tonight at ten... the nhs in england breaks new records for ambulance delays and waits in accident and emergency. ambulances took an average of 90 minutes to reach emergency calls for suspected heart attacks and strokes — the target is 18 minutes. and we'll be reporting from the royal bolton hospital, where patients are waiting hours for emergency care, and staff are overwhelmed. the last six, 12 months, have been more challenging than i've ever known in the time i've worked here. the latest figures have exposed the alarming state of emergency care in the national health service. also tonight... following the discovery of classified documents at president biden�*s home, an independent

investigation is launched. iran releases an alleged confession of spying by a british—iranian man who's facing the death sentence — he says the confession was forced. the social media personality andrew tate investigated in relation to organised crime, we investigate his popularity with young people. and the brit award nominations are out — with a notable absence of women in the category of artist of the year. and stay with us here on bbc news channel for continuing coverage in analysis with our team of correspondents in the uk and around the world.

good evening. ambulance response times in england and waits in accident and emergency departments have reached the highest levels on record. the latest figures have exposed the alarming state of emergency care in the national health service. for some emergencies, including suspected strokes and heart attacks, the average wait was over 90 minutes. the target is 18 minutes. more than a third of patients waited more than four hours to be assessed after arriving at the a&e department and last month over 5a,000 patients waited over 12 and last month over 511,000 patients waited over 12 hours in emergency departments waiting for a hospital bed and that's the highest ever number. the new figures were published the day after the latest strike action by ambulance workers. our health editor hugh pym reports now from the royal bolton hospital is what patients and staff are going

through. we are at ten on the corridor. we've no capacity. we're going to come out and assess them in the ambulance so it'll be one nurse coming out to each patient. sue has worked here in a&e for over 30 years. the last six, 12 months, have been more challenging than i've ever known in the time i've worked here. the department was built to treat 21 patients. right now, there are 60 waiting. we're running two and three times above our capacity continually, and often more than that. is it sometimes so busy that you can't prevent delays for the ambulance crews? yes, it is, yes. and then that's when we have the big delays and the backlogs and when we get to that point, we're very often having to go out to the ambulances to see and assess them. we can't even get them in. and how much has that happened in the last few weeks? it's happened quite a lot, quite a lot, yes. away from the noise of a&e is intensive care — the sickest patients.

and it's nearly full. we have got one empty at the minute. a lady has just gone down to the ward. sojust one empty bed. it's manic, to be honest. obviously, there's significant pressure on the nhs, but it's felt busy in as much as it's been really difficult to try and get people home and get discharged from the ward and discharged from here. erm, it'sjust felt blocked everywhere. it's been really, really difficult. back in a&e... loud hubbub. ..the noise of staff and machines is striking. so, as you can see, erm, this is the quad. all the bays are full. we've even had to have some people waiting by the triage area, the assessment area. this is the heart of a&e — patients tucked into

any available space. they've made it off the corridor. some are waiting to be assessed. most are waiting for a bed. sometimes, we can have trolleys in all the spaces. so we have had trolleys all around, all around the assessment areas. here, there's never a quiet moment, with so many patients to care for. a&e is full because bolton, like other hospitals we've been into, says beds are hard to find. here, 100 patients are fit to leave but can't, because of community care issues. the government's recently given £200 million for extra social care beds in england. how much will it help here? it may be a little bit too late to deal with the current pressures we're facing. but money is always welcome. that's your zimmer frame. royal bolton is doing all it can to prepare patients for leaving the hospital. oh, you're doing marvellous.

