a warm welcome to bbc news. the former pope, benedict xvi, has died at the age of 95. the vatican says he passed away this morning at his residence there. his health had been worsening in recent weeks. benedict served as head of the roman catholic church for eight years until 2013, when he became the first pope in 600 years to announce his retirement. he was german by birth, and was known for his conservative theological outlook. bell chimes this was the moment his death was confirmed in rome the bells ringing in st peter s square in vatican city. the vatican says pope benedict s body will lie in state from monday in st peter s basilica and that pope francis will lead the funeral on january 5th. the first pope to do so in recorded history. here s our religon editor, aleem maqbool. cerebral by character, benedict was a prolific author and more at home with scholarship than pastoral work. he led the world s catholics for eight years and then abruptly resigned, the first pop
nhs bosses in wales they say health services are experiencing demand like never seen before, and urge people to do what they can to help. celebrations have begun to mark the start of 2023 with firework displays in auckland, new zealand and at sydney harbour the former pope, benedict xvi, has died at the age of 95. the vatican says he passed away this morning at his residence there. his health had been worsening in recent weeks. benedict served as head of the roman catholic church for eight years until 2013, when he became the first pope in 600 years to announce his retirement. he was german by birth, and was known for his conservative theological outlook. this was the moment his death was confirmed in rome bells ringing in st peter s square in vatican city. the vatican says pope benedict s body will lie in state from monday in st peter s basilica and that pope francis will lead the funeral on january 5th. here s our religon editor, aleem maqbool. cerebral by character
arrivals from china. celebrations are underway to mark the start of 2023 this is the scene live in hong kong the fireworks over the victoria harbour. and this taiwan the capital taipei with the fireworks shooting off the iconic skyscraper taipei 101. they have launched 16,000 fireworks in taiwan. the skyscraper is one of the tallest in the world. the extravaganza is going to last five minutes. and queen guitarist brian may and members of england s womens football team are among those celebrated in the uk s new year s honours list. hgppy happy new year to viewers in hong kong and taiwan. these are the scenes live. there was talk of their not being fireworks in hong kong but there are. there was an attempt to have a spectacular celebration and at last it is enjoying a degree of normalcy after the ravages of covid and the serious restrictions imposed on hong kong. this is always a beautiful display. in the evenings it is always pretty well lit up. we can watch for a mome
arrivals from china. celebrations have begun to mark the start of 2023, with firework displays in auckland, new zealand and at sydney harbour. and queen guitarist brian may and members of england s women s football team are among those celebrated in the uk s new year s honours list. hello and welcome. the mayor of kyiv, vitaliy klitschko has told the bbc that one person has been killed and 11 people have been taken to hospital, including a journalist from japan, after russia launched more than a dozen missiles targeting cities across ukraine on new year s eve. mr klitschko said several districts had been hit in the capital, including pechersk which is in the city centre. british intelligence had earlier warned of potential russian attacks, after the kremlin had launched country wide strikes on thursday, killing at least three people and injuring six, including a child, according to the ukrainian officials. earlier, our correspondent huge bachega went to the site of one of the
welcome. russia has launched another barrage of missiles at cities across ukraine in the second big attack in three days. a number of explosions were heard in the centre of the capital, kyiv. residents there have been told by the authorities to remain in shelters. from kyiv, hugo batchega sent this report. on new year s eve, another wave of russian missiles. the air raid alerts sounded at lunchtime on a day families usually celebrate together. this woman was at home when her district in kyiv was hit. translation: me and my husband were literally - thrown into the corridor. we heard glass shattering and then there was an explosion one after another. we came to the street and saw ambulances and casualties. you can see the point of impact where debris from a missile that was intercepted fell from the sky. one person was killed there a mother of two who was in the kitchen, making dinner to celebrate the new year. president zelensky accused russia of deliberately targeting civ