he might hope to achieve in this longer term. and that's where i think this maths idea comes in. the difficulty is, as you point out, some might look at this and say while this seems a little bit off agenda when there are all of these pressing issues, the strikes, the health service and all the rest. but rishi sunak, downing street say,
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he certainly believes in the importance of education, the value of the education he got and the fact that less than half of those over—16 who are still at school do any sort of maths and that is very different to countries like america, australia, france, germany, and his vision is to try to change that. i'm nowjoined by bobby seagull, a maths teacher, writer and broadcaster. that's coming up, let's catch up with the sports first.
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newly crowned world darts champion michael smith has admitted he got no sleep last night, because he was staring at his trophy... smith beat michael van gerwen 7—4 at alexandra palace, producing a brilliant nine dart finish on his way to lifting the trophy, in a leg labelled the greatest of all time... van gerwen, the world number one, up first, three perfect treble 20s michael �*bully boy�* smith then matched him. 33—year—old van gerwen, goes again, two treble 20s and a treble 19. smith, who had his family and children watching lands his again. which then leaves van gerwen with a double 12 to finish... he misses. smith though...
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nails it! unreal last night, especially when my doubts went in. the crowd erupted. i thought last night i handled the pressure shots perfectly full stop when i needed to hit something i did and double tops were flying in. yeah, ifinally got what i'd been working for. the world championships and to be 1—1, i think i left about 12:15am, to go back to the hotel. the hotel bar was shut at 11pm, so i went straight to my room and open the cabinet and just stared at the drawers full seven hours. pressure continues to pile on everton manager frank lampard — who was booed off at goodison park last night. the toffees helped brighton win 4—1 with some disastrous defending — particularly in the second half as the visitors scored 3 goals in six minutes. it means everton could drop
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into the relegation zone if results go against them later. at the top of the table arsenal now have an 8—point lead after an entertaining goalless draw at home to 3rd place newcastle, eddie nketiah came closest for the gunners, but newcastle managed to get their 10th clean sheet of the season so far to stay third. manchester city could cut the lead at the top to 5 points if they beat chelsea tomorrow. there were also wins for manchester united and fulham. great britain are out of the inagurual united cup, after suffering a 3—1 defeat to the usa in the best of five matches format. it wasn't the best start for britain... maddison keys coming from a set down to defeat katie swan, but british number one cameron norrie levelled the tie as he got the better of taylor fritz in three sets. the us then took the lead again in the third match of the contest — jessica pegula beating harriet dart 6—2 6—0. and despite dan evans taking the first set against frances tiafoe,
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the american fought back to win the final two sets 7—5 6—3 to put his country in to the semi—finals. that's all the sport for now. as we have been reporting, rishi sunak is expected to announce maths being taught to all children up until the age of 18. i'm nowjoined by bobby seagull, a maths teacher, writer and broadcaster. you came straight to my mind this morning when i was thinking about this. it is probably fair to say that the country is split between people who see the vital importance of mass, may be finding it easy, and others who really don't. and his heart would sink at the prospect. what do you say to those? forget the converts, those who find it tricky. the ones that find it tricky, what i
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would say is that mass is a skill like anything else. whether you are learning to dance or drive or bake or sing, these are all things that we are not born as humans being able to do but we develop those skills. one analogy is, as a teacher, so many of my students often say to me, oh, mr siegel, idon't many of my students often say to me, oh, mr siegel, i don't have a mass brain. but people never come up to me and say i can't read, i'm illiterate. there is something to do with a badge of number about being innumerate. as well as the confidence, there is a cultural issue where people think that if you can't do maths a little bit at school than you can just reject it for the rest of your life. school than you can just re'ect it for the rest of your lifeh for the rest of your life. you're sa ini for the rest of your life. you're saying anybody _ for the rest of your life. you're saying anybody can _ for the rest of your life. you're saying anybody can learn - for the rest of your life. you're saying anybody can learn it. i for the rest of your life. you're i saying anybody can learn it. you mentioned a list of other skills, those are also things that people say, i can't dance, i can't bait, but you are saying, we can all learn. i but you are saying, we can all learn. ~ , ., ,., .,. learn. i think it is about reaching competency _ learn. i think it is about reaching competency because _ learn. i think it is about reaching competency because one - learn. i think it is about reaching competency because one of - learn. i think it is about reaching competency because one of the | learn. i think it is about reaching - competency because one of the things that the prime minister mentioned is that the prime minister mentioned is that in england alone 8 million adults have numeracy skills of an
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11—year—old primary school child. that is shocking. these are adults who are going about their day—to—day lives, managing budgets, looking afterfamilies, so i think the key thing is to make sure that people don't feel afraid of maths. and i think part of the issue is, what is a mass being taught? because i love the pure side of mass, trigonometry, geometry, algebra, i could eat all day but i understand some people when they hear that they go, oh my god, not mass. but for them, what is relevant is the particle size. looking at household budgets. what is the interest rate mean? how do i plan myjourney into work? and that is where i am i am excited to to offer because if we are excelling mass education until 18 we need to make for its relevant for what the premise has to offer because if we are excelling mass education until 18 we need to make for its relevant and you're saying that it is transformative for people in their everyday lives because kids will say, and you have mentioned,... i was no good at... i was no good good. they don't see the relevance
