translation: everything has been wiped out - - in a real—life home alone moment — a young boy travelling alone in the us is flown to the wrong destination by a low—cost airline. and by a low—cost airline. coming up, we find out more about and coming up, we find out more about what we can expect from artificial intelligence in 2024 and what's being done to address concerns over its safety. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. hi there, thank you for being with us. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has said he is "grateful" to his air force for a missile attack that badly damaged a russian warship in the black sea.

the novocherkassk was hit during an attack on the port of feodosia in russian—occupied crimea. local officials say at least one person was killed, and ukraine said the ship was destroyed. president zelensky wrote on telegram, "the occupiers "will not have a single peaceful place in ukraine." james waterhouse reports. for ukraine, this was a high—value target. explosion the novocherkassk landing ship struck by a guided missile. the blast was colossal. moscow claims it was only damaged. kyiv says destroyed. it's going to need more than a lick of paint, regardless. crimea has been in russia's grasp since 2014. but sights like this have become more common with ukraine striking deeper into the peninsula. the novocherkassk would have almost certainly been loaded

with either soldiers, hardware, or both. its loss will hamper russia's ability to supply troops further north, as well as further weaken its naval dominance in the black sea. what attacks like these have yet to do is apply enough pressure on moscow for it to surrender ukrainian territory it has taken. but for ukraine, for president zelensky, it is a welcome announcement against a backdrop of waning western support. it's already affecting ukraine's frontline operations. and that's helping russia, with the capture of mariinka in the east. moscow calls the devouring of this town liberation. translation: the main focus was to disrupt - the ukrainian counteroffensive which was announced by ukraine and its nato allies. this task has been successfully completed. ukraine has only been able to liberate a few kilometres of its territory, and the head of its armed forces gave a sobering forecast for next year.

translation: we're doing everything we can. - unfortunately, the enemy is not far behind us. you can see what is happening, especially recently. we're having powerful confrontations using various technologies. in feodosia, fragments of the ship were scattered for hundreds of metres. strikes like this have chipped away at russia's control. but their impact isn't always realised immediately. the problem for ukraine is time is not its friend. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. live now to colonel brendan kearney, retired us marine after 31 years in the marine corps. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. firstly, if i could ask you, how significant is this strike on this russian ship? i is this strike on this russian shi - ? ~ , , ship? i think it is very significant. _ ship? i think it is very significant. what - ship? i think it is very significant. what this| ship? i think it is very - significant. what this does to the russian navy, to the black

sea fleet, is, again, they are becoming the victims of really innovative use of the ukrainian military. in this particular case, it has been reported he was an air strike with missiles launched from aircraft against a ship in an otherwise protected port. and the ships are critical to the russians ability to resupply or to move troops completely unhindered throughout crimea, and possibly out of crimea, if it ever came down to that, so this is a big deal. ~ . . ., ., , . deal. according to uk defence minister, 20x. _ deal. according to uk defence minister, 2096 of— deal. according to uk defence minister, 2096 of russian - deal. according to uk defence | minister, 2096 of russian black minister, 20% of russian black sea fleet has been destroyed in the last four months, so in your view of order russian capabilities in the black sea now? and i guess when ukraine does not have its fleet, how has it been so successful in its c operations? to has it been so successful in its c operations?— has it been so successful in its c operations? to the last art of its c operations? to the last part of your _ its c operations? to the last part of your question, - its c operations? to the last part of your question, of - part of your question, of course, you're right. there is

no ukrainian fleet, so what they have been able do is provide intelligence and i think possibly some insider information from ukrainian sympathisers in crimea and also possibly russians that are allowing them to go ahead and pick and choose a time and place where they can go ahead and attack these ships. now, 20% degradation of a fleet may sound like a lot, those numbers, i believe, are extremely accurate because you can see all of these vessels with satellite imagery, both commercial and military in classified intelligence systems because of those numbers are probably very accurate, but it really does the real impact is on the logistics capability, the russians have, that comes with these types of as vessels, particular type of vessel. the submarines, the anti—submarine warfare type ships the black sea fleet has or of limited use

