the uk could see driverless cars within three years. hello, i'm christian fraser. israel says it is expanding its ground offensive in the centre of gaza, having struck the underground headquarters of hamas in the territory's north. hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by the uk and us. gaza's health ministry, which is run by hamas, says more than 21,000 people have been killed in gaza since the seventh of october. israeli military operations are now focussed on the centre of the gaza strip, where the local hospital is overwhelmed with casualities. the world health organization has described the scenes there as a "bloodbath." and in the occupied west bank, tensions have been rising, with more than 300 palestinians killed by israeli forces and settlers. the palestinian health ministry there says six people were killed in an israeli drone strike.

0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell reports. 0n the move again. palestinian families now desperately fleeing much of central gaza, as israel's ground offensive expands into a new part of the besieged territory. "me and my kids, everyone is evacuating," says this woman. "already my niece was killed." casualties fill even the floor of the nearby hospital. the world health organization describing the scenes here as a "bloodbath". and this as israel's army is warning that the war will continue for many more months, as it insists it will find hamas leaders who masterminded the deadly 7th of october attacks. a government spokesman says israel's aims are clear. we can't destroy hamas's ideology, unfortunately, that is not realistic. but we can remove them from power. we can prevent them from having control over this territorial enclave. and that will do a lot to save lives and prevent future conflict in the region. with the number of palestinians

killed now in excess of 20,000, according to local health officials, this is one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history. in rafah yesterday, it was a bulldozer that unceremoniously buried the dead. and there is the constant danger of this war spreading. we've seen more attacks by iran—backed groups across the middle east in recent days. and there has been more violence, too, in the occupied west bank. today, this was an israeli strike which killed at least six palestinians in the west bank. israel's military says they were armed terrorists. locals deny it. it comes after the palestinian president, a political rival of hamas, warned the area could implode. translation: what is happening in the palestinian territories - is a disaster and far more than a genocide. the palestinians have never seen anything like this.

even during the nakba catastrophe in 1948. what is happening today is far worse. meanwhile, this was a missile being fired at northern israel by hezbollah in lebanon. and israel's military says it shot down this drone, sent by houthi rebels in yemen over the red sea. the fighting now extends across multiple fronts. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. let me show you the live picture that we have been watching looking south from the israeli side towards the gaza border. you can see there are black plume of smoke that is drifting over the horizon. no letup in the bombardment today. the palestinian red crescent saying around 250 people have been killed. those figures confirmed by the hamas run health ministry in gaza. that is in the last 2a hours. that will really put the focus on a visit next week, we have had news in the last hour that the us secretary of state antony blinken will be in the region in the first week of the new year to

discuss the war. he is due to visit israel, jordan, the united arab emirates, saudi arabia and qatar. live now to mustafa barghouti, a palestinian politician and leader of the palestinian national initiative. good of you to give us some time again. can i start with the comments that we have had overnight, the interview that he gave to egyptian television. he talks about an annihilation of the palestinian people in gaza. is that something that you would echo?— people in gaza. is that something that you would echo? absolutely. he is absolutely — that you would echo? absolutely. he is absolutely right _ that you would echo? absolutely. he is absolutely right on _ that you would echo? absolutely. he is absolutely right on this _ that you would echo? absolutely. he is absolutely right on this issue - is absolutely right on this issue because what we face here is an act of war crimes, not only genocide but also collective punishment and an act of ethnic cleansing. where 90% of the palestinian people were forced to leave their homes and where 75% of their homes were destroyed. what we see is... and i

think the israeli cabinet are war criminals and what they are doing should not be allowed by the international community. they have been trying to dehumanise all palestinians and force all ethnic cleansing of palestinians to egypt. they want to kill all palestinians. he says it's as bad if not worse than the mass displacement and dispossession of palestinians in the i948 arab—israeli war. that is quite a bar that he is talking about there. it is the great catastrophe for palestinians. are you saying it is worse than that? in for palestinians. are you saying it is worse than that?— is worse than that? in terms of intensity and — is worse than that? in terms of intensity and the _ is worse than that? in terms of intensity and the number of. is worse than that? in terms of - intensity and the number of people killed in the short period of time, for sure. we have to remember that 70% of the population of gaza have already been ethnically cleansed in 1948 by israel, when israel razed to

the ground palestinian communities. and when they committed 50 massacres. but none of the massacres committed in 1948 are equal to some of the massacres that are committed now in gaza. every spot in gaza is now in gaza. every spot in gaza is now in gaza. every spot in gaza is now in danger, there is no safe space. israel has forced the population down to the south and now they are bombarding them in the south. there is no safe place for anybody and most of the people killed our women and children. we are talking about at least 8500 palestinian kill two children killed. and you would be talking about almost 12,000 children killed in less than 70 days, if we count the ones under the rubble. can in less than 70 days, if we count the ones under the rubble.- the ones under the rubble. can i talk about _ the ones under the rubble. can i talk about the _ the ones under the rubble. can i talk about the visit _ the ones under the rubble. can i talk about the visit of _ the ones under the rubble. can i talk about the visit of secretary of state antony blinken next week. benjamin netanyahu and his senior

commanders as suggested that this war may intensify for months. if there are weeks and weeks of this to run, what then becomes of gaza and is the palestinian authority prepared to engage with the americans if that is the timetable? well, israeland americans if that is the timetable? well, israel and netanyahu in particular who tries to extend this war forever so that he won't lose his position as prime minister and go to jail, is trying his best to expand the war. in my opinion, he would not have to do so if countries like the united states of america and united kingdom haven't allowed him to be above international law and have this total impunity. he declared very clearly that he is there to prevent the creation of an independent palestinian state. he is there to consolidate occupation and he said that his goal is to really ethnically cleanse palestinians out of gaza and maybe turn to the west bank and do the same. i don't

