pope francis asks people to pray for his predecessor, benedict xvi, who he says is very ill. and us politicians are ordered by congress to delete the chinese owned app tiktok from their phones, saying it represents high risk to users. welcome to bbc news. america has become the latest country to impose mandatory covid tests on chinese tourists amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus after beijing announced it would reopen its borders next week. the uk is now also considering something similar, while tighter measures have also been imposed by italy, japan, malaysia, taiwan and india. not all countries are on the same page, however. australia has said it will not change its policy on chinese arrivals. china has announced one further death in the last 2a hours, bringing the official death toll to 5,246, though experts believe the real toll to be far, far higher. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams has this report. from the world s most populous nation, alarming scenes
be felt nearly 300 miles from the center, which means that millions of people across the south from georgia to virginia will be affected. this is the scene in the towns of myrtle beach and south port, south carolina. they are facing life threatening storm surge from hurricane ian. we are also getting a fuller picture of the devastation on the ground now in towns across florida. the new york times describing it this way. quote, the scale of the wreckage was staggering. even to florida residents who had survived and rebuilt after other powerful hurricanes, this storm pulverized roads. it toppled trees, gutted downtown store fronts and set cars afloat, leaving a soggy scar of ruined homes and businesses from the coastal cities of naples and fort myers to inland communities across the state including orlando. at least 14 deaths have been linked to the storm. more than 1.8 million people are now without power. more than 700 rescues have taken place including these from sanibel i
ukraine a major focus. good day to you. i m peter alexander here in washington in for andrea mitchell as she travels back from london. she s en route to new york for the u.n. general assembly. nbc news heard reports a charters flight is in the air from texas and florida heading to the northeast, this as legal action is being considered against governors ron desantis and greg abbott s response to their sending migrants to areas like new york, d.c. and martha s vineyard. we are following the story for us. what do we know about the reports that there may be a plane in the air right now? good to be here with you. this plane we are following on flight aware is operated by the same airline, ultimate air, that carried 48 immigrants to martha s vineyard last week. it s moving from san antonio texas, according to flight aware, to clearwater, florida, and making its way to the northeast, including delaware and then new jersey. we cannot say for certain who is on board. as you menti
spokesman chris oliveras will be here to weigh in. once again rebooking customers, at this time, the 31st and beyond. my phone is dead, i m hungry, i m tired, i m ready to go home. hectic, all in all, exhausting. what are we supposed to do, it s ridiculous. it s lives, they cannot give us a direct answer. gillian: welcome to america reports, i m gillian turner in washington. anita, wonderful to be with you this afternoon. anita: you, too, gillian. a holiday tradition to host together. gillian:. let s keep it, a good one. anita: john and sandra have the day. southwest meltdown, the worst airline disruption in decades and based on the latest numbers, far from over. more than 2500 southwest flights have been canceled, the company claims is necessary in order to reposition flight crews and the planes themselves. gillian: the chaos began over christmas weekend as the blizzardpted southwest s operations, but then the outdated communication system then reported