we saw how soon after they arrive, staff begin the rehab process. perfect. but flu is adding to the pressure. diane was so poorly, her husband took her to see a gp, who told him to get her to hospital fast rather than waiting for an ambulance. he were holding me up. i couldn't walk straight. and the gp saw me and she got the... typed the note out and sent me straight to a&e. so, so i'd say that gp saved my life. staff say flu and covid pressures mean it's harder than during the worst of the pandemic. the staff is exhausted. it feels as difficult as it was during covid. but in fact, slightly more difficult because during covid, a lot of services, we stopped, but now we are keeping on all elective services, plus we are managing the pressures at the front end. the hospital's pointing as many patients as possible who are less seriously ill to other areas of care, but the corridor still looks like this. despite everything,

susan is philosophical. the workload's tough. we've had to adapt and change our ways of working. but we're a&e nurses, and we take what's put in front of us, and we deal with it the best we can. hugh hasjoined hugh has joined me hugh hasjoined me in the studio. viewers would like to know what your impressions were, having spent so much time with staff and patients there. what was your sense of the pressure they were under?- there. what was your sense of the pressure they were under? huw, i was ve struck pressure they were under? huw, i was very struck being _ pressure they were under? huw, i was very struck being in _ pressure they were under? huw, i was very struck being in the _ pressure they were under? huw, i was very struck being in the hospital- pressure they were under? huw, i was very struck being in the hospital a - very struck being in the hospital a couple of days ago in a&e by the noise, the stress and strain on staff working flat out to deal with the seemingly constant stream of patients and buildings designed in previous decades for a much lower flow of patients and we see that in other hospitals as well. while bolton is doing everything it

possibly can from the a&e playbook, streaming patients on the front door, the less seriously ill getting into a centre where there is a gp and despite all that you've got these scenes, these very crowded scenes and every inch of the department seemingly occupied patients tucked away here, there and everywhere. now, that's this week. nhs england put out statistics for last month, december, saying that this was the record level of numbers coming into a&e, 2.3 million, and a record number of 999 calls, illustrating the problem is that they are facing. but i think all of this really underlines the need for an urgent debate about what emergency care should look like to prevent something like this happening again and to see if anything is possible can be improved for next winter.— for next winter. hugh pym, many thanks, for next winter. hugh pym, many thanks. our— for next winter. hugh pym, many thanks, our health _ for next winter. hugh pym, many thanks, our health editor. - as hugh mentioned, one of the big challenges at the royal bolton is the number of patients leaving

with no suitable care arrangements after they're discharged. our analysis editor ros atkins has been looking at the crisis in social care, and what's being done about it. the government has been highlighting one of the problems underlying this winter's nhs crisis. we've got around 13,000 patients in hospital who are ready to leave hospital, they are medically fit to leave, but are often delayed because of challenges in social care. and those challenges in social care are acute. they're affected by capacity of the system, in particular staff shortages. the current staff vacancy rate is over 10% in a workforce of more than 1.5 million. these are the highest rates on record. arguably it's wage levels that are most affecting recruitment and retention. an average wage for care staff is £9.50. that's the legal minimum wage for most adults. you can go to a shop assistant, go and work in aldi, and you're on more money than us with so much less responsibility

stress, and there's not a lot of emotional stress that you take home with you. and this issue of low pay is connected to funding and what care providers receive. according to the charity the king's fund, social care spending per head at the moment is £585, but spending per head has fallen in real terms over the last decade, and as the adult population increases that puts more pressure on what councils can afford. this is one of the few vacant rooms we have available at the home at the moment, and it will probably be rented out for something in the region of £1200 a week. social services rates would pay a little over half of that. but it costs the nhs around £1000 a week more to keep a patient in hospital. and these challenges are not new, as care providers point out. there is no political party with clean hands in this. you know, tony blair promised us that he was going to reform social care.

we are seven prime ministers down from that. we have all heard them telling us they are going to do something. none of them have. since 2010 there have been five conservative prime ministers and in 2011 a cross—party commission concluded the social care system was "not fit for purpose". it recommended reforms, but no changes came. then, eight years later, we heard this from borisjohnson. i am announcing now on the steps of downing street that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all, with a clear plan we have prepared. but the crisis in social care is yet to be fixed, and this week rishi sunak�*s government announced £250 million of funding to buy thousands of beds in care homes and upgrade hospitals. there are also promises of reforms, including a cap on personal costs, which was recommended to the government more than a decade ago. the money that we've seen this week is on top of £500 million announced last year,