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in day—to—day life? that good. they don't see the relevance in day-to-day life?— in day-to-day life? that is really important _ in day-to-day life? that is really important because _ in day-to-day life? that is really important because when - in day-to-day life? that is really important because when people | in day-to-day life? that is really - important because when people think mass is just about an exam, they think it's just about the what is the point of my child being good. they don't see the relevance in day—to—day life? that is really important because when people think maths is just about an exam, they think it's just about to when they are done at 16 or 18, but my maths books never needed again, but every day when we are checking a bank statement, we're planning journeys, even planning a meal and we are trying to chicken, for people, gas it and vegetables, we are using maths on a day—to—day 45 minutes to cook it and vegetables, we are using maths on a day—to—day other side. the teaching. they need to be enough teachers that can deliver it. at the moment, there probably isn't. hagar moment, there probably isn't. how much of an — moment, there probably isn't. how much of an issue _ moment, there probably isn't. how much of an issue is _ moment, there probably isn't. how much of an issue is that? a - moment, there probably isn't. how much of an issue is that? a big - much of an issue is that? a big issue because _ much of an issue is that? a big issue because a _ much of an issue is that? a big issue because a lot _ much of an issue is that? a big issue because a lot of- much of an issue is that? a big issue because a lot of schools | issue because a lot of schools suffer from shortages of maths teachers. if you are maths graduate who are drawn towards the city and banking and finance, that will always be there, but people choose to become teachers because they are passionate about young people and passing on knowledge to the next
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generation so it is making sure when peoplejoin the generation so it is making sure when people join the profession we still retain them because i think we lose [io—50% of new teachers within the first five years and they are gone. teaching conditions have got to be really looked at because if we are to educate the next batch of people that are feeling confident in numbers, we need to make sure that mathematically chained teachers out there, notjust getting on a p teacher, a geography teacher because it's difficult on them. when i get doesn't seem to be teachers, people that can explain things that are complicated in a very simple way that can be digestible. i complicated in a very simple way that can be digestible.— complicated in a very simple way that can be digestible. i know you think ou that can be digestible. i know you think you can _ that can be digestible. i know you think you can explain _ that can be digestible. i know you think you can explain things - that can be digestible. i know you think you can explain things in - that can be digestible. i know you think you can explain things in 20 j think you can explain things in 20 seconds when it comes to mass, is that really possible? i seconds when it comes to mass, is that really possible?— that really possible? i think, aiain, that really possible? i think, again. with _ that really possible? i think, again, with maths, - that really possible? i think, again, with maths, the - that really possible? i think, again, with maths, the key i that really possible? i think, - again, with maths, the key thing is that people are allowed to take the time. because in exams, they are time. because in exams, they are time conditions where you are working under pressure. in the real world, if you are checking a bill or a bank statement, you can consult, ask other people. mass can be collaborative. it is an exam by yourself. collaborative. it is an exam by ourself. . ., ., ~ ., russia's defence ministry says officials will be held accountable
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after ukrainian forces located and destroyed an army barracks in the occupied town of makiivka, killing dozens of troops. russia now says 89 people were killed. ukraine says the number was much higher. russia says the unauthorised use of mobile phones by russian troops allowed ukraine to target its troops — because they were able to use the signal to find the soldiers' location. here's some more of the russian military statememt. translation: circumstances of the incident are currently i being investigated. but it is already obvious that the main reason, despite the restriction, was that the personnel within the range area of enemy firepower, turned on and used mobile phones.this factor allowed the enemy to locate the personnel and launch the missile strike. all the necessary measures are currently being adopted to prevent this kind of tragic incident in the future. the aim of the investigation is to bring those responsible to justice.> translation: circumstances of the incident are currently being investigated, but it is already obvious that the main reason,
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despite the restriction, with more details on that new year's day attack on russian troops in makiivka, our correspondent hugo bachega sent us this update from the ukrainian capital, kyiv. yesterday we had a statement from the russian defence ministry saying that the use of mobile phones by soldiers was the obvious reason behind this attack, an attack that hit this facility in the occupied town of makiivka on new year's day, and this was a school that had been turned into a base by russian soldiers, apparently the soldiers had recently been mobilised, so they had justjoined the army, were waiting to be deployed when this attack happened. but it is interesting that this morning we are hearing reaction from russian military bloggers who have become influential in this war, and they have criticised this russian statement, they say this is apparently an attempt to shift responsibility onto the victims themselves, rather than the commanders who authorised this deployment, and commanders that kept a large number of soldiers in a single location. now, the russians are saying that ukraine carried out this attack
