we start in china where earlier today we got to see more evidence of its economic difficulties. new home prices fell for the fifth straight month in november while property investment dropped 9.4% over the year so far. retail sales growth missed forecasts but on the plus side, industrial output, what those factories churn out, expanded in november at its fastest pace since the start of last year. the world bank is forecasting that china s economy will slow next year, with annual growth falling from 5.2% to 4.5%. duncan wrigley is chief china economist at pantheon macroeconomics. he told us more about the economic data we ve seen come out today from china. the general picture is pretty soft, soggy. one standout piece of data, actually, is the accelerated decline in existing home prices. now, property market, as i m sure everyone knows, is very weak in china. but part of the process is going to be clearing some of the excess overhang. there s a lot of investment properties boug
by dangerous delays. crews are enduring long waits outside accident and emergency departments in england, because hospitals are struggling to deal with overcrowded wards. nhs england says it has recruited more staff and increased bed capacity, but acknowledged the system was under considerable strain. sharon barbour reports. it s been a long night for margaret. there were ambulances backed up outside. two hours in an ambulance. finally able to get off the ambulance and into a&e, margaret then faced a long wait. she told us she s been here for 14 hours. margaret s 73, and has had no sleep. what was it like last night when you came in to a&e? there were ambulances parked out there. there s ambulances parked out there today. there s no beds. you know, and there s people on trolleys in the corridors. waits in a&e here have been as long as 30 hours, with hospital bosses now warning of even worse to come, as they cope with a sharp rise this week and patients arriving. in the foot
think she entered the water and say they are being evidence led. what is slightly unusual about this as a member of the published find her handbag a member of the public found the handbag used by gaynor lord in the park and the police find more of her belongings in various locations, her glasses and a couple of rings and her mobile phone and some of her clothes. her coat was found in the river wensum in the park as well. what have her family said about her disappearance? the family have not really said a lot stop they won t speak to us at this stage but they have been reposting the police plea for more information and on social media one of her daughters has simply said we want her home. and you can t get more on that story on our live page at bbcnews.com the pictures you re looking at now pictures ofjournalists and police officers gathering outside the park where maria was just then because we expect a police update at around two o clock so please check our website and st
waits in a&e here have been as long as 30 hours. the hospital trust reporting a near 70% increase in patients coming in. in the foothills of the lake district, cumberland infirmary is the largest accident and emergency hospital in cumbria but it s not big enough. it s already at capacity. there are no more beds. health bosses are working day and night to try and discharge patients. currently i don t have beds free in hospital and we have patients waiting and that is a concern for us and for patients. we have ambulance weights and so we are doing work to look at how we can maximise the space. how s it going today? it s busy. no beds and not enough doctors, with the hospital increasingly reliant on locums, and operation already been postponed. 19 in the last week. plan come from a few miles away, a team working on a solution. they are working round the clock to try and stop patients going into hospital in the first place and they are trying to get them out. we try and refer any
weather in the west, ten in glasgow and highs up to around 13 in plymouth this afternoon. overnight, a few more showers coming and going across the north of the uk. further southwards, we had some clearer spells developing. that is where we will see some of the lower temperatures. holding up in the countryside to see the odd nip of frost. a cold start tomorrow but an area of high pressure is moving in. despite that, i suspect it will be quite cloudy in wales and southern counties of england. the best of the sunshine to the east of the pennines, for a time in eastern scotland but then rain arriving across the north west in the afternoon. the highest temperatures across western areas, still a little on the cold side in eastern england, just seven for parts of east anglia. into the weekend, we get a weather front stuck across the north west of scotland. this will be bringing some very large falls of rain, particular focused in on the highlands, where over the high ground we coul