and as well as an opportunity for english councils to raise more funds through taxes. but last autumn sir andrew dilnot, the man whose proposals the government says it believes in, had this stark assessment. we have a system that is creaking, that is falling apart, that is putting enormous pressure on the wonderful people who deliver the care as well as the individuals who need the care and their families. it's hard to think of a more vulnerable group than people in that position, and our system is something that we should all be ashamed of. it's a system the nhs needs to lean on this winter, but social care's struggling to share the load and patients need two systems which can act as one. that was ross atkins, our analysis editor, with the latest on the crisis in care. you can check on the situation with waiting times at your local hospital service using the bbc�*s nhs winter tracker, on our website. wherever you are in the uk,

just put in your postcode to see the latest published information on waits in a&e, routine operations and ambulance response times. that's at bbc.co.uk/nhstracker. in the us and independent investigation has been offered into the discovery of classified documents that the family home of president biden in delaware. similar files were discovered at an office in washington after he left his post as vice president. former president trump has called for investigation for his handling into the handling of classified documents to be dropped now, immediately. let's go to sara smith in washington. this is a very speedy and significant development, the appointment of what's known as a special counsel to investigate president biden's retention of classified documents. it shows you just how seriously the

justice department is taking this case and interestingly the president himself only found out about this special counsel at the same time as the rest of us when the attorney general announced at a press conference a few hours ago. after admitting he was keeping classified documents at his delaware home, stored in the garage alongside his vintage sports car, president biden has a lot of explaining to do. classified materials next to your corvette, what were you thinking? my corvette's in a locked garage, ok, so it's not like it's sitting out in the street. people know i take classified documents and classified materials seriously. i also said we are cooperating fully and completely with the justice department's review. earlier this week we learned that classified documents had been found in a washington office mr biden used after leaving the vice presidency in 2017. that prompted his lawyers to search his residence in wilmington, where a small number of documents were found, and immediately turned over to thejustice department. wholly different, says the white house, to the hundreds of classified documents uncovered when the fbi raided former president

trump's florida home last year. president biden condemned trump's actions then as "totally irresponsible". not once, but now we're finding in two different locations, classified information just out there in the open. anotherfaux pas by the biden administration, but treating the law differently based upon your political beliefs. america's top lawyer, the us attorney general, has to be seen to apply the law equally. he has already appointed one special counsel to investigate mr trump's actions. today, he appointed another, to look at mr biden's retention of documents. the extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter. this appointment underscores for the public the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. the white house insists that the case of the biden documents is nowhere near as serious as the trump document saga, but parallels keep emerging.

classified material being stored at home and now a special counsel being appointed to investigate. that means this story will now drag on for months, and could well overshadow any plans president biden had to announce soon that he was running for president again in 202a. the white house says it's confident a thorough review will show the documents were inadvertently misplaced, and were handed over as soon as they were discovered. sarah smith, bbc news, washington. more than 70,000 staff at 150 universities across the uk will strike for 18 days next month and in march, in a dispute over pay and conditions. the university and college union said a pay offer worth between 4—5% made during talks with employers this week was not enough. the teachers' union the nasuwt says its members in england and wales will be prevented from going on strike because the turnout for a recent ballot was too low. nine out of ten of those who voted

were in favour of striking in a campaign for more pay, but the 42% of members who took part in the ballot was below the 50% minimum. the results of ballots by two other teaching unions are expected next week. the prime minister, rishi sunak, has travelled to scotland, where he's holding talks with the first minister nicola sturgeon. it's mr sunak�*s first visit to scotland since becoming prime minister. the two leaders are expected to discuss a range of subjects, including the health service, the economy, and the scottish government's wish to hold a referendum on independence. live to inverness and our scotland editorjames cook. tell us more about the talks and the prospects for them? this tell us more about the talks and the prospects for them?— prospects for them? this was a rivate, prospects for them? this was a private, informal, _ prospects for them? this was a private, informal, working - prospects for them? this was a i private, informal, working dinner, that's how it has been described and it ended not that long ago after perhaps an hour or so of

