there is no functioning hospital left in northern gaza. a judge is due to rule today on whether the two teenagers convicted of murdering 16—year—old brianna ghey should be named publicly. a top eu court rules that uefa's ban on a european super league is unlawful. hello. i'm lucy hockings. welcome to bbc news now. there are no obvious signs of progress towards a pause in the gaza conflict this hour, despite extensive diplomatic efforts over the past 2a hours. a spokesman for hamas — whose leader, ismail haniyeh, is still in cairo for talks — has said, "we cannot talk about negotiations while israel continues its aggression." fighting in the gaza strip has escalated. people there have described it as some of the most intense israeli bombardment of the war.

at the united nations security council, wording of a truce is still being discussed, but timelines have come and gone. the hamas—run health ministry says 20,000 people have now died since the start of the conflict in gaza. 1,200 israelis died, and 240 hostages were taken, when hamas invaded israel on october 7th. here's our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. in khan younis, drones and shelling are the soundtrack of this war. a new day in gaza brings no escape from the relentless bombardment. for little riyan, the attacks have taken a cruel toll. her uncle now cares for her in a local hospital. when herfamily�*s home was hit by an israeli strike last month, she lost her parents and her brother and sister. she was crushed and has had a brain haemorrhage. "her situation�*s very difficult," he says. "she really needs to be taken

abroad for treatment, but so far, we've not managed to send her out." deep in gaza, israeli troops take on hamas fighters in fierce urban battles. israel says the war here won't end until hamas is toppled from power and eliminated. it believes hamas leaders are now probably hiding in tunnels like these. this footage shows an underground network connecting places where they used to live in gaza city, the israeli army says. we can't independently verify these images, but they appear to show passages with blast doors and electricity. this israeli officer says new extensions were being built. deep down. a tunnel which was built for the last few months. you can see here the lift, heavy—duty lift. with such immense suffering in gaza, there are new international calls for at least a humanitarian pause that could see more aid going in

and the release of more israeli hostages. hamas is insisting on a full ceasefire. britain says it's pushing for a new un resolution. everything that can be done must be done to get aid into gaza to help people in the desperate situation that they're in. and on that level, we've been talking about the united nations security council resolution, where we are very keen to see consensus arrived at. more than 20,000 people have been killed in gaza in the past two and a half months, local health officials say. as diplomatic efforts wind on, that number is continuing to grow. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. we had a statement from hamas a few hours ago and they said there won't be any talks about prisoner swaps at all until israel ends its offensive.

is a security correspondent frank gardner what he made of the statement. —— i asked our security correspondent. it statement. -- i asked our security correspondent.— statement. -- i asked our security correspondent. it is very unusual 42 to travel to — correspondent. it is very unusual 42 to travel to doha _ correspondent. it is very unusual 42 to travel to doha in _ correspondent. it is very unusual 42 to travel to doha in qatar. - correspondent. it is very unusual 42 to travel to doha in qatar. that - correspondent. it is very unusual 42 to travel to doha in qatar. that was| to travel to doha in qatar. that was seen as a sign of hamas's unwillingness to co—operate, they made it clear they wouldn't do partial releases of hostages for a partial releases of hostages for a partial ceasefire. they want a total end to israel's military actions in gaza. and they're not prepared, they say, to release any hostages until that comes. but this puts the israeli government into a really difficult position, because this government of benjamin netanyahu had said right from the beginning that they believe force was the best way to get the release of their hostages, not only to put pressure on hamas, but they had hoped, i think, to release hostages by force, finding them in tunnels. that hasn't really happened. there's only been one hostage

released or liberated by israeli forces. 0ri megidish. so this now is a real setback because the israeli government is under pressure from the relatives of these roughly 130 hostages still held in gaza. they're calling on their government to do more. they're saying, look, your way of force isn't working. it's not producing hostages coming out alive. we don't want to see our relatives coming out in body bags. but now hamas has made this point clear, it's putting pressure on the israeli government to stop their war altogether, without any guarantee that hamas is going to stop its armed actions against israel. so the israeli government is extremely reluctant to pause or stop altogether its actions, until it feels that it is completely degraded hamas's military capability, and it hasn't got to that point yet. so in short, this will be a huge disappointment to the aid agencies, to diplomats, but most of all, to the people of gaza, who are desperate

