and tributes for the legendary rock guitaristjeff beck who s died at the age of 78. there s more evidence today of the crisis in the nhs in england, ambulance response times in december were the worse on record. were the worst on record. for category two emergency calls, including strokes, they were more than an hour and a half on average. the target is 18 minutes. the highest priority calls with an immediate threat to life took almost 11 minutes on average, the target is seven. and patients are waiting even longer in accident and emergency, 35% waited more than four hours that s another record. our health correspondent jim reed reports. long queues for ambulances, the most 999 calls ever, record waits in a&e, new figures today show in blunt terms the pressure the nhs is under. martin started feeling chest pains in his home in east sussex in november. his family rang three times for an ambulance. we kept thinking, the ambulance will pull up any minute, it is going to ar
that this group, wagner group, has gone, death, destruction and exportation have followed. exploitation. insecurity has gone up, not down. it hasn t been a response to the needs of the countries in question for greater security. what continues to happen in niger was not instigated by russia or by wagner, but to the extent that they try to take advantage of it and we see a repeat of what has happened in other countries, where they brought nothing but bad things in their wake, that wouldn t be good. meanwhile, the wagner leader, yevgeny prigozhin, released an audio message where he seemed to offer support to coup leaders in niger. the recording emerged on telegram, though the date and location cannot be independently verified. translation: we are always on the side of goodness, - justice, and on the side of those fight for sovereignty and the rights of their people. call us anytime. earlier, my colleague caitriona perry spoke to us ambassador to the united nations linda thomas greenfi
this is the third major reshuffling of desa ntis s campaign. you re live with bbc news. to niger now, wherejunta leaders have refused to host a visit from the un, the african union and the economic community of west african states, or ecowas, following their takover last month. they said that the decision was due to security concerns. the ecowas head and president of nigeria, bola tinubu, said that he s not ruling out military intervention but believes a diplomatic approach is the best way forward. coup leaders have denounced what they call a climate of threatened aggression towards the country. reports say they have reached out to russian mercernary forces the wagner group for support. it s unconfirmed if the group has arrived in the country. meanwhile, the influence of the group, continues to grow in niger and africa s sahel region. earlier, the bbc spoke exclusively to us secretary of state antony blinken about this development. every single place
that was the ukraine defence minister speaking to hugo bachega. a russian mercernary group fighting in ukraine has claimed it s found the body of a british aid worker, though the claims haven t been verified by the bbc. it comes after chris parry and andrew bagshaw were reported missing over the weekend. johnny rutherford has been speaking to some of the people who were the last to hear from mr parry. what s yourjob here, basically? so, i m an evacuation driver. i receive requests from family members who ve asked us to go and collect their relatives. this recording, by a freelance belgian reporter, is believed to be the last interview with chris parry before he was reported missing. very inspiring person, because it was to him, it was all about saving the civilians in the front line areas. that s all what cared for him. that was his duty and that s what he was doing day in, day out, every day, saving people. so, very inspiring personality, for sure.
mike bringing you the sport. and matt will bring us the weather shortly. a russian mercernary group fighting in ukraine has claimed it s found the body of a british aid worker, though the claims haven t been verified by the bbc. it comes after chris parry and andrew bagshaw were reported missing over the weekend. johnny rutherford has been speaking to some of the people who were the last to hear from mr parry. what s yourjob here, basically? so, i m an evacuation driver. i receive requests from family members who ve asked us to go and collect their relatives. this recording, by a freelance belgium reporter, is believed to be the last interview with chris parry before he was reported missing. very inspiring person, because it was to him, it was all about saving the civilians in the front line areas. that s all what cared for him. that was his duty and that s what he was doing day in, day out, every day, saving people. so, very inspiring personality, for sure. 28 year old chris parry i