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using those long—range missiles provided by the americans to ukraine, and they have been vital in the ukrainian offensive against the russians. here in kyiv, the authorities have been silent, this is part of the strategy, they rarely give details about their operations against the russians, but earlier this week they said that up to 400 russian soldiers had been killed as a result of this attack, so devastating impact, an attack that happened in the eastern part of the country, the deadliest attack on russian troops ever admitted by russia in this war. we spoke earlier
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to olga ivshina, from the bbc�*s russian service — about the reaction in russia. the reaction has been different depending on which part of the society you look at but this example is truly extraordinary. previously, during the invasion, russian military defence had almost never commented on exact cases, they have updated their death toll countjust updated their death toll count just twice updated their death toll countjust twice over the past 11 months so this is quite an extraordinary step and they have updated their death toll this morning, as well, which is very unusual. it seems they are are in damage limitation mode and also they are trying to control the narrative. that's why they should be statement blaming soldiers for using their cell phones. russian ministry of defence has come under significant criticism in the past few months, and this criticism is
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starting to come not only from independent experts or independent media but also from pro—kremlin military bloggers, reporters of russian state generals who are currently in the war zone, and they are bringing more and more issues. the very story itself is challenging the ministry of defence because they say that soldiers used their cell phones without authorisation and this points to one of the biggest trouble is russia faced in this conflict during this invasion that they don't have reliable system of communication and many soldiers who are currently fighting in the front lines told us that actually most of the time soldiers are using their cell phones to communicate with their commanders, to communicate with artillery because no other secure and reliable means of communication is available to them
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because all of those systems aren't advertised, so to speak, or promoted by the ministry of defence. there is an insufficient amount, or they are unavailable or not operating properly. 50 unavailable or not operating ”roerl . ., unavailable or not operating properly-— unavailable or not operating --roerl. ., , , , properly. so how significant is this moment in — properly. so how significant is this moment in terms _ properly. so how significant is this moment in terms of— properly. so how significant is this moment in terms of that - properly. so how significant is this - moment in terms of that conversation being heard and the reaction to it in russia? it being heard and the reaction to it in russia? , , ., , , ., in russia? it seems that russian, president putin, _ in russia? it seems that russian, president putin, the _ in russia? it seems that russian, president putin, the president, i in russia? it seems that russian, i president putin, the president, and some of his close circles are getting quite annoyed by the behaviour of the ministry of defence. it seems that vladimir putin, at least over the last few months, he has said a few times it is very important to hear the criticism and as far as we know he had a few in official meetings with russian war importers operating on the front line so it seems he is struggling to get other sources of information and that also he is getting more and more critical of the ministry of defence so their investigation has already been
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thwarted. but it's a big question whether they will find people who are really responsible orjust some state goats. hello again. after this morning's cloud and rain, things are going to brighten up as we go through the course of the day. and for most of us, it's going to be drier and sunnier than it was yesterday. the exception to that is across parts of northern ireland, southern scotland and northern england, where we will see some showers, some of them will be heavy. and we're also looking at gusty winds today, but still mild, up to 1a degrees in the south. now, some cloud coming in across southern areas will move away through the course of the night as a ridge of high pressure builds across as many of the showers will fade. and by the end of the night, we've got another system coming our way in from the west.
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it's still going to be a mild night, just not as mild as last night. so through tomorrow, if we pick up this band of clouds, some spots of rain on it, pushing northwards and eastwards, hello this is bbc news. the headlines: gps say they are facing growing pressure as patients turn away from hospitals for help. amidst growing pressure the pro—minister will address the struggles facing the nhs in a major speech this afternoon. uk food prices soared to a record rate in december as the british retail consortium warned high inflation will continue into 2023. the stars of the oscar—winning1968 film romeo and juliet are suing paramount pictures for sexual abuse over a nude scene they appeared in. and british stars rule
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the british charts — with a clean sweep of last year's top ten — and that's a record! there's political disarray in the us, where the house of representatives — the lower house of congress — has had to adjourn without electing a new leader. kevin mccarthy — the head of the republicans in the house — was expected to be chosen as speaker after his party won a majority in the house at elections in november. but about 20 hardline members of his own party rejected him in three separate votes. our north america correspondent peter bowes has more. the heart of us government — deadlocked because its members can't agree on who'll be the next speaker. the house of representatives is meeting for the first time at the start of the new congress, with the republicans in charge. pursuant to law and precedent, the next order of business is the election of the speaker of the house of representatives for the 118th congress.
