07/01/2017 BBC Weekend News

Claims that hospitals in England face a humanitarian crisis

The British Red Cross says it's had to step in to help

but NHS bosses say they have plans in place to cope.

No, I think that is an overstatement at this stage.

Clearly, demand is very high and it's higher than it's ever been.

But today, Labour's leader Jeremy Corbyn called upon the Government

Nearly 50 people are killed in a tanker lorry bombing in Syria.

A British-born pensioner is named as one of the victims

And Sir Andy Murray is beaten by Novak Djokovic

The NHS in England has rejected claims

that there's a "humanitarian crisis" in its hospitals.

The comments from the British Red Cross come as figures show

A departments have had to shut their doors to patients

more than 140 times in December because of a lack of beds.

This afternoon, the Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn

called upon the Government to take urgent action,

but NHS England says plans are in place to cope

and that talk of any humanitarian crisis is overblown.

There are flashing images in Smitha Mundasad's report.

Winter pressures in Accident Emergency -

some patients waiting a long time to be seen, beds closed

But the British Red Cross says the strain on England's hospitals

is so great it amounts to a humanitarian crisis.

In recent years, Red Cross volunteers have been

helping patients at home after spells in hospital.

But the charity says that cuts to social care means patients do not

Well, the definition of a humanitarian crisis

is something that affects a large number of people,

their health and well-being, for a prolonged period of time.

And the fact is, if you just look at the numbers,

more than half a million people who used to receive social care

The charity's volunteers says they have seen

patients being discharged from hospital without clothing.

Others being sent home with no food in their fridge and some have no one

to look after them once they have left the ward.

Figures from NHS England show that overflowing A departments had

to close their doors to new patients more than 140 times

Compare that to the same month in 2015 and it is up more than 60%.

NHS England denies the situation is at such an extreme breaking point.

No, I think that's an overstatement at this stage.

Clearly, demand is very high and it's higher

than it has ever been, but we have the most comprehensive

plans in place that we ever had, but it is very difficult

Eyebrows may have been raised by the Red Cross choosing to use

words more often used to describe a war-torn country, but last year's

figures show there were some 350,000 more visits to A like this one

between December and February 2016 and that's a pattern that front line

staff are worried is set to get worse.

The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is calling on the Prime Minister

to give an urgent statement on Monday about what

This is a wake-up call to properly fund our NHS and social care

so that those who are in a desperate situation that need care

outside of hospital are able to get that care.

Local authorities don't have the money to do it.

The Department of Health says it has added in extra money for health

and social care and put contingency plans in place earlier than usual.

Its statistics show that beds are not as full

But NHS England's chiefs say staff are facing levels of pressure that

It's emerged a British-born woman was among the five victims

of a shooting at an airport in Florida yesterday.

Olga Woltering - originally from Ipswich but a long term

resident of the United States - was killed when a gunman opened

fire in the baggage hall of Fort Lauderdale Airport.

The suspect Esteban Santiago, was a veteran who served in Iraq,

and has a long history of mental health problems.

He was also known to the FBI, as Gary O'Donoghue reports.

A mother, grandmother, a great-grandmother and a wife.

A mother, grandmother, a great-grandmother and wife.

Olga Woltering was born in Britain but lived

Today, her church in Georgia described her death

as a "tragedy" and paid tribute to a joyful, loving person.

Also among the dead, 57-year-old Michael Oehme,

who was on his way with his wife for a Caribbean cruise.

Olga Woltering was born in Britain but lived

Today, her church in Georgia described her death

Also among the dead, 57-year-old Michael Oehme,

who was on his way with his wife for a Caribbean cruise.

Three others died in yesterday's carnage.

The gunman used a semi-automatic weapon in the baggage hall,

scattering terrified passengers, people running for their lives.

Once he'd finished shooting, reports say he threw aside

his weapon and lay spread-eagled on the ground

This is the man police have named as the gunmen.

This is the man police have named as the gunman.

Esteban Santiago, 26-year-old former member of the military.

His family say he'd been receiving psychological

August. His aunt has said he was never the same after returning

As things started to return to normal at the airport,

it's emerged that Santiago had been in touch with the FBI as recently

One anonymous source has said he told agents that the Government

was ordering him to watch videos from the Islamic State group.

The agents themselves noted the erratic behaviour

that concerned them and motivated them

to call the local authorities to have him taken into custody

Questions are also being raised about the ease with which Santiago

was able to transport and use his weapon

at a supposedly secure a place like an airport.

It's legal to put a gun in checked baggage in the US,

as long as it's locked in a case and unloaded.

But you can carry ammunition in the same case.

Santiago will appear on Monday in court on federal charges.

But while his motivations will continue to be probed,

there are also serious questions about how a man already appeared

on the authorities' radar could seemingly go on to commit

Gary O'Donoghue, BBC News, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

At least 40 people have been killed by a massive bomb

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, although so-called

The blast ripped through a central market in the town of Azaz,

which lies on the border with Turkey.

From neighbouring Lebanon, Alex Forsyth sent this report.

Fear, panic and chaos - the aftermath of this

Many were killed, others wounded by the attack outside a courthouse

in a busy commercial district in the centre of the city.

TRANSLATION: A car bomb went off in the city centre near civilians.

There are no fighters here, all of them are civilians.

