ths us strikes a prisoner swap deal with venezuela, releasing a close ally of preident maduro in exchange for 10 americans. plus: donald trump moves to appeal a ruling keeping him off the ballot in colorado. we'll speak to one of the plaintiffs who brought the case against him. i'm helena humphrey. good to have you with us. hamas says more than 20,000 people in gaza have now been killed since israel began its military campaign after the attacks of the 7th of october that killed 1,200 people. that death toll of 20,000 represents almost 1% of gaza's 2.2 million total population. and it's an average of nearly 300 people per day.

hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by some western governments, says more than 1a,000 of those killed are women and children. and it says there have been over 52,000 people injured in the conflict so far. our special correspondent fergal keane reports on the toll that this deadly conflict is taking on families there. a warning — you may find this report distressing. the world is debating calls for a ceasefire and a big new reckoning of the dead is declared. but, for the people of gaza, the suffering is felt. not counted. dead children being touched a final time by their wounded father. a mother comes to mourn a lost daughter.

translation: imagine that i yesterday i was brushing her hair, making her a sandwich for dinner and putting her to sleep then you wake up in the morning and there is no fatima any more. from the beginning, they have known there is no escape. not from gaza orfrom grief. 0rtrauma. the wounded now number in their tens of thousands. in al—aqsa hospital, the child holds two symbols of a vanished normality. nearby, this child, aged 13, who lost ten members of herfamily, among them a two—year—old brother and three grandparents. the fear of death is ever present.

people driven from one unsafe place to the next. we interviewed this person over six weeks ago as she tried to escape gaza with her disabled brother. today, our colleagues in gaza caught up with her. without vital medicine, he is suffering from seizures and is terrified by the israeli drones in the skies above. it's been really hard because recently i heard rockets. it's horrible to say this but it's a sort of relief that it's not us, but it does not mean... it's like we are next. today, as every day, they gathered to bury the dead of gaza. for this child, the loss of his father leaves a void

to last a lifetime. why did you leave me, he asks. fergal keane, bbc news. amid growing international calls for restraint, israel is continuing to push ahead with its offensive. an israeli bombardment in the city of rafah in southern gaza reportedly killed at least five people, and injured more than 50. there are also reports of heavy street fighting in the nearby city of khan younis. it comes as the hamas leader ismail haniyeh is in cairo for talks on another humanitarian ceasefire. a senior palestinian official has told the bbc wednesday's meeting ended without results. the bbc�*s sally nabil has more. well the talks are hoped to try and find a breakthrough and convince the warring parties to agree on a ceasefire, pressure has been mounting on the israelis in particular to accept the ceasefire and allow more aid into gaza. the

palestinian people are in bad need of almost everything — medical aid, food supplies, fuel, everything. the egyptians have always been key mediators in all the past rounds of conflict between the israelis and the palestinians. but i believe mediation efforts this time are exceptionally difficult. they're met with huge challenges. so far, israel has been reluctant to accept calls for a ceasefire and stop the bombardment that has killed nearly 20,000 palestinians. so, this is why the mediators have huge tasks lining ahead. in addition to the mediation role, egypt has the only border crossing that connects gaza to the outside world, away from the outside world, away from the israeli control. the rafah border crossing that connects gaza to egypt has been the main channel that delivers aid to the people inside gaza. this is why there have been mounting

calls from different international parties asking the israelis to try and bring hostilities to a halt and allow humanitarian corridor that delivers more aid to civilians in gaza, whether or not the mediation efforts will succeed in achieving that, that remains to be seen. but as i said, that mediation efforts currently under way are met with huge obstacles. the united nations security council has postponed another vote on a draft resolution calling for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses in gaza to thursday morning. previous versions had opted for the word "ceasefire." — language that the united states had objected to. it's the third time this week the vote has been delayed following tense diplomatic wrangling over the wording. the main sticking point now seems to also be over the monitoring of humanitarian aid into gaza. in a statement, israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu seemingly ruled out an immediate ceasefire saying: "we won't stop fighting

