vardy-— picture in northern ireland, over to emma vard . ~ ., , emma vardy.ay the pressures — emma vardy. well, hospitals here say the pressures have _ emma vardy. well, hospitals here say the pressures have just _ emma vardy. well, hospitals here say the pressures have just been - emma vardy. well, hospitals here say the pressures have just been ramping| the pressures havejust been ramping up 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. 0ne trust here is your 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 s

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast., despite repeated attempts to rescue it. rochford reservoir is a lake for anglers, which probably explains why the seal is in no hurry to leave. a ban on fishing in the lake has been put in place to protect the seal. but it is ignoring the ban completely and eating its way through the fish stocks, much to the despair of local anglers. no wonder it's looking so relaxed! helena wilkinson reports. basking in the winter sunshine with not a care in the world. this young seal may appear carefree and cute, but it's been causing havoc in this quiet fishing lake in essex. it's taken up residence at the rochford reservoir for nearly a month, and in that time, it's eaten its way through £3,000 worth of fish. the owner of the fisheries, nick north, has had to turn away regular users due to plummeting fish stocks. devastated, i think, would be an understatement of what's happened. after all these years building up, and then within a month, to see it come crashing down. it's thought the seal made i

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.ed to death in iran have told the bbc that he's now been moved to solitary confinement in readiness for his execution. the wife of alireza akbari told bbc persian she had been asked to come to the prison for a final meeting. mr akbari, who served as iran's deputy defence minister, was arrested in 2019 and convicted of spying for the uk, a charge he denied. the foreign office says this is a politically—motivated act by a barbaric regime and called on and iran to release him. joining me now is rana rahimpour from the bbc persian service. tell us a little bit more about this case on what is at stake. mr akbari was the deputy _ case on what is at stake. mr akbari was the deputy defence _ case on what is at stake. mr akbari was the deputy defence minister. was the deputy defence minister between 1997 and 2005. according to his wife, with whom we spoke earlier, he has been in for three years and three months, of which ten months was in solitary confinement. we received a video message on whi

now for the picture in northern ireland, over to emma vardy.ressures 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, 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

mark hutchings is in cardiff, lorna gordon in glasgow and emma vardy in dundonald. correspondent, lorna gordon, in glasgow. lorna, what are patients experiencing there? the latest amd statistics are due out at 9:30am. what is already clear is there had been a key pressure is on the service here in scotland, not least over the christmas period. scotland has recorded its worst ever a&e waiting times. staff were asked to cut holiday shorter to come in and help out. doctors in the biggest health board in greater glasgow and clyde ask to have a major incident declared because of concerns over patient safety and what they described as an overwhelmed a&e department at the queen elizabeth university hospital. their request was denied. this morning the scotsman newspaper is reporting that two organisations representing doctors in scotland are stating that at no point in the pandemic has the situation been as difficult as it is now. one estimate is that 50 people a week are dying north of the border because of the crisis. the scottish conservatives, who are in opposition here