to them. these logistics vessels are of extreme significance to russia, and here they have just lost another one. here they have “ust lost another one._ here they have “ust lost another one. �* . another one. kernel brendan kearney. _ another one. kernel brendan kearney, thank _ another one. kernel brendan kearney, thank you - another one. kernel brendan kearney, thank you so - another one. kernel brendan kearney, thank you so much| another one. kernel brendan i kearney, thank you so much for joining us on newsday today. thank you. == joining us on newsday today. thank vom— joining us on newsday today. thank ou. ., ., �* ., thank you. -- colonel brendan kearney- _ israel's military chief has warned that the war in gaza will last "many more months". the hamas—run health ministry says almost 21,000 people have been killed in gaza since the conflict began. there are again fears that the conflict could spread across the region. the us says it's carried out what it calls "necessary and proportionate" air strikes against pro—iranian militias based in iraq, which they say were in response to attacks on american bases in the region. but the government in iraq condemned the strikes as an "unacceptable attack on iraqi sovereignty". 0ur correspondent shaimaa khalil is injerusalem. "0ur things are gone, mum," she says, standing in what used to be her home.

israel's bombing of rafah in southern gaza has continued, leaving those who fled there at a loss of where to go. translation: israel claimed j that there are safe residential areas or secure zones. but this attack shows that that's a lie. israel's military operation has intensified in khan younis, also in the south. little amal was home with her family. the bomb hit them and killed her uncle. "we were sleeping, then i heard a big bang," she said. "rocks fell on us. "all our windows were shattered." amal�*s baby sister is three days old. baby mariam is bearing the brunt of the conflict she was born into. "the war in gaza will last for months," said the head of the israeli military, herzi halevi, vowing to reach the hamas leadership. translation: there are

no magic solutions. - there are no short cuts in dismantling a terrorist organisation, only determined and persistent fighting. and we are very, very determined. but this stance has only deepened the frustration among the hostage families. in tel aviv, many have gathered once again saying they want their relatives out of gaza, alive. 0fir wienberg's cousin is still in captivity. this fight could take too long, and they need to look at other options, other leverages. it could go on and on. and the military pressure will continue. but we see they don't have any results. the fallout from the war has already been felt outside its borders. hezbollah operatives were targeted by the us in iraq. the pentagon said that the us forces carried out strikes

against what it called iran sponsored militias in response to an attack on the erbil airbase. as the military operation deepens, other fronts grow more tense, in already volatile areas of the region. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, tel aviv. palestinian president mahmoud abbas has called for a full ceasefire and the opening of a humanitarian corridor. he's given his first interview since the beginning of the war in gaza to an egyptian tv channel. he's accused israel of trying to push palestinians into egypt's sinai. israel hasn't responded to his interview yet. translation: what's happening in the palestinian territories - is far beyond than a disaster and far more than a genocide. the palestinians have never seen anything like this. even during the nakba catastrophe in 1948, what's happening today

is far worse. a huge crime is being committed against the palestinians over the past 79 days, notjust in gaza but also in the west bank and jerusalem. unfortunately, whenever the international community, the un security council and general assembly try to stop the war, the us disrupts these attempts by using its veto and refusing to bring fighting to a halt. it's notjust marytrs and people wounded in gaza, everything has been wiped out — houses, mosques, institutions, schools, everything. you can't recognise gaza any more. 0ur middle east correspondent sally nabil is in washington and has more on what mr abbas has been saying. he actually blamed the us for a lot of what's happening because he clearly said that

if the us wants to bring the assault — the israeli assault on gaza — to a halt, it can. it's the only country that can pressure israel. he also referred to the veto the us has used lately to disrupt a un resolution calling for a ceasefire. and as you've heard, he said that what happened is far beyond a genocide or a disaster, it's far worse, and that gaza at the moment is unrecognisable. he also spoke about the ability of the palestinian authorities to run gaza after the war. but that's a very controversial issue given the huge lack of trust, or at least the huge differences, between hamas and the palestinian authorities. will the people in gaza accept the palestinian authority to take control? that's highly unlikely. so that's a big issue at the moment. he also talked about israeli efforts to push the palestinians into