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with a slim majority, the republicans have the votes to select the next speaker — but only if most of them agree. kevin mccarthy is the front runner. the republican leader enjoys wide support and has been campaigning for the role for months. and i think kevin mccarthy's the right guy to lead us, i really do, or i wouldn't be standing up here, giving this speech. i came in with kevin, we came in the same time, 16 years ago. we haven't always agreed on everything, but i like his fight, i like his tenacity and i like the... i remember kevin told me, i actually wrote about this in a book. i remember kevin told me, he said, "the toughest times in life are when you get knocked down." "the question is — can you come back?" and i have always seen him be able to do that. but this could be a knockdown from which there is no comeback. mr mccarthy is a polarising figure and not universally popular in his party. and that was obvious when the voting started — round after round, three times, he failed to win the majority needed to be declared the new speaker.
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it was down to a small group on the right of the party who voted instead forjimjordan, who'd earlier said kevin mccarthy was the right person for the job. he was opposed by 19 members during the first two rounds, and then 20 in the third round. no persons having received a majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname, a speaker has not been elected. it leaves the house in disarray, unable to move on with the business of running the country. but differences in political ideology also lie at the centre of this impasse with disagreement over the future direction of the republicans. there had been indications that there was going to be this fight going back weeks. obviously, this is not the way the republicans in the house wanted to start their majority, but there had been these indications, and both sides have dug in, and there is no indication yet of when this is going to end.
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so far, kevin mccarthy has doggedly refused to drop out of the race. it is the first time in 100 years that a speaker has not been elected in the opening round of voting. on that occasion, it took several days. history could be about to repeat itself. peter bowes, bbc news. peter trubowitz is professor of international relations and director of the us centre at the london school of economics. welcome, thank you forjoining us. what is your reading of what seeing here? this what is your reading of what seeing here? �* , what is your reading of what seeing here? . , , ,., , what is your reading of what seeing here? , , , here? as the news reports 'ust indicated, fl here? as the news reports 'ust indicated. we i here? as the news reports 'ust indicated, we are in i here? as the news reportsjust indicated, we are in uncharted| indicated, we are in uncharted territory. the last time a speaker was not elected on the first ballot was not elected on the first ballot was 1923, it took nine ballots, i think roughly ten days, before they got it done. and if that doesn't
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sound bad, in 1855 it took 133 ballots to get a speaker. i don't think it will take that much time. but i think the bottom line here is that, whatever the outcome, whoever the republican speaker comes, a person is going to have a lot of trouble holding the caucus together, let alone getting any kind of programmatic legislation passed. i think mccarthy is in a position right now where he has to show some movement in his direction awfully soon, all supporters are going to begin to peel off and try to rally around another candidate. he has... i think what he's going to try to do is change the dynamic in that the voting threshold. currently, as you know, it is at 218, you need a
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majority of 218. that can be lowered if you can get people to vote to indicate that the present but that they are not voting on it. but he has to be careful.— they are not voting on it. but he has to be careful. obviously this is a numbers — has to be careful. obviously this is a numbers game _ has to be careful. obviously this is a numbers game right _ has to be careful. obviously this is a numbers game right now- has to be careful. obviously this is a numbers game right now and - has to be careful. obviously this is i a numbers game right now and trying to appeal across the party. but in the longer term, what does this mean for the immediate impact on government, but also beyond that for the dangers and difficulties for the republican party and what it stands for? it republican party and what it stands for? , . . ., , ., republican party and what it stands for? _ ., ., , for? it is chaos right now inside the republican _ for? it is chaos right now inside the republican party _ for? it is chaos right now inside the republican party and - for? it is chaos right now inside the republican party and it - for? it is chaos right now inside i the republican party and it sends for? it is chaos right now inside - the republican party and it sends a signal that, especially to moderate voters, if they cannot get their act together that they are not in a position to govern. it is still early days, it's worth remembering here that mccarthy has most of the party behind him and so he has a
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reasonable shot at getting there. but i think it shows that, when you have a small margin like he has got right now in the house, whoever the speaker is it is a small minority he is going to be able to come up with the works and that is going to make it hard for government to get legislation passed, for the house to be able to act in any kind of a programmatic way for the republican side. i think the good news from the biden administration's standpoint is that most of the stuff that comes up from the republicans are mostly going to be performance, not serious legislation. but it may mean, on some critical votes, that biden has difficulty getting the kind of support that he needs inside the