for this war to stop. what about the other players at the moment, frank? particularly in cairo, those that are involved in some of these discussions and negotiations. who can bring their influence to bear right now on the different parties? well, the biggest influences here really are egypt and qatar. and there's always going to be a back channel. so things are never quite as grim as they look or as they sound on paper. often, people put out very sort of portentous statements and it sounds incredibly inflexible, but often, there are back channels such as david barnier, the head of mossad, the israeli intelligence agency, who's been meeting in warsaw with the qatari prime minister. qatar is important in this because qatar hosts the political office of hamas, which is a proscribed terrorist organisation by many countries. but qatar has huge influence over hamas. the problem is that you've got the political actors in hamas, such as ismail haniyeh, who lives

in some comfort in qatar, and then you've got someone like yahya sinwar, who is believed to be the architect, the mastermind behind those murderous attacks in southern israel on october the 7th, and he's the most wanted man. he's somewhere in tunnels, somewhere, probably in gaza. they can't find him. they desperately want to find him. but he is the guy who, in many cases, makes the decisions, along with other senior hamas officials in gaza. revamped plans for a controversial european super league have been announced after a top court ruled that banning clubs from joining a breakaway league was unlawful. in 2021, i2 cubs — including six from the english premier league — announced they were joining a european super league. but the plan quickly collapsed amid opposition from fans, football's governing bodies and even the british government. in its ruling, the european court ofjustice

said the actions of uefa and fifa who run world football, were "contrary to competition law and the freedom to provide services. we have won the right to compete. the uefa—monopoly is over. football is free." that has been the reaction of a22 — the sports management company promoting a new 64 team super league. uefa doesn't agree — "we are confident in the robustness of the new rules, and specifically that they comply with all relevant european laws and regulations" — it has said. some of euroep's top clubs like manchester united and bayern munich have said they have no plans to join. 0thers others like barcelona are in favour. today, the position of the european union court ofjustice is of great importance for the future of our sport and has proven us right by ruling that in the court of european football, there exists a monopoly thatis football, there exists a monopoly that is incompatible with the principles of european law, as we have long maintained. here

principles of european law, as we have long maintained.— principles of european law, as we have long maintained. here is our sorts have long maintained. here is our sports correspondent _ have long maintained. here is our sports correspondent and - have long maintained. here is our sports correspondent and the - have long maintained. here is our. sports correspondent and the swiss. two years ago when the proposals were first mooted, there was a huge backlash from fans, from government, it quickly collapsed. 0ne backlash from fans, from government, it quickly collapsed. one of the reasons it fell apart so quickly was uefa and fifa said any club that joined the breakaway league would be banned from their competitions. but as you say, the european court of justice has said that was illegal. they say the fifa and uefa rules making any new into club football projects subject to their prior approval such as the super league and prohibiting clubs and players from playing those competitions are unlawful. as you say, we have already heard from the group behind the european super league. they see this as a big victory. and as you mentioned, they have already announced today plans for a new revamped super league involving 64 clubs, one of your�*s biggest teams barcelona, they have already come out and said they are in favour of the idea. —— europe's biggest. in the idea. —— europe's biggest. in the last half—hour, manchester

united, one of the original 12 clubs behind the initial proposal, they haveissued behind the initial proposal, they have issued a statement saying they remain fully committed to participation in uefa competitions. but certainly, this is a significant development in what is potentially a very significant story for world football. reminders what the reaction from fans was when the european super league was first announced. i remember it very well. the announcement was made late one night and by the following morning, fans certainly across britain and europe were out in force making their displeasure very public. there were protests outside clubs like chelsea, manchester united. and within 48 hours, the entire project had effectively collapsed. it seems they had underestimated the weight of fan disapproval. as well as obviously the fact that fifa and uefa said any clubs who joined the breakaway league would be banned from their competition. so certainly, that sense among fans that they are happy with the competition that they have and don't want a european super

league, i think that still stands amongst a lot of a big swathe of fans certainly in england, the english supporters association have already put out a statement saying they still don't want a european super league and it will be interesting to see what other reaction we get from fans in europe. and we continue to get reaction, including a statement from the premier league, who have said they continue to reject the european super league. there's growing concern over the dire humanitarian situation in sudan's gezira state following the suspension of aid work by a un agency and red cross. since the paramilitary rapid support forces seized wad madani on monday, hundreds of thousands of people have fled. the icrc in sudan says it's worried that wad madani, which was once considered a safe haven for refugees, is turning into another death trap. 0ur correspondent kalkidan yibeltal is following the story for us from the ethiopian

