benedict xvi who he says, is very ill. and britain is on course to record its warmest year ever, after a summer of heatwaves, wildfires and drought. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. america has become the latest country to impose mandatory covid tests on chinese tourists, after beijing announced it would reopen its borders next week. it comes as china s covid cases surge. tighter measures have also been imposed by italy, japan, malaysia, taiwan and india. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. from the world s most populous nation, alarming scenes china s hospitals overwhelmed, covid infections soaring. the country s abrupt decision to dismantle much of its strict covid regime apparently yielding worrying results. wards full of desperately ill people. outside this hospital in chengdu, a queue for emergency services. government officials say the situation is under control. that s not what these pictures suggest. at this funeral home,
the vatican says benedict s condition has worsened in recent hours. and a powerful winter storm in north america has claimed more lives in new york state. we ll speak to a recovery worker in buffalo, one of the worst hit cities. for you watching in the uk, on pbs in the us and around the globe, welcome to bbc news. america has become the latest country to impose mandatory covid tests on chinese tourists, after beijing announced it would reopen its borders next week. it comes as china s covid cases surge. tighter measures have also been imposed by italy, japan, malaysia, taiwan and india. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. from the world s most populous nation, alarming scenes china s hospitals overwhelmed, covid infections soaring. the country s abrupt decision to dismantle much of its strict covid regime apparently yielding worrying results. wards full of desperately ill people. outside this hospital in chengdu, a queue for emergency services. government offi
the vatican says benedict s condition has worsened in recent hours. and britain is on course to record its warmest year ever, after a summer of heatwaves, wildfires and drought. america has become the latest country to impose mandatory covid tests on chinese tourists, after beijing announced it would reopen its borders next week. it comes as china s covid cases surge. tighter measures have also been imposed by italy, japan, malaysia, taiwan and india. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. from the world s most populous nation, alarming scenes china s hospitals overwhelmed, covid infections soaring. the country s abrupt decision to dismantle much of its strict covid regime apparently yielding worrying results. wards full of desperately ill people. outside this hospital in chengdu, a queue for emergency services. government officials say the situation is under control. that s not what these pictures suggest. at this funeral home, one of the city s biggest, more evi
but in reality, these measures are very unlikely to have any significant impact in reducing risk. so i think these are more about public relations and perhaps a bit about foreign policy than about public health. interesting, because most people watching i m sure will be looking at the increase in case numbers in china and won t want to see that kind of numbers and potential variants being imported into the country. it seemed to make common sense, are you suggesting the evidence from what we know over the last couple years doesn t actually make a great deal of difference. i think that s right. unless you impose truly draconian limits, as was done successfully in australia and new zealand, having testing or other sorts of partial travel bans are really not effective. look what happened a year ago when the us imposed travel bans to south africa and other south african countries in response to the detection of omicron that did nothing to help the explosive spread of omicron
but in reality, these measures are very unlikely to have any significant impact in reducing risk. so i think these are more about public relations and perhaps a bit about foreign policy than about public health. interesting, because most people watching i m sure will be looking at the increase in case numbers in china and won t want to see that kind of numbers and potential variants being imported into the country. it seemed to make common sense, are you suggesting the evidence from what we know over the last couple years doesn t actually make a great deal of difference. i think that s right. unless you impose truly draconian limits, as was done successfully in australia and new zealand, having testing or other sorts of partial travel bans are really not effective. look what happened a year ago when the us imposed travel bans to south africa and other south african countries in response to the detection of omicron