until we've achieved all the objectives we've set ourselves — the elimination of hamas." 0ur correspondent nada tawfik is at the united nations following the updates closely. yet another delay as negotiations continue at the highest levels at capitol. here at the un, diplomats have been furiously and desperately trying to reach an agreement, including the united states, which doesn't want to be in a position to cast a third veto. now, we've already seen over the last few days the resolution be modified to try to accommodate the united states's position. that's included language being toned down to call for a suspension of hostilities instead of a cessation of hostilities, but really the key sticking point now is over the resolution�*s proposal for a now is over the resolution�*s proposalfor a un monitoring proposal for a un monitoring mechanism. proposalfor a un monitoring mechanism. the arab groups say this is absolutely an essential component of the resolution to

make sure it has impact on the ground. but washington says there are fears that israel would lose control of the screening process with this mechanism. and so, there are talks now over how to bridge that gap. and in fact, the united states asked for this latest delay so it could engage directly with egypt in talks over how a mechanism could work to the benefit of all parties. so really, the success of this resolution now hinges on those talks between the us and egypt. it is worth noting that the overwhelming majority of the council does support the resolution as it is. and the uae, that authored this resolution, says that there's just too much suffering on the ground by palestinian civilians for the council to fail to act. for more on the diplomatic delay we heard from john negroponte, former us ambassador to the united nations and us director of national intelligence.

first of all, we're — we're following israel's lead on this. we're supporting them in their response to the horrific attacks of october 7. we have traditionally supported israel at the united nations. we found it's better to work with them in a positive way to get some results. the quibble right now seems to be over inspection of humanitarian aid deliveries? i should think that that's been done so often, ceasefires, in order to prevent rival of humanitarian goods, this problem should be easily or not easily but in any event should be readily resolved. i have hope an agreement is going to be reached and that we're going to have at least some sort of a

temporary ceasefire, which would give a respite to the situation on the ground, allow supplies to get in, humanitarian supplies. us secretary of state antony blinken has pushed back on criticism of the white house's support for israel. at his year end press conference mr blinken said he expects more targeted operations focused on hamas leadership and its infrastructure — and pointed out what he sees as a double standard. i hear virtually no—one saying, demanding of hamas that it stop hiding behind civilians. that it lay down its arms, that it surrender. this is over tomorrow if hamas does that. this would've been over a month ago. six weeks ago. if hamas had done that. and how could it be — how could it be that there are no demands made of the aggressor and only demands made of the victim? so, it would be

good if there was a strong international voice pressing hamas to do what's necessary to end this. again, that could be tomorrow. after months of negotiations, the us and venezuela have agreed to a major prisoner swap. the ten imprisoned americans have “ust the ten imprisoned americans have just landed _ the ten imprisoned americans have just landed back- the ten imprisoned americans have just landed back and - the ten imprisoned americans have just landed back and the| have just landed back and the us says that six of them were longfully detained. they will return leonard glenn francis, known as fat leonard, to the us. he is at the centre of one of the largest fraudsters in the us. in exchange, they have returned a man accused of laundering money on behalf of the maduro government. it's all part of the biden

administration's efforts to improve relation with venezuela and push mr maduro to hold fair elections next year. we have no higher priority than the release of americans held hostage. in addition to that, venezuela thus far is keeping their commitment towards the democratic elections. it's not over yet. they have made detailed commitments, we'll see if they hold them. we're going to hold them accountable. around the world and across the uk — this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. 44 million voters in the democratic republic of congo are taking part in a presidential election that has been extended into thursday, after being marred by lengthy delays and claims of fraud. long queues have been reported at many polling stations across the country's capital kinshasa. president felix tshisekedi is facing 18 candidates as he seeks a second term. voting is not taking place at all in some parts of the country due to the presence of armed rebel groups.