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house. ., ~' ,, support that he needs inside the house. ., ~ i. ., support that he needs inside the house. ., ~ ., ., support that he needs inside the house. . ~' i., ., ., , the stars of the oscar—winning1968 film romeo and juliet are suing paramount pictures. it's for alleged sexual abuse over a nude scene they appeared in. olivia hussey and leonard whiting were 15 and 16 when they made the movie. paramount hasn't responded to the claims. let's speak to our entertainment correspondent colin paterson. colin, this is happening a long time after that film was made. tell us more about the background to what has been going on. 55 more about the background to what has been going on.— has been going on. 55 years after the film came — has been going on. 55 years after the film came out. _ has been going on. 55 years after the film came out. this _ has been going on. 55 years after the film came out. this is - has been going on. 55 years after| the film came out. this is because in california statute of limitations has temporarily been suspended and people want to bring cases, historical cases of child sex abuse stop what has happened is that the two british stars of this film, romeo and juliet, olivia hussey and leonard whiting have brought this case in california. they filed it last friday. at the time the film
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was a huge hit, nominated for best picture, one about british stars golden globes. for two years after the film came out second has spoken often about how she could not act, took time out because she developed agoraphobia. now this claim is that the whole experience, there was a case of sexual expectation, harassment and fraud. they are saying it is flawed because the claim is that the director who died in 2019 told them beforehand there was need for nude scenes when they signed up to the film and even the day of filming he said to them, listen, we are not going to film nude scenes, but when they came and said they were told, according to the claimant, that the film would flop if they did not appear naked, they had to appear naked and, also it has been claimed, that they were told they could be wearing body suits but they were not provided at the time and when they filmed the scenes they were naked. that is why
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the claim has been brought. i imagine it is getting a huge amount of interest and coverage in los angeles in particular? this of interest and coverage in los angeles in particular?- of interest and coverage in los angeles in particular? this is a bi , angeles in particular? this is a bi, bi angeles in particular? this is a big. big story- _ angeles in particular? this is a big, big story. because - angeles in particular? this is a big, big story. because the - angeles in particular? this is a - big, big story. because the statute of limitations has been temporarily suspended, this case could be a real outlier to see an example of what other people might have going forward as well, the crucial thing is that the actors were so young at the time, that you had olivia hussey, she was only 15 at the time and leonard whiting he was 16 and is why the phrase child sex abuse is being used in relation to this case. interestingly over the years, in interviews she has defended the director but is completely not in this action and watch she is saying here. ~ ., this action and watch she is saying here.~ . . ,, , this action and watch she is saying here. ~ . . ,, , ., here. what happens then, how will the action unfold? _ here. what happens then, how will the action unfold? how— here. what happens then, how will the action unfold? how long - here. what happens then, how will the action unfold? how long is- here. what happens then, how will the action unfold? how long is it i the action unfold? how long is it going to take? it the action unfold? how long is it going to take?— going to take? it has only been filed on friday. _ going to take? it has only been filed on friday. we _ going to take? it has only been filed on friday. we are - going to take? it has only been filed on friday. we are still- going to take? it has only been filed on friday. we are still to i filed on friday. we are still to learn exactly how and what will happen next and when it will come to
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god. but yes, it has managed to get into this gap, this temporary suspension, that is why they have done this now, and it will happen relatively quickly over the next year. relatively quickly over the next ear. ., �* . ~ relatively quickly over the next ear. ., �* ., ~ ., ., year. you're talking about long time aio, could year. you're talking about long time ago. could things — year. you're talking about long time ago, could things have _ year. you're talking about long time ago, could things have changed - year. you're talking about long time ago, could things have changed as i ago, could things have changed as there is a huge amount of protection are now around film sets as lemon yes, many films, i remember it became a big story at the baftas when one actor spoke about her intimacy coordinator and when one actor spoke about her intimacy coordinator and thanked her the for the way _ intimacy coordinator and thanked her the for the way she _ intimacy coordinator and thanked her the for the way she had _ intimacy coordinator and thanked her the for the way she had done. - intimacy coordinator and thanked her the for the way she had done. now. the for the way she had done. now often you have someone whose job it is exactly to make sure that the actors are happy beforehand and happy afterwards with what has happened. so the industry really, really has changed. this was 55 years ago, but they are suing for more than £400 million, because they said it has caused them such distress over the years and had such
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an impact on their lives. that figure they are going for because the film has been such a financial success over the years, for generations of school kids was shown in this film, to help them learn about romeo and juliet, it was a claim which was at the time was a masterpiece. now it will end up in court. ., ~ masterpiece. now it will end up in court. . ~ ., temperatures forjanuary have reached an all—time high in a number of nations across europe. records have been broken in poland, the netherlands, the czech republic and several other countries. tim allman reports. extreme weather from time to time, but i think there is link with climate change, because by a change is making these extremes more frequent and making heatwaves more intense and it is very striking what we are seeing in west europe at the moment and it is showing the inability, even in relatively wealthy parts of the world, to showing the impact on the skiing industry and in the european mountains.— industry and in the european mountains. ., ., mountains. so, more frequent, more intense.