capital addis ababa. wad madani's the second largest city. it is painting a grim picture. in a few days, hundreds of thousands of people have already fled the city. as rapid forces pour into the city. as rapid forces pour into the city. we have heard stories of killings and violence and looting of properties. there was a statement from the association medical professionals that's it hundreds of people have been killed in the city. so now, the news agencies are suspending debt aid operations in this area and it is going to come as a very tragic news because many people are in desperate need and dependent of the support they have been receiving. find dependent of the support they have been receiving.— dependent of the support they have been receiving. and a huge amount of children who — been receiving. and a huge amount of children who have _ been receiving. and a huge amount of children who have been _ been receiving. and a huge amount of children who have been displaced - been receiving. and a huge amount of children who have been displaced as l children who have been displaced as well and desperate —— and in desperate need of help. well and desperate -- and in desperate need of help. that's riaht, desperate need of help. that's right. this _ desperate need of help. that's right, this conflict _ desperate need of help. that's

right, this conflict that - desperate need of help. that's right, this conflict that began i desperate need of help. that's| right, this conflict that began in april has pushed around 7 million people from their homes. many of them are internally displaced inside sudan's territories. 0thers them are internally displaced inside sudan's territories. others have fled the country all together into neighbouring countries like egypt or even ethiopia. and nearly half of these displaced people are children. so it seems that the most vulnerable people of the communities are paying the heaviest prices in this conflict. because as we have been reporting in the past few days, the health care system seems to be crumbling. many of the people in sudan right now do not have access to health care. and among them are newborn babies and children and pregnant women. so all the reports that are coming out right now from sudan are painting a really dire picture. sudan are painting a really dire icture. �* ., ., ., picture. around the world and across the uk, this — picture. around the world and across the uk, this is— picture. around the world and across the uk, this is sac— picture. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. _

let's look at some other stories making news. senior politicians and the security services fear artificial intelligence will be used to disrupt elections here in the uk. formerjustice secretary sir robert buckland is urging the government to do more to tackle what he sees as a "clear and present danger" to uk democracy, as we head into what will likely be a general election year. charles hanson, from the bbc series bargain hunt, has been charged with domestic abuse. derbyshire police confirmed to the bbc that hanson — who acts as an antiques expert on the series — was arrested after the force was called to reports of a domestic incident in june. he faces seven charges, including actual bodily harm and controlling and coercive behaviour. the government says british sign language will be taught as a gcse in england from september 2025. it says the qualification will be open to all pupils, who will learn about a thousand signs. the national deaf children's society says it is delighted by the recognition. you're live with bbc news.

ajudge has ordered that the names of the two i6—year—olds who killed brianna ghey in february should be made public when they are sentenced. this will happen on the 2nd of february. two teenagers both 16 were found guilty of her murder on wednesday. nick garnett is outside manchester crown court. what happened today? this was a brutal and horrific murder. 2is—year—old children stabbing a 16—year—old 28 times. it has been horrific both in this country and has been talked about hugely in this country and further afield as well. but until now, we haven't been able to name the two children involved. they are now 16 years old and they will be going to prison for life imprisonment. but that sentence won't be handed down until every the second next year. now, at that point, a judge this morning has

decided that she will lift the banning order that stops us from naming the two children involved. now, that was opposed by their lawyers, their lawyer said that they shouldn't do it, that it would be detrimental to their health and to their mental health and also to their mental health and also to theirfamilies. but thejudge their mental health and also to their families. but the judge told manchester crown court, which is behind me here, it was in the public interest. this is such an horrific crime and they should be no hiding behind anonymity for those involved in killing her. so it was lifted, this order come up with effect from every the second. she said in her judgment there was a strong public interest in the full and unrestricted reporting of an exceptional case —— the second of debris. the shop generated by the murder of brianna and the circumstances has spread beyond the local community, across the country and internationally. she said there should be no defence of the family being protected by this. this is