the us senate has confirmed 11 senior generals and admirals nearly a year after republican senator tommy tuberville delayed their nominations. he'd been protesting the pentagon's abortion policy, but dropped his objections to the promotions following mounting pressure from those in his own party. defence secretary lloyd austin said the unprecedented hold hurt our military�*s readiness and morale. the lincoln memorial here in washington dc was vandalised with red paint and graffiti that included the message, "free palestine." police are investigating the incident. you're live with bbc news. paul whelan, the former us marine being held in russian prison, told the bbc he feels betrayed by the american government. mr whelan has spent more than 1,800 days in russian prison with next week marking five years since he was imprisoned while on holiday in mosocw, accused of being a spy.

0ur eastern europe correspondent, sarah rainsford, spoke with mr whelan and has this report. this is where an american�*s holiday to moscow ended up. in a remote russian labour camp, convicted of espionage. the us government calls paul whelan wrongfully detained. he's always said he's a political hostage. how are you doing? you all right? i followed his story since he was arrested in moscow. but for five years, all negotiations to try to free him have failed. now speaking to me from prison, paul whelan says he feels abandoned by his government. you know, it's serious betrayal. it's extremely frustrating. i've never heard him talk like this before. i know that the us has come up with all sorts of proposals, serious proposals, but it's not what the russians are after. so they keep going back and forth. the only problem is, it's my life that's draining away.

why would you do this? you know, it's five years. it's unfathomable to me that they'd left me behind. the us can get its prisoners back. last year, an american basketball star was swapped for a convicted russian arms trader released by the us. but paul whelan was left behind. and now it seems like russia is collecting hostages. evan gershkovich was detained in march, accused of espionage for doing hisjob as a journalist. his newspaper, his government are clear. the charge is false. dear evan, i didn't take my laptop. polina writes to evan in prison every week. they started out together as reporters in moscow. now he's locked up and she's abroad for safety. evan's friends collect and translate letters of support for him from all over the world,

helping keep his spirits up and their own. evan is not a spy. evan is a journalist. and my greatest hope is that evan is released as soon as possible and can go home, can go back to work and go back to his family, can come and spend time with all of us again, as he should be doing right 110w. that's the greatest hope. the conditions in the camp have declined seriously. the barracks have black mould. but paul whelan is now facing his fifth christmas as a prisoner. are you worried that there's going to be another deal that you're going to be left behind again? yeah, i am worried that there'll be a deal to leave me here. with each case, my case is going to the back of the line that's being left in the dust. it is russia that put him here, but paul whelan wants america to push harder to get him home. sarah rainsford, bbc news.

former us president donald trump says he will appeal a recent ruling from the colorado supreme court that disqualifies him from the state's presidential primary ballot. the historic 11—3 decision bars trump from appearing on the ballot under the 14th amendment of the us constitution, which prohibits anyone engaged in insurrection or rebellion from holding federal office. this is in relation to trump's actions on january sixth, 2021 during an attack on the us capitol by his supporters. the question now is whether the ruling will stand. mr trump has not been formally charged with insurrection and has denied any wrongdoing. live now to krista kafer, who is a plaintiff in former president trump's case in colorado. krista, you have been a republican you say for around 30 years, you voted for trump and you have run for office yourself. why did you bring this case?

i brought this case because i believe in the rule of law. i believe in the rule of law. i believe in the rule of law. i believe in our constitution and i believe in our democracy for the our constitution is clear. it has five requirements for officeholders for the office of presidency. there is an age requirement, residency requirement, residency requirement, citizenship requirement, citizenship requirement, one cannot serve more than two terms and one cannot participate in insurrection. it is very clear what happened is donald trump lost an election, i voted for him in that election, but he lost an election, refused to concede the election, even went on to push lies and misinformation. he prevented a mob, tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power to overturn the election. that is by definition insurrection and because of his actions, he is disqualified himself to run again. the supreme court has ruled in ourfavour. he will