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mountains. so, more frequent, more intense- can — mountains. so, more frequent, more intense- can you _ mountains. so, more frequent, more intense. can you run _ mountains. so, more frequent, more intense. can you run it _ mountains. so, more frequent, more intense. can you run it through - mountains. so, more frequent, more intense. can you run it through the i intense. can you run it through the statistical evidence, the statistical evidence, the statistical themes? i statistical evidence, the statistical themes? statisticalthemes? i mean, the first oint statisticalthemes? i mean, the first point to — statisticalthemes? i mean, the first point to make _ statisticalthemes? i mean, the first point to make is _ statisticalthemes? i mean, the first point to make is that - statisticalthemes? i mean, the first point to make is that we i first point to make is that we climate scientists have been predicting for many years that what may seem like a relatively gradual increase in global temperatures is going to have a very substantial impact on extremes. what it is doing and we are seeing this more and more frequently is that it's making previously unprecedented extremes much more likely, it's making the chances of record—breaking extremes much more likely and, when we are getting the meteorological conditions that are favouring heatwaves and, you know, heatwaves, whichever time of season it is, at the moment we are seeing a winter heatwave, we are seeing damages much wilder than you might expect in the winter season, wilder than you might expect in the winterseason, it's wilder than you might expect in the winter season, it's making those heatwaves more intense. so it is really adding to the fuel, if you like, of those weather events, when they are forming, which is part of they are forming, which is part of
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the natural processes of our climate. when they are forming, it is making them a much more substantial, much more intense and therefore the impacts are much greater. therefore the impacts are much creater. �* , ., therefore the impacts are much creater. . , ., ., greater. and you mentioned the im act greater. and you mentioned the impact on _ greater. and you mentioned the impact on business, _ greater. and you mentioned the impact on business, the - greater. and you mentioned the impact on business, the ski - greater. and you mentioned the - impact on business, the ski industry and what is happening this season. is it necessarily going to follow that it will be the next season the same? it that it will be the next season the same? ., , �* ., ., , same? it doesn't follow it will be exactly the _ same? it doesn't follow it will be exactly the same _ same? it doesn't follow it will be exactly the same next _ same? it doesn't follow it will be exactly the same next season, i same? it doesn't follow it will be i exactly the same next season, no, because there is plenty of variation of whether from day—to—day and also from season to season. it could be next year potentially that we have a colder winter in the skiing season. but what the people running the skiing lifts in switzerland and austria and other parts of the european mountains no waste really well is that year on year they are seeing more and more times when there isn't the snow on the mountains. of course, there is
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now... now there is much more artificial snow making, which of course requires a lot of energy and water. but they can see that clear trends, they can see basically the snow line rising up the mountain from season to season, so yes, next winter i'm sure they are hoping there will be a much better snow season. but they also know in the skiing industry that are over the future years, the snow line is just rising further and further up the mountain and there is a limit indeed to how much they can make snow and they can't make snow when the winter is so mild as it is this winter. what explains why we see the extremes at the other end of the scale like we're what we're in the states with the extreme cold? 50 states with the extreme cold? so we're states with the extreme cold? ’sr we're still states with the extreme cold? 5r we're still seeing extremes around the planet, as well as hot extremes, but we are seeing far fewer of them. that is the first point to make. the global weather patterns are all connected, so the extreme cold in the us is to do with the jet stream, this ribbon of a very energetic in
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the high atmosphere and that has an impact downstream over in our latitudes. but what we are seeing, potentially, with the cold extremes is more moisture in the hemisphere and so full. so the impact could be greater due to climate change because there is more snow falling and therefore that has a big impact. so we are expecting to see if you were cold extremes of climate change which is indeed what is happening full stop but we have to remember, we will still see those cold extremes as we are seeing in the us and we also have to remember that there is this potential impact, all this actual impact from climate change, which is that there is greater snowfall in those cold extremes when they do happen. british musicians were responsible for all of the top 10 best—selling singles in the uk last year — for the first time
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since records began. harry styles topped the chart, while ed sheeran and with 100 with100 and with 100 and 80 with100 and 80 million streams, harry styles became the bestselling song of last year. it was closely followed by this. ed sheeran's bad habits. already the biggest seller of 2021, it clung on as the second biggest tune of 2022. newcomers cat burns came forth and kate bush came... running up that
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hill, which went viral last summer after featuring hill, which went viral last summer afterfeaturing in the netflix hill, which went viral last summer after featuring in the netflix show, stranger things. the bpi which represents the recording british industry, say conception rose by 4% industry, say conception rose by 4% in 2022, making it the eighth year in 2022, making it the eighth year in a row that listening has increased. customers spend more money on vinyl than cds for the first time since 1987 with a taylor swift's midnights the year's biggest seller. but classics are crowding out new songs. six of last year's top ten albums were greatest hits collections by the likes of elton john, little mix and abba. new figures suggest fresh food prices rose at a record rate in december,
