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
this is bbc news. the headlines: the former pope, benedict xvi, has died at the age of 95, almost a decade after he stood down because of ill health. world health officials call on beijing to share accurate covid data, as england becomes the latest country to control arrivals from china. queen guitarist brian may and members of england s women s football team are among over a thousand people celebrated in the uk s new year s honours list. celebrations have begun to mark the start of 2023, with firework displays in auckland, new zealand and at sydney harbour. now on bbc news, adam wild looks back on the year in sport. even before 2022 began, this looked an extraordinary year. a sporting calendar still catching up, rebuilt and rescheduled after being ravaged by covid. but as the new year began, the australian open reopened the debate. he shouldn t be allowed to come. it s his choice not to be vaccinated, which is fine. and it s, ithink, the government here has made the choice t
Temporarily fill the 74 year olds role. Before his procedure mr murnane yahoo gave a telephoto address to offer reassurances. Translation i under way an examination. I thank the people who have a record to show concern for my Health Including reporters. I assure you that i get through the treatment successfully and returned action very quickly. The bbc s middle east bureau Chiefjoe Floater explained his strategy as he navigates Health Challenges amid calls for him to step down. I think he was appearing tonight as an act of both reassurance and warning to his friends and critics. So the reassurance that he was still vigorously in charge of his government, as he prepared to hand over the reins of power to his deputy and a warning there to those people converging on towns around israel, but particularlyjust a few kilometres away outside the israeli parliament, calling for new elections and for him to step down, that those new elections would cause a paralysis. They would hamper negotiatio
Biggest city, istanbul. And for the first time in 25 years, they won more municipalities than the ruling ak party. Overnight, president erdogan told supporters the result was not an end, but a Turning Point. Translation we will not disrespect the nations decision in any way, we will avoid being stubborn, acting against the national will and questioning the judgement of our nation. As we have done so far. We will take the necessary steps by analysing the messengers given by the nation at the ballot box, most accurately and objectively within the reason and inner conscience. Opposition supporters say although these are local elections, victories in big cities are a significant show of force against erdogan s ruling ak party. This was the scene in istanbul, turkeys largest city, where thousands took to the streets to celebrate the opposition partys win. The citys incumbent mayor, ekrem imamoglu, declared victory after securing over 50 of the vote well ahead of his nearest rival. Mr imam
For a football coach. And thats why im really happy with the result as well. Yes, its nerve racking, sorry, for all of us, but yeah, thats the first of the last 10. Lets keep going. In the late game, Manchester City failed to break down arsenal as a highly anticipated clash at the top of the Premier League failed to live up to the hype, ending in a 0 0 draw at the etihad. It means city keep their unbeaten home run, stretching back to november 2022, but it also ends arsenals eight match winning run in the Premier League. In the end, we tried. Just for the fact it is not easy. They defended really well. And yeah, we tried and i recognised my team perfectly. Now its just to relax, recovery, and wednesday well come back. You need a big performance, and defensively as well individually you have to be at your best. 2021, the last time they have scored here. That is the difficulty at the level that they have and of what we have done today. To the final of the womens English League cup now whe