discussions. discussions with simon told focused in large part on the national health service, particularly on funding for the nhs, mr sunak keen to point out because he is spending more on the nhs in england, that means the scottish government has extra money to spend on the nhs here as well, but obviously they disagree on a number of issues. nicola sturgeon talked about this being a cordial exchange and certainly they might be polite, courteous and they definitely were from all accounts, but that doesn't mean they don't have fundamental disagreements as they say on independence. i'm told they had a robust exchange on that, nicola sturgeon thinks there should be a second referendum on independence and mr sunak very much thinks there shouldn't be and is trying to block it. there was discussion about strikes, discussion about green free ports, this idea of areas where you can have lower tariffs that can help businesses, so all kinds of issues

were discussed but what was the most controversial one? possibly gender. they didn't have a fight about it but they did have a discussion because the scottish government has passed a law which has gone through parliament now which will make it easier to legally change gender and rishi sunak�*s government is considering whether to block that and if he goes ahead, there will be and if he goes ahead, there will be an almighty row. warm words, yes, only get you so far.— only get you so far. james, thank ou for only get you so far. james, thank you for the _ only get you so far. james, thank you for the update. _ police in romania have raided more properties as part of their investigation into the social media personality andrew tate and his alleged links with organised crime. meanwhile, schools around the uk are reporting what they say is an alarming tendency, especially among teenage boys, to express admiration for andrew tate, whose online videos express contempt for women and even advocate violence. some schools are devoting entire lessons to discussing his views, while offering guidance on how

to deal with his material. our special correspondent lucy manning has been to visit a school in south—east london. andrew tate is in a romanianjail but he still sits in the minds of british teenagers. why is it that andrew tate has had so much impact? at the st dunstan's college, they don't ignore the problem. the online influencer had millions of followers but views he admits are misogynistic. he's been arrested as part of a rape and human trafficking investigation, allegations he denies. what is it about his videos that give the perception of them being so popular? because at first, seemingly, his most videos he might have like a funnyjoke at the beginning, but as you watch more and more of his videos, his radical views develop and it kind of like seeps into your mind. another reason it's so successful is because it's controversial, -

so it will invoke a reaction and make people angry, l which will then make them more likely to like talk about it. - someone who like dresses really well, has lots of money, lots of cars and he brings that into his videos a lot, and he kind of like connects that with his views. if they see loads of views, it's something they are going to click on, because they want to be with the crowd. just raise your hands if you were aware of andrew tate before all this happened. so you are all aware. most of you, almost everyone in the class. 0k. even those who have reported them as offensive can't escape them. with andrew tate videos, i got one of him and i put it makes uncomfortable, like, i don't want to see it again. i'm not interested. and i still get them. like, i got one yesterday. some people would say you just need to ignore the views of andrew tate. yeah, i absolutely hear that but the reality is that these young, vulnerable teenagers with the growing minds are in that space and they are listening to people like andrew tate and it's having a hugely negative impact on their outlook on life. so how to tackle the views notjust

of andrew tate but others who have moved into the online space? the government points to proposed new laws to tighten the age restrictions on those looking at harmful content online, but it's clear tech companies, schools and parents all have a role to play. and parents are grappling with the consequences. simon wondering about the messages his son is taken away. it wasn'tjust, you know, him talking about it, he was actually taking the stance of andrew tate with the way andrew tate sits. isaid, you know, "why are you doing this?" he says, "well, dad, this guy, he's rich, he's famous, what's not to like about him?" with kids, we've always taken the approach that you set right from wrong. it's ok to express your masculinity but don't do it in an obnoxious and misogynistic way. a conversation that many are now hoping. lucy manning, bbc news.

the iranian authorities have released a video showing what appear to be forced confessions by alireza akbari, a british—iranian man who's facing the death sentence for alleged spying. but bbc persian has obtained a recorded message from mr akbari in which he says he was tortured and forced to confess on camera to crimes he did not commit. the uk continues to call for his release, as bbc persia's rana rahimpour explains. this is british iranian alireza akbari, former deputy defence minister of iran. in this heavily edited video published by iranian state media, he appears to confess to working for m16. but in an audio file obtained by bbc persian, he denies this. translation: they tortured me for 3,500 hours. - they broke my will, drove me to madness and forced to me to do whatever they wanted.