part and parcel of their life now. she also brought into account comments made by the mother of brianna ghey esther who spoke yesterday outside the court at the end of the hearing when the two were convicted. she said that they had no sympathy for the killers. however, she did have sympathy for the parents because they had also lost a child. so thejudge parents because they had also lost a child. so the judge commended brianna ghey�*s mother for child. so the judge commended brianna ghey�*s motherfor those brianna ghey�*s mother for those comments brianna ghey�*s motherfor those comments and said that in all circumstances, there was no way the children, who are now 16 years old, should be allowed to remain anonymous and that we will know their names. so when they are sent to prison and given the terms of their life sentence on february 2nd, we will be able to name who they are. ., ~' we will be able to name who they are. ., ~ , ., british and french border officials are claiming some success in cutting the number of small boats crossing the channel by over a third this year.

britain has pledged hundreds of millions of pounds to help the french stop illegal migration to england. but tens of thousands of people are still attempting the dangerous journey. andrew harding reports from calais. a cold, clear night on a beach south of calais. french police on patrol. a beefed—up force looking to block small boats with migrants from setting off across the channel. so here's the inflatable. we're told it's just been abandoned. in fact, you can see here where the police have already slashed it to make sure that the migrants can't use it again. we're told about 50 people were trying to get into the water just a few yards away. these are the inner tubes that they were going to use instead of life jackets. extraordinary to think, 50 people cramming inside this flimsy thing, trying to get across to england. nearby, just before dawn, we find two families who failed to cross tonight huddled at a bus stop. the boat was broken and not going.

the water was up. did the waves get bigger? so you had to come back? yeah. this is 17—year—old faiza, from iraq. i have no place to go. very sad. yeah, very sad. we have no chance. what will happen to you? i have no idea. just sitting, unsure how my life is... bad, bad, bad. so you've got one of the waiting areas over behind. daytime, up the coast in calais, french police talk tactics with their british counterparts — a sign of growing cooperation. britain is now providing france almost £500 million for equipment like drones and to double the manpower to tackle the smugglers. so, is it making a difference? we have seen significant improvements in prevention of small boat launches.

we've seen a reduction in the number of arriving individuals this year in this way by over one third, and we've also seen the number of boats reduce by 45%, year to date. it is a big drop. and yet, in a muddy clearing near calais, the crowds keep coming — from afghanistan, from sudan, ready to risk death in the channel and ignoring warnings that britain may send them to rwanda. it worries you, but it's not stopping you? not stopping us. i'm still trying to go to uk, but hope they don't send us to rwanda. suddenly, a rush to leave, as the smugglers usher one group away for another attempted crossing tonight. if they can sneak past the extra french police here and cross a dangerous stretch of water, england awaits, tantalisingly close. andrew harding, bbc news, in northern france.

breaking news. an unexpected strike by workers that operate the channel tunnel has blocked train travel between france and britain since about midday uk time. the strike has blocked eurostar trains, as well as the trains that shuttle trucks and cars is the peak holiday travel season gets under way. disruption is expected until 15:30pm, gmt, travellers postponed their travel today, that is the advice. this is the very busy time in the run—up to christmas. the dispute is about bonuses paid to workers. that is a screenshot and that is live on their website at the moment. you can tell the amount of delays and disruption there is to eurostar. a us man has been exonerated for a murder he

didn't, after nearly 50 years behind bars. 70—year—old glyn simmons was freed injuly when a judge in the oklahoma ordered a new trial. he was 0klahoma ordered a new trial. he was declared innocent of the 197074 more order during a liquor store robbery. he was 22 years old when he and co—defendantjohn roberts were convicted and sentenced to death in 1975. so he has served 48 years in prison, that is the longest wrongful sentence ever the united states. in iceland, the authorities have told residents they can go home for a few hours after local volcanic activity subsided overnight. they were evacuated last month after a series of earthquakes. seismologists say a fresh eruption is unlikely at the moment, but the situation does remain hazardous. i will correspond that has been in a helicopter to survey the extent of the helicopter —— of the volcano's disruption. the

larvae are still flowing, smoke are still billowing, but the activity is considerably less compared with monday night. the width of the lava moving along the peninsula is also decreasing. but this is a much bigger eruption than they had experienced in recent years. and so there is concern about what might come next. that's why the coast guard are monitoring possible cracks that might emerge in the days to come after this spectacular site on monday evening. it is also widely reported the prime minister in iceland said there is considerable uncertainty the people of grindavik, lake fishing community of about 4,000 people, they were all evacuated about five weeks ago. but as to when they will get back into their homes, that is really hard to tell. they have been building up on the ground these defences to try and stop future lava flows. but for now,