understand why the united states of america continues to veto every resolution about having a complete and permanent ceasefire, to save the lives not only of coloured indians but also israelis. but they continue to do so. although 153 countries of the world are voting for a ceasefire and although the majority of the people on the security council do the same, the united states has become a participant, are complicit and maybe a participant in the war crimes that are happening here because they are silent about all these atrocities that are committed against the palestinian civilian population. against the palestinian civilian p°pulati°"-_ against the palestinian civilian --oulation. ., ~ , . ., population. thank you very much for our population. thank you very much for your thoughts _ population. thank you very much for your thoughts this _ population. thank you very much for your thoughts this afternoon. - for more, let's speak to nebal farsakh, spokesperson for the palestinian red crescent society thank you for being with us on the programme. the hospital is really the last functioning hospital in gaza but the bombardment and the firing is getting ever closer. what happens if that hospital shuts down?

unfortunately, already the situation in the area of gaza city and the north is just beyond the catastrophe. in the area of north gaza has even been left without any medical services, since all hospitals went completely out of service. and people now are lacking medical care while there is at least 800,000 palestinians living in the area of gaza city and the north and we have received dozens of phone calls from these people who are in urgent need for medical care and unfortunately they don't even have any medicines or nothing. we have calls from people, elderly people even, people with chronic diseases, you don't have their basic medicines as well. the situation is just catastrophic, even with the last few days we had to shut down our

emergency medical centres after the israeli army raided our ambulance centre. however, we are still managing to provide medical services through a medical point we have set “p through a medical point we have set up in the north of gaza, trying to continue providing our medical services to the people who are in desperate need of it. unfortunately, the situation is just getting worse and the humanitarian situation, i mean the humanitarian suffering in gazais mean the humanitarian suffering in gaza isjust mean the humanitarian suffering in gaza is just unprecedented. mean the humanitarian suffering in gaza isjust unprecedented. can mean the humanitarian suffering in gaza is just unprecedented. can i gaza is 'ust unprecedented. can i ask gaza isjust unprecedented. can i ask ou gaza isjust unprecedented. can i ask you then. _ gaza isjust unprecedented. can i ask you then, the _ gaza isjust unprecedented. can i ask you then, the un _ ask you then, the un secretary—general appointed the dutch finance minister, the deputy prime minister yesterday. she is going to become the senior humanitarian reconstruction coordinator for gaza, so humanitarian reconstruction coordinatorfor gaza, so it is humanitarian reconstruction coordinator for gaza, so it is a crucial role less. she takes over next week. she is going to oversee the aid that is going into gaza. if you are going to be speaking to people like her, what is the priority? what do you need from her

to make this work in very, very difficult circumstances?- to make this work in very, very difficult circumstances? soap first hour call is _ difficult circumstances? soap first hour call is for _ difficult circumstances? soap first hour call is for her— difficult circumstances? soap first hour call is for her and _ difficult circumstances? soap first hour call is for her and the - hour call is for her and the international community to put pressure on israel to stop this continuous war and have a ceasefire immediately. and then to allow more humanitarian aid to get into gaza because since the beginning of the escalation and up to this moment what we have received doesn't even scratch the surface. it will barely fulfil 10% of the needs. we need more humanitarian aid to be in and most importantly, as humanitarians, we need safe access. we need safe access so we can deliver our emergency medical services to people who are in desperate need of it and we need this to be safe so that we can also deliver the aid to the people who are in need of it. the entire population now are starving

and have no access to food, water or even shelter and there is no safe place to go to. even shelter and there is no safe place to go to-— even shelter and there is no safe place to go to. sorry to shut blue ut ou place to go to. sorry to shut blue put you short _ place to go to. sorry to shut blue put you short but _ place to go to. sorry to shut blue put you short but thank - place to go to. sorry to shut blue put you short but thank you for i place to go to. sorry to shut blue i put you short but thank you for your thoughts this afternoon. —— sorry to cut you short. drivers and their passengers in the uk are being warned to expect post—christmas travel disruption today as storm gerrit moves in. strong winds and heavy rain are already affecting much of the country — six flood warnings are in place at the moment. a yellow weather warning for snow has been issued for parts of scotland. 0ur north of england correspondent fiona trott has more on storm gerrit from lancaster. there's a yellow warning for rain here today in this part of the world. flooding is likely on some roads and there is also a yellow warning for wind, too. so motorists are being told to slow down here on places like the m6, and particularly problems there for high—sided vehicles. let me give you an idea of what's happening across the uk. the met office is explaining that the worst—affected areas at the moment are parts of scotland,

central and eastern parts of scotland, where we have snow and rain. rain in north—west england, like here in lancashire, and rain and wind across most of wales. let me show you what eastbourne and east sussex looked like earlier today. that's because the met office is saying there that in southern england, winds across coastal areas like that could be peaking at up to 70 mph today. and there are 13 flood warnings in place across england, scotland and wales. now, as for transport disruption, because of the weather i was telling you about in scotland, most of the roads there are worst affected, mainly due to fallen trees. in dundee though, strong winds are causing a problem. the a92 is closed to high—sided vehicles there, and in wales the m48 severn bridge crossing is also closed due to high winds. now, on the trains, we are being told that the storm