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at a time when many families would have been stocking up for christmas. fresh food inflation hit 15% in december, up from 14.3% in november, according to the british retail consortium. pretty much everything is going up, we're feeling that and experiencing that all around us, but food prices are rising particularly fast as these new figures from the british retail consortium show, so they found that overall food price inflation hit a 13.3% in december, remember inflation is the rate at which prices are rising, so to put that into real—life terms that means you brought a drink one year ago for £1, that same drink would now cost you £1 30 p. £1, that same drink would now cost you £130 p. fresh food prices are rising ever faster, you £130 p. fresh food prices are rising everfaster, invasion the head 15% in december. don't forget this will be at a time when many of us were stocking up on groceries and other items heading into the big christmas day celebrations, so why are prices rising so fast? well, experts say the war in ukraine has pushed up the price of things like
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energy and animalfeed pushed up the price of things like energy and animal feed and fertiliser and that made the cost of producing food increasingly more expensive. the big question is how long will prices stay high? the british retail consortium has warned that inflation shows no sign of waning any time soon and that could mean that another difficult year for consumers is coming, as well as a business and. bid consumers is coming, as well as a business and-— consumers is coming, as well as a business and. did they say anything about support _ business and. did they say anything about support for _ business and. did they say anything about support for business? - business and. did they say anything about support for business? is, - business and. did they say anything | about support for business? is, that is an interesting _ about support for business? is, that is an interesting point, _ about support for business? is, that is an interesting point, to _ about support for business? is, that is an interesting point, to take - about support for business? is, that is an interesting point, to take a - is an interesting point, to take a step back, they have tried as much as possible to keep prices low and not to pass on price rises to consumers if they could help it. they did warn that they might be able to do that if that's what the businesses for energy bills is not extended and that could mean shoppers face an even higher prices than in april. businesses and households are currently being supported with their energy bills about the businesses that package is due to expire at the end of march, not currently clear what will happen
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after that. though there are some expectations that the current support level could be halved. the chancellorjeremy hunt is meeting for business groups later today to brief them on what will come next, so women should get some clarity on all of this are fairly soon, we will of course bring you that as soon as we get it. of course bring you that as soon as we aet it. ~ , of course bring you that as soon as weietit. ~ , , we get it. the minister mac is makini we get it. the minister mac is making his — we get it. the minister mac is making his first _ we get it. the minister mac is making his first speech - we get it. the minister mac is making his first speech of - we get it. the minister mac is making his first speech of the we get it. the minister mac is - making his first speech of the day in which he will lay out plans to give the children studying some form of mass until he is 18. labour have described it as a mg pledge. the leader of the party reform uk has been giving a speech ahead of the minister mike's this afternoon to outline what he sees as the priorities for the uk in 2023. here are some of what he had to say about rishi sunak and the conservative government. labour we're have out here this afternoon from the prime minister, his big answer, his big solution to the challenges that i have laid out solution to the challenges that i have laid ou— solution to the challenges that i have laid out . , ., have laid out what is the solution? more people _
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have laid out what is the solution? more people should _ have laid out what is the solution? more people should do _ have laid out what is the solution? more people should do maths - have laid out what is the solution? | more people should do maths until the age of 18. how many decades, rishi sunak, is that going to take to help people? to help our country. there is only one calculation that needs to be talked about and that is this, what is the answer when you have a crisis, plus a crisis, plus a crisis. let me tell you, we have a national emergency, we have a country that is broken. that is the answer. ., , ., answer. for decades women in cuba have been banned _ answer. for decades women in cuba have been banned from _ answer. for decades women in cuba have been banned from competitive| have been banned from competitive boxing. now, though, the cuban government has finally allowed women to compete and has started the process of selecting a national women's boxing team. in havana, our correspondent, will grant, met the women hoping to be the first boxers to represent cuba at next year's olympic games in paris. bell rings. it is seconds out for women's boxing in cuba. after decades watching
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from the sidelines as cuban men dominated the sport, women on the island were banned from competing under an arcane — and critics say sexist — rule. until now. among those hopeful of progressing to the olympic games in paris next year is ydamelys moreno. the recent selection for the first cuban women's boxing team, she was chosen to represent her country in the featherweight category. translation: we are behind the rest of the world because this change - has just been passed, and i'm already 30. but training hard, and under the people who know about boxing, and putting all my effort into it, i'm sure we will bring home a good result. every four years, boxing remains cuba's greatest hope of olympic gold. but by refusing to let women compete in the ring, many feel the island has let its guard down. it's no longer the country with the greatest number of boxing golds in the world. that is something that these fighters hope to address soon. women's boxing first became an olympic sport at london 2012.