not be on the ballot. let ruled in our favour. he will not be on the ballot. let me ask ou not be on the ballot. let me ask you this. _ donald trump hasn't been explicitly charged with insurrection or rebellion in any of this four criminal cases and at this stage his participation is subjective and he hasn't undergone due process. so is it fair to take him off the ballot? he has had due process in the sense the 14th amendment does not require criminal conviction. basically self fulfilling for that if we were to roll back the clock and look at people who lost the ability to run or disqualify that on balance back in the 1860s, we would see these people participated insurrection and fermented rebellion and were not allowed to run. what you do need is evidence and we had two courts, first a trial court then the colorado supreme court examined that evidence. president trump was well presented by his attorneys. the

court had a lot of information in front of it including witnesses and they decided in our favour. witnesses and they decided in ourfavour. he had is due process, had his day in court, he will have another day in court in the us supreme court and they will decide ultimately whether he has, whether he has been disqualified from being on the ballot. i been disqualified from being on the ballot. ., ., , the ballot. i want to put some comments — the ballot. i want to put some comments to _ the ballot. i want to put some comments to you _ the ballot. i want to put some comments to you that - the ballot. i want to put some comments to you that i - the ballot. i want to put some comments to you that i am i the ballot. i want to put some l comments to you that i am sure you have seen. they come from the former newjersey governor chris christie. when ip is not exactly a backup for donald trump he rebuked the decision of the colorado supreme court. we can see it there. he said:. what do you make of that argument? the question of whether donald trump should be elected president ultimately should be up to the american people to decide, not a court? it is an understandable sentiment but by the same token, former president 0bama cannot run for office again

because he already served two terms. your prime minister cannot run for our president options because he is not a citizen. we have these requirements in the constitution because we believe in rule of law. we absolutely to apply them. if in rule of law. we absolutely to apply them-— to apply them. if we take a look at section _ to apply them. if we take a look at section three, - to apply them. if we take a | look at section three, really use of course, it dates from the post— civil war error and its goal was to prevent those who held roles in the confederacy to become a member of congress being elected to other officers. should essentially something that comes from the civil war error be applied to modern—day presidential politics? be applied to modern-day presidential politics? other eo - le presidential politics? other peeple are _ presidential politics? other people are making - presidential politics? other people are making the - presidential politics? other - people are making the argument that because our constitution was written in the 18th century that it should not be applied today for the second amendment of first amendment or fourth amendment, that's about these things are passe. none are a formally amended. if people divided the 14th member or

section three of the 14th amendment no longer applies, there is a process for that visit you can have it amended. so if people don't like it, thatis so if people don't like it, that is for the courts to take. i want to ask you about something else quickly. that is donald trump support. if we look at the figures right now, his support has swelled since the summit charges coming into now stand at 60 for % of republican primary voters. was there a part of you worried in bringing this case that it could actually rally donald trump's vapes? i could actually rally donald trump's vapes?— could actually rally donald trump's vapes? i was more concerned _ trump's vapes? i was more concerned about _ trump's vapes? i was more concerned about the - trump's vapes? i was more i concerned about the principles that i was about politics. it is important to keep in mind when you look at the republican members, a lot of people have left the republican party. it is unusual as a given i am a critic of things he has done, a lot of folks have left the republican party and therefore not included in that poll. what i want to see is republicans and right—leaning independence and right—leaning independence and see what comes up and i

guarantee the numbers will be different. , ., ., guarantee the numbers will be different. , ., ., different. very good to have our different. very good to have your own. — different. very good to have your own, thank _ different. very good to have your own, thank you - different. very good to have your own, thank you for - different. very good to have| your own, thank you for your time. , ., ., , ., iceland remains in a state of uncertainty after monday's volcanic eruption which continues to spew lava into the sky for a third day. evacuated residents from the town of grindavik fear that their homes will be wiped off the map. however, the volcano's glow has attracted spectators. but scientists warn the volcano is not friendly to tourists. those visiting or living in the capital city of reykjavik could soon be exposed to toxic gases, according to the country's meteorological office. sofia bettiza is in iceland with the latest. there is a warning new vents can open at a moments notice. as our opening on the volcanic to which magma erupts or gases are emitted. because of this,