although he was arrested before the recent protests in iran, the decision to carry out his death sentence seems to be related to the uprising. the foreign office says they continue to support his family and call for his immediate release. iran has arrested several foreign and dual nationals since the beginning of the protests in september, including this belgian aid worker who has been sentenced to a0 years in prison. nearly four months of protests have left the iranian government more vulnerable and, as a result, more hostile. as usual iran's supreme leader blames the west. without access to iran, it's very difficult to get an accurate picture of what exactly is going on there. relatives of those who have been killed are under pressure to remain silent, but bbc persian is in contact with many of them. they sent us videos and death

certificates of their loved ones. according to the oslo—based iran human rights organisation, at least 481 protesters have been killed. the number of those who have been arrested is estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,000 people. according to the state media, at least four protesters have been executed. despite the violent crackdown of the protests, demand for change is louder than ever. the people have simply rejected the notion of living under a multiplicity of crisis — social crisis, economic crisis, climate crisis, political crisis, complete isolation from the world. theyjust want to live an ordinary life and in their opinion, this ordinary life cannot be obtained for as long as the islamic republic are in power. the protests started with the death of 22—year—old mahsa amini in the custody

of so—called morality police. protests continue both inside and outside the country. some are calling for more support from the west. last sunday in london, they shouted, "iranians made their choice. hey, uk, hear their voice." rana rahimpour, bbc news. and you can hear more from rana, and the work of the journalists at bbc persian, as they report on iran while being banned from the country, in a new documentary on bbc iplayer. it's called reporting iran: inside bbc persian.

heavy rain has caused widespread flooding across the uk. in wales, the national grid said 600 homes were without power. in scotland eight warnings remained after storms battered some parts today and in england, two train lines were blocked between bristol parkway and swindon. senior members of the royal family have carried out their first public engagements since prince harry's outspoken autobiography went on sale. king charles visited community groups in aberdeenshire, while the prince and princess of wales met health care staff as they opened the new royal liverpool university hospital. they made no comments about harry's controversial book. nominations for the brit awards have been published, with the former star of one direction, harry styles, and the indie rock duo wet leg, emerging as frontrunners, including for best album. but there's a noticeable absence of women in the prestigious artist of the year category,

as our music correspondent mark savage reports. # holdin' me back # gravity�*s holdin' me back # i want you to hold out the palm of your hand # gravity can't hold him back, harry styles had the biggest selling single and album of last year and now he is up for four britt awards including song of the year. # as it was...# ..for as it was. # hey, you, overthere # on a chaise long in your underwear...# also picking up four nominations are wet leg, the isle of wight band who burst onto the scene 18 months ago with the hit single chaise longue. we started the band and we just thought we would get to go to a few festivals, so to go to the brits and to be nominated, it'sjust... it's a bit more than we bargained for. # if i was an astronaut, i'd be floating in midair...# sam ryder makes history.

he's the only eurovision act ever to be nominated for best newcomer. that's bonkers. i truly had no idea about that. sometimes, like, the stats and facts and figures pass me by but i didn't know that one. that's bonkers. that's amazing! # ijust can't explain...# but a year after the brits got rid of gendered prize categories, women are entirely missing from the best artist prize, with acts like stormzy and george ezra taking all the slots. organisers say female artists and female fronted bands do account for 42% of the overall nominations... ..with acts like cat burns up for multiple awards. the winners will be announced at a star—studded ceremony on sunday the 11th of february. mark savage, bbc news. time for a look at the weather here's louise lear.

it's only week two of 2023 but it has been a pretty wet start. in actual fact across parts of wales and north—west we have already seen way above the monthly average rainfall totals and we are only halfway through that month. there is more to come as we head towards the weekend but things will get a little bit quieter through the night to night. the low pressure that brought the rain, that drifts off to the north sea, we see this ridge of high pressure building tomorrow before yet more wet and windy weather heading our direction friday night into saturday. into friday we will see that northerly wind driving in showers along the north—eastern coast, a weak weather front bringing showery rain out of northern ireland into south—west scotland but elsewhere it is fine and dry, little bit cooler but hopefully the sunshine will compensate, six to 11

degrees the high but as we go into