the egyptian sinai peninsula, and that has been one of the main concerns of the egyptian officials. and they said if that is to happen, that would undermine the palestinian cause and they are not going to allow it. and for that, mr abbas has thanked them. he is being criticised by the israelis for supporting terrorism like hamas. and he said that he cannot but condemn the targeting of civilians in gaza, and he cannotjustify that, and he says that the argument of israel's right to defend itself is even illogical to him. and he said that the international community has been trying to bring the hostilities to a halt, but it is the us that have been impeding these efforts to bear fruit at the very end. sally nabil reporting there. russian opposition figure alexei navalny has confirmed he's been transferred to an arctic prison. on his account on x,

formerly twitter, the posts say he's in good spirits. considered vladimir putin's most vocal opponent, navalny has been imprisoned since 2021. the russian dissident has told supporters not to worry about him, insisting he's relieved to have reached the siberian penal colony. but his chief of staff, leonid volkov, told the bbc concern for mr navalny remained high. we are worried. we don't forget for a second that he is in the custody of the very people who tried to kill him 3.5 years ago and that he is putin's very personal political prisoner. and this journey, this forced journey, is yet another proof. so, of course, we are worried. and the only protection, if any, that still exists for alexei navalny is the spotlight of publicity. putin has to be reminded that the world cares about navalny and that he can't just hide him or kill

him or whatever. this is very important for us. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's now look at some other stories making news in the uk. the labour party is considering processing some asylum claims overseas if it forms the next government. the party believes the government's rhonda schemes unworkable, but ministers have been discussing what asylum claims could be processed before they attempt to come to the uk -- before they attempt to come to the uk —— rwanda scheme is unworkable. vitamin d deficiency, depression and diabetes are among a number of health issues that increase the risk of young—onset dementia — that's according to a major new study. the condition — which affects around 70,000 people in the uk — is when symptoms of dementia develop before the age of 65. the study challenges the notion that genetics are the sole cause.

thames water has apologised after several homes in surrey were left without water today. areas near guildford and godalming were the worst affected. the company said most properties have now had their water supply retored. the chancellor and local mp, jeremy hunt, said he was "beside himself with frustration". the australian chef bill granger, the godfather of avocado toast, has died at the age of 54. he was a self—taught cook who became a celebrated restaura nteur and food writer. his family said he died in a london hospital on christmas day. they said he will be remembered as the king of breakfast to made "unpretentious food into something special". post—christmas sales may be getting into full swing today, but research suggests shoppers

will spend less than they did last year. major retailers such as m&s remained closed. so, with pre—christmas events such as black friday — and the availability of early discounts online — are the boxing day sales the major event they once were? theo leggett went to kingston upon thames to find out. christmas may be over, but now it's time for the sales. everything is reduced up to 50%. here in kingston upon thames, the mood today was cheerful as curious shoppers sought out the best bargains. and across the country, it was a similar story. it's the first time in a long time that we've come out on boxing day shopping. we normally do it online. we were holding out for boxing day sales because we always come without the kids and it's time for us. i just like the atmosphere because it brings a lot of people out and it's the atmosphere and the busyness of being in the city i love. that's what i like, the experience of that. we're hoping to buy a few things in the sales.

the shops are so busy we can hardly get in, to be honest with you. i thought it was going to be more sales, more stuff, but it's less. so i'm kind of a bit disappointed. it'sjust tradition, isn't it? yeah. ever since i was a kid, my dad would bring me out, going around the shops. boxing day itself used to be a huge sales event, but discount extravaganzas such as black friday have robbed it of some of its impact. marks and spencer, next and john lewis all chose to remain closed today. yet boxing day is just the start. there's still plenty of time for people to think about going shopping before new year. retailers need shoppers to come out in force this week. it's a vital time of yearfor them. but the big question is, with the cost of living still high and bills to pay, do consumers still have enough money to spend? early indications suggest that while shoppers did splash out more in the run up to christmas than they did last year, trading was far from spectacular. there'll definitely be a temptation for people to buy post—christmas, but unfortunately we've just got a lot less money to spend.