authorities are warning people not to come to this area and stay away for their own safety. the main concern at the moment is fumes from the volcano are making their way towards the capital. which is about 30 minutes from here. luckily there have been no reports of injuries although some houses have been damaged. in terms of what happens next, this could go on for weeks or even months and what that means is about 4000 people who live in a village near the volcano are probably going to spend christmas away from home. we have been speaking to some of the people evacuated and some of them have told us they are worried their town is going to disappearfrom worried their town is going to disappear from the worried their town is going to disappearfrom the map. but most people here are quite optimistic about the whole situation. they say they are

perfectly aware they live in a town where there is lava all around stop but they are quite philosophical about the situation. they have told us this is just what life is like in iceland. and before we go let's go to texas. where just moments ago us prisoners released from venezuela landed. they were gathered together. there are now no more americans jailed in venezuela. they were part of a prisoner swap. important thing we do in the analysis government is protect our citizens. im helena humphrey in washington dc, thanks for your company. hello. the weather in the run up to christmas now is looking

fairly unsettled, especially so over the next 24 hours because we've got a spell of really windy weather right across the uk. the danish met service have named storm pia. now, that's moving to the north of us, but it's going to bring really windy conditions wherever you are, especially the further north. some heavy showers in the mix, too. and there's the potential for some significant travel disruption on thursday. so there's that area of low pressure, storm pia, heading towards denmark. lots of isobars on the map here and we've got really windy conditions for scotland, northern ireland, northern england, north wales too. even further south, it's going to be a blustery sort of day. so some heavy showers, especially towards the north and the west. a bit more sunshine returning across scotland through thursday morning. but look at the gusts of wind — 65 to 75 miles an hour, even 80 miles an hour up towards the northern isles. really windy, too, for northern ireland, the isle of man, into northern england — 50 to 60 mile per hour gusts. more around the exposed coasts and hills. windy too, but not quite as windy as further north for the likes of south wales and southern england. so cloud and patchy light rain in the south, sunshine

and blustery, squally showers moving into the north. even a little bit of snow over the highest ground of scotland. temperatures just five degrees in aberdeen, but still up to around 12 down towards the london region. so we've got the mild, cloudy and fairly damp weather in the far southwest overnight. clearer skies elsewhere as we head through into thursday morning, but then more rain returns from the west through the early hours. i think it's going to be frost—free again heading into friday morning, but the lowest temperatures will be across the northeast of the uk. so we're in the colder air there, but further towards the southwest, we've got milder air, this weather front that is the dividing line between those two air masses. heading through friday, and this area of milder air will spread its way across the uk, the winds coming in from a westerly direction. so that weather front will bring some rain initially across northern ireland, parts of england and wales, tracking its way eastwards — perhaps a little bit of snow fora time, again, over the highest ground across the north of scotland. but for most of us, it'll be rain showers and, again, temperatures between around about 5

to 12 degrees. colder than that, though, towards the northern isles. and then looking ahead towards the festive period, it's a little bit up and down, it's fairly unsettled. mild for the next few days, perhaps things a little bit colder into boxing day. bye— bye.

red sea disruptions cause oil prices to rise. we take a look at the impact on energy markets. the corrupt malaysian businessman extradited to the us as part of a venezuela prisoner swap. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm suranjana tewari. prepare for 90 days of red sea disruptions, that is what shipping advisors are warning clients following the recent attacks on ships by iran backed houthi rebels. beyond supply chain disruptions and delays to consumer groups, one sector that has been feeling the heat is oil. the price of brent has climbed about 6% since they began with many energy giants like bp having to stop exporting crude through the crucial waters. 0vernight oil prices have dipped — a slight reprieve

but will it last?