it is an uncertain picture. as well as observing what is going on with the latest seismic activity, they will be doing some practice today, the coast guard, in case they have to do evacuations in the days and weeks to come. if there were to be another big eruption, they had to move people out extremely quickly, so this sort of flight is really vital both for looking at what is happening on the ground and future seismic activity, but also planning ahead. because the reality is in this part of iceland, the experience these big eruptions and they need to be prepared for them. nick peak in the skies above the volcano. not long for those people that celebrate christmas, the countdown is really on, and we have lovely christmas lights from all over the world including these from rome in italy. italy, the message. a dazzling display along growing's shopping street dedicated to world peace. it is a carpet of lights, 1,400 metres

long. that is three quarters of a mile and it is adorned with the word peace in various languages, including italian, english and spanish. the display is absolutely thrilling locals in rome, and tourists, it includes 300,000 points of light. many people taking time to think about what is happening in the middle east, i'm sure, as they look at those lights. and we can show you the live pictures right now looking into gaza from israel. another day of bloodshed, israeli forces pounding positions in the north and the south of the territory. and we've heard from hamas a senior border official at the rafah crossing with egypt has been killed by an israeli strike. more on that story coming up throughout the day. stay with us. hello there. storm pia has been bringing some

very strong gusts of wind, particularly to the northern half of the uk. and those winds have been causing problems. an overturned lorry here on the barton bridge, which is one of the higher bridges on the m60, manchester's ring road just by the trafford centre. there has been then some disruption. top gusts so far, 81 miles an hour across in shetland. but we have seen some very strong gusts of wind elsewhere, 76 in inverbervie, which is in aberdeenshire and over the tops of the pennines. the winds have been gusting quite close to 80 miles an hour across the very, very peaks. now the centre of storm pia is actually quite a long way to our east and it will be bringing some very, very strong winds into denmark as we go through the next 12 hours or so. meanwhile, for us, those very strong winds will very gradually begin to fade away through the afternoon. but that said, we're still looking at gusts of wind well into the fifties or even sixties of miles an hour through the rest of the afternoon. so there still could be a few issues in terms of power cuts and a bit of transport disruption through the rest of today. then overnight, it

stays quite windy. outbreaks of rain across the north and the west, starting to turn colder in shetland, where we are looking at some snowfall here. could be a few centimetres, leading to some icy conditions. and for a time with those strong winds, blizzard conditions in shetland seem likely as well. 0n into friday's forecast, we've got some rain pushing in from the north and west. still quite a blustery kind of day. the coldest air still across parts of northern scotland, where temperatures not getting much above freezing. in lerwick, the mildest weather. further southwards for northern ireland, england, wales, where temperatures typically be around 11 or 12 degrees celsius. it continues to be relatively mild across most of the uk on saturday. the cold air really confined to northern scotland. but as the weather front bumps into that cold air, we probably will see a spell of snow friday night and into the first part of saturday across northern scotland, even potentially down to low levels. but ultimately, the milder air will push its way in, so any snow will tend to turn back to rain as we go through the day on saturday across

northern scotland. and we'll finish with these kind of temperatures — 12 or 13 degrees celsius. it will end up being pretty mild for most of us. staying mild, then, as we head into the weekend. for christmas day itself, might see the weather cold enough across northern scotland for some mountain flurries.

a new hollywood giant in the making? warner and paramount are reported to be in �*early stage' merger talks to rival the likes of netflix. and turkey's central bank raises interest rates to a record 42.5% as the cost of living crisis continues to hit millions in the pocket. welcome to world business report. i'm ben thompson. we start in hollywood, where a media �*mega' merger could be on the way. according to multiple reports, the bosses of �*warner bros discovery�* and �*paramount global�* have held talks this week about a possible tie—up. the deal would bring together two of hollywood�*s "big five" studios, with warner and paramount�*s combined market value currently standing at $38 billion. any potential deal would also provide a much bigger rival to the likes of netflix and disney plus.

netflix currently have 247 million subscribers globally.