As rescue workers searched for survivors and bodies,

no-one had claimed responsibility for this attack,

but the city is no stranger to such scenes.

Azaz is a stronghold of Turkish-backed Syrian rebels

involved in a major operation to clear so-called Islamic State

from northern Syria, close to the Turkish border.

In recent days, Turkish forces and rebels

which isn't included in a fragile ceasefire covering much of Syria.

Azaz has become home to people who have fled fighting elsewhere.

Today's attack shows that, despite the ceasefire largely holding,

people in Syria are continuing to die.

Donald Trump has said that when he's President,

Russia will have far more respect for the US than it does now.

The President-elect tweeted that having a good relationship

saying only "stupid people or fools would think otherwise."

An intelligence report yesterday accused Russia

London Underground workers will go on strike tomorrow in industrial

action that could affect up to four million commuters.

Talks aimed at averting a strike broke down today.

Our Business Correspondent Joe Lynam is at King's Cross Station

Just over three years ago, London Underground, in an effort to save

money, started a process to close the ticketing offices at old 270

tube stations in London. 830 posts were closed, including control room

staff that monitored CCTV. That was a safety risk too far for the

unions, the are empty and DTS as a and they demanded jobs be reinstated

in the control room and it hasn't happened at the paste the union

wanted and so they have spent the last week with management at the

conciliation service ACAS to find a solution. That solution has not been

found and that means from 6pm tomorrow, stations in central London

will be closed for 24 hours and on Monday morning, millions of people

will have a serious issue getting into work and as will the retail

sector face problems, because plenty will not be able to get into and out

of the city. So the issue is you must plan ahead and if you can, work

from home. Thank you very much. The Prime Minister Theresa May

is promising to unveil a far-reaching programme of social

reform to tackle what she calls the everyday injustices

which working families experience. In an article in the Sunday

Telegraph, she says that when people voted for Brexit,

they also voted to change Our Political Correspondent

Carole Walker joins me. I am tempted to say what exactly

does she mean? Do we know what more she will be saying? The Prime

Minister in this article says the Brexit vote was a quiet revolution

from people who feel the system has been stacked against them and she is

making it clear her Government, Conservative Government, is prepared

to intervene with a wide-ranging programme of social reform. She

returns to the theme of those words she spoke when she first entered

Downing Street as Prime Minister, talking about tackling the burning

injustices and she says the Government is going to go further

and tackle the everyday injustices which ordinary working families

feel. They may be above the benefit level but they are still finding it

difficult to get by. She is making a big speech on Monday, we will hear

more about this, we are told this will be a mission statement ahead of

announcements on education, industrial strategy, on housing and

a cross Government approach on mental health. There is a lot of

very ambitious language here but we have heard very little from Theresa

May since she became Prime Minister in the six months, very little on

her domestic policy, and I think people there will be waiting to see

what policies she comes up with and what differences those policies

make. Thank you. With all the sport now, here's

Karthi at the BBC Sport Centre. Sir Andy Murray's winning run of 28

consecutive victories came to an end today when the world number one

lost the Qatar Open tennis final The match, which took almost three

hours, was described as "physically

tough" by both players, but it was Djokovic

that won in three sets. Stepping out of the shadows and into

the macro tonight, the sport's newest night now knows he faces a

battle to keep his name at the top of the game. To do that, sir Andy

Murray must keep ahead of world number two Novak Djokovic, something

he wasn't able to do in the first set of this, the pair's first final

of the year. As sporting rivalries go, there are now few so closely

fought anywhere. That, it seemed, wasn't about to change. The first

set to the Serbian. And that is where the second and the title also

seemed to be heading. Still, Andy Murray has an inner steel with which

all of tennis is now familiar, saving three match points before

taking the set. These are encounters is worth savouring. But having been

hauled back once, Djokovic wouldn't be again, he finally taking his

chance and, with it, the tournament. The smile is worth savouring. But

having been hauled back once, Djokovic wouldn't be again, he

finally taking his chance and, with it, the tournament. The smiles

perhaps don't tell the full story. This is a rivalry that could define

the tennis year ahead. It's time to pop out of the room

if you don't want to know what happened in today's FA Cup

third round games, as Match of the Day

follows soon on BBC One. Wayne Rooney equalled

Sir Bobby Charlton's record as Manchester United's all-time

leading goalscorer with his 249th goal for the club,

as United beat Reading 4-0. The FA Cup holders are through

to the fourth round as are Millwall - at the expense of

Premier League side, Bournemouth. Millwall, from League One,

were 3-0 winners. The results of all of

today's 25 FA Cup games Leicester City won

their all-Premier-League Arsenal were given a scare

by Preston North End, who took an early lead,

but Arsenal booked their place in the fourth round for a 21st

consecutive year Championship club Wolves knocked out

the Premier League's Stoke City. While Stourbridge, the lowest-ranked

club still in the competition, were only beaten by a late

Wycombe Wanderers winner. Sir Mo Farah finished

in seventh place The two-time double Olympic champion

struggled through the 8km Great Edinburgh Cross Country course

and admitted he's "a little bit behind" in his preparations

for the year ahead, which includes Today's race was won

by America's Leonard Korir. You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC News Channel. Good evening. A few wintry flurries

in the forecast later next week but nowhere near the level of snow we

have seen in south-east Europe today.