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a few years later, i met namibia flores in havana. she told me it was her dream to win gold for the island and her trainers were convinced she had what it takes. unfortunately for namibia, the rule didn't change in time and she missed her shot. now, though, she is one of the leading women's boxing trainers in cuba, and hopes to still fulfil her olympic dream, albeit as the team's coach, rather than inside the ring herself. translation: it�*s a bittersweet moment for me. i'm really happy it's happened, of course. but at the same time a little sad, as i'd hoped it would be my fists, my gloves, which would bring cuba victory. that wasn't possible, but i'm still here, ready to do my part. as well as coming to the fight a decade too late, cuba's women boxers also face unique challenges to other competitors. the island is in the grip of its worst economic crisis since the cold war. essentials like boxing gloves, punching bags and skipping ropes have long been hard to come by.
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these days it's tough even to find enough food or vitamins, especially for an elite fighter�*s regime. it's like boxing with one arm tied behind your back, says heavyweightjoanna rodriguez, who works as a bouncer in a bar at night to make ends meet. for years, women were excluded from combat sports in cuba through a misplaced sense of protection, largely from raul castro's late wife, vilma espin. today, though, these boxeadoras are determined to bring the island its first women's olympic boxing gold. or at least take pride in being the first women to try. will grant, bbc news, havana. the hollywood actorjeremy renner has thanked fans for support by fans will stop sharing a picture of his bruised face on instagram he said he was too messed up to type but it was
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she sending his love at all. he was airlifted to hospital on sunday after the accident outside his home. the two—time oscar nominee is well known for playing the character or chi. now to bring you the latest progress of thor the walrus. he has spent a new year's eve in the north yorkshire resort of scarborough, the half tonne mail has now set off to blyth, 100 miles further north. wildlife experts say it is good he is heading in the direction of his natural arctic habitat. time for a weather update. hello there. it may well have been quite a cloudy, damp start for many of us, but it was an incredibly mild one. take a look at this. the first column shows the overnight minimums way above where they should be. the second column, the average
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for this time of year. so we should be into low single figures. and that's because the wind direction pulling in this very warm subtropical air right across the country, the only exception, perhaps the far north of scotland. and that's where we've seen some rain as well. the rain fairly light and patchy as it drifts its way south into northern ireland and northwest england. as we go through the day, we should see a greater chance of some sunshine across eastern england in particular and maybe parts of eastern scotland into the afternoon. the cloud across the channel coast may be thick enough for some light drizzle as well, but the temperatures will stay on the mild side for the time of year. generally, around 11 to 14 degrees is the high that week where the front sinks a little bit further south through the night. the showers will ease and we should have some clearer skies. so that's going to allow those temperatures perhaps to fall away. a touch. still a very mild night, but nevertheless not quite as warm and sultry as the one just past. but there's more wet weather to come in the forecast, i'm afraid. the next low waiting in the wings on thursday. so first thing on thursday could be
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a dry settled and possibly sunny start in eastern areas, clouding over quite quickly from the west, however, and there will be outbreaks of rain as we go into the afternoon, in particular through northern ireland, western scotland and perhaps some drizzle along west facing coast. top temperatures still into the teens around 13 celsius, the high. now as we move through thursday into friday, that low pressure drifts its way eastwards. and on the southern flank of the low, we are going to see some gale force gusts of wind 60, 70 miles an hour. not out of the question. that pushes the rain through at quite a pace across scotland. and then on friday, not a bad day, perhaps the best day of the week in terms of drier, brighter, more settled and sunny weather. not as warm, but i'll take that if we've got the sunshine, but make the most of it as we head into the weekend. low pressure returns dominates the weather story, i'm afraid. you can see how isobars
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those squeezed together. the winds will always remain a feature. so it's going to be windy with showers or longer spells of rain at times. take care.
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forces that killed dozens of young army recruits in the occupied region of donbas. moscow says the unauthorised use of mobile phones allowed ukraine to pinpoint the military base. we'll be live in kyiv and moscow. chaos in congress — for the first time in a century the us house of representatives fails to elect a speaker in its opening session. no person having received the majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname, a speaker has not been elected. and beijing considers its response after plans to restrict the movement of travellers from china to europe following a surge in covid cases. that's all coming up on impact.

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