the cost of living crisis had a big impact on how much we spent over the christmas period and could well do for the sales as well. research from voucher codes suggests will spend more than £14 billion in the shops and online between christmas and the new year, but that's still well down on 2022. for retailers, the next few days will be crucial. boxing day itself may not be what it once was, but the sales as a whole still really matter. what happens this week could lead retailers into a difficult winter, or set them on track for a prosperous new year. theo leggett, bbc news. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. chinese president xijinping has said taiwan will "surely be reunited" with mainland china as he paid tribute to chairman mao zedong, whose birth 130 years ago was celebrated in the country. china views democratically—governed taiwan as its own territory, despite the objections of the government in taipei. voters in taiwan will

elect its new leader injust over two weeks. us military forces shot down more than a dozen drones and several missiles fired by yemen—based houthi rebels at shipping in the red sea, according to the pentagon. there have been a flurry of attacks by the iranian—backed rebel group, who've declared their backing for hamas in its war with israel. they say they're targeting vessels linked to israel. several of the world's top shipping firms have stopped transiting through the red sea. argentina's new president, javier milei, has signed a decree cancelling the contracts of 7,000 public sector workers. mr milei has also indicated that 45,000 other government workers on long—term contracts may be dismissed. the measures are part of mr milei's efforts to bring down inflation, which is rampant in argentina. his programme is centred on cutting government spending, pegging the local currency to the us dollar and deregulating the economy. a major us airline has apologised after mistakenly

putting a six—year—old boy travelling alone for the first time on the wrong flight. jon donnison has the story. for six—year—old casper, this christmas wasn't so much home alone as flown alone. he was meant to be travelling unaccompanied from philadelphia to fort myers to meet up with his grandma. but a mix—up at check—in meant he somehow ended up on a plane to orlando. they told me, "no, he's not on this flight. "he missed his flight." isaid, "no, he could not miss his flight because "i have the check—in tag." iran inside the plane to the flight attendant and i asked, "where's my grandson? "he was handed over to you at philadelphia." she said, "no, i have no kids with me." in a statement, spirit airlines apologised and said... how did that happen? did he get him out

of the plane? did the flight attendant, after mom handed him the paperwork, did she let him go by himself and hejumped on the wrong plane by himself? for now, though, after a worrying few hours, casper has been reunited with his grandma. jon donnison, bbc news. a happy ending, at least! artificial intelligence was one of the most keenly discussed topics in 2023, with chatgpt bursting into the public�*s consciousness, highlighting the power of ai. so what should we expect from this space in 2024? and what is being done to address concerns over the safety of ai and how it is regulated? well, for more on all of this, we can speak with hamish macalister, the ceo and co—founder of transparently.ai. he joins us from singapore. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. it has been a

very exciting year for al, but we also started hearing about concerns over misinformation and also regulations, so what is your outlook for the ai for the new year? will it become a bigger part of our daily lives? look, absolutely, you are completely right, the notion of ai has very much entered the consumer and business consciousness. ironically the aspect of ai that is capture the publics imagination actually only represented taint fraction of what is really happening in the ai machine —— a tiny fraction. the large language models. which is used in your introduction have suddenly burst onto the scene. there is actually considerable scepticism amongst many regarding the benefits and applications of ai, so we would expect the next 18—24 months, we will ceasing to be a change there. the notion of ai will be more accepted, here to stay, can bring significant benefits, has a of applications and will become embedded in more aspects

of our lives, so the consequence of that is the businesses are going to come under ever greater pressure to try and understand and incorporate the developments. that is going to be a race. at the same time, and you alluded to this, there will be concerns over its use of it, potentially biases, inequalities. that is going to create bigger pressure regulation, but we have to acknowledge already the reality is al systems are a part of our daily lives, wejust is al systems are a part of our daily lives, we just don't notice. in our phones, searching online, etc, and that is the key. these systems working at their best will make our lives better in some way, shape orform, we only our lives better in some way, shape or form, we only noticed them when they don't actually work well. them when they don't actually work well-— work well. hey mitch, your company — work well. hey mitch, your company uses _ work well. hey mitch, your company uses ai _ work well. hey mitch, your company uses al to - work well. hey mitch, your company uses al to detect| company uses al to detect accounting fraud, which sounds amazing, but at the same time another concern many people haveis another concern many people have is al in production and upskilling all ourjobs —— upskilling all our jobs —— hamish. upskilling all our 'obs -- hamiskfi upskilling all our 'obs -- hamish. , . . ~ ~ , hamish. jack miller, there is deafness _ hamish. jack miller, there is deafness valid _ hamish. jack miller, there is deafness valid concerns, - hamish. jack miller, there isj deafness valid concerns, and some less valid concerns about

job risks —— yeah, there are definitely some valid concerns. there are disruptions as a result of a new technology but also benefits as a result. 0n the job front, there are applications of ai that have negative implications for some types ofjobs, especially ones that involve lots of repetition, the entry, certain customer service roles, but there also applications that can enhance worker productivity without threatening jobs. you alluded to what my company does, which is forensic accounting, we reduce the amount of time forensic accountants spent analysing a company's balance sheets to seconds, from weeks or months previously. does that mean the account loses theirjob? no, account loses their job? no, what account loses theirjob? no, what it means a vacant endless hundreds of companies are arguably thousands in the same amount of time used to take them to studyjust one. —— it means they can evaluate. them to studyjust one. -- it means they can evaluate. hamish macalister, _

means they can evaluate. hamish macalister, founder _ means they can evaluate. hamish macalister, founder of _ macalister, founder of transparently.ai, macalister, founder of tra nsparently.ai, thank macalister, founder of transparently.ai, thank you for joining us. lots more on our website on all the stories we brought you hear on newsday. to check that out. and of course we will be back with the latest edition of newsday next hour, so do stay with us if you can. hello. for most of us, boxing day turned into a pretty decent day. we had some spells of sunshine. certainly, it was a fine day to get out and about. the same does not apply to the day ahead. wednesday's weather dominated by storm gerrit, bringing a combination of rain, snow and gales with a very real risk of disruption. this is our storm system, this vast shield of cloud on the earlier satellite picture just enveloping the uk. outbreaks of very heavy rain driving northwards and eastwards, some really strong winds.

notice all the isobars on this chart. and with the wet weather running into cold air, briefly a bit of snow mixing in over higher ground in northern england, southern scotland, but in the highlands, we could well see 15 centimetres of snow or more accumulating over the highest ground — blizzard conditions when we combine that snow with the very, very strong winds. in fact, it is going to be a windy day for just about all of us. some very heavy rain affecting parts of england and wales — 90 millimetres possible for hills of wales, north—west england. lots of hefty downpours, too, in northern ireland. a windy day for all of us, gales in places. we could see gusts of 70 to possibly 80 miles per hour developing in the north—east of scotland. temperatures north to south, 5 to 13 degrees. and then through wednesday night, well, actually, if anything, the winds will strengthen further around parts of wales, south—west england. also extremely windy weather across the northern isles. we'll see snow and blizzard conditions for some in shetland. lots of showers elsewhere, blowing through on those very strong winds.

as a result of the strength of the wind, it's not going to be a particularly cold night. and then into thursday, it stays blustery, the winds only slowly easing. i think we'll continue to see gales in places, particularly around some western coasts. lots of showers, some of which could be heavy, possibly thundery. wintry showers over high ground in the northern half of scotland especially. and those temperatures, 6 degrees there in aberdeen, perhaps 13 as the high in london. and then as we head towards the end of the week, we will see further weather systems working from west to east, further outbreaks of rain. this one at the start of the weekend could be particularly potent. and with cold air being pulled down from the north, expect something wintry to mix in from time to time, so it's a really unsettled outlook as we head through the rest of 2023.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour straight after this.

history is thankfully and finally beginning to accord a rightful place to those men and women of the windrush generation. you look beautiful. how are you? it is, i believe, crucially important that we should truly see and hear these pioneers who stepped off the empire windrush at tilbury injune 1948, only a few months before i was born, and those who followed over the decades, to recognise and celebrate the immeasurable difference that they, their children and their grandchildren have made to this country. many served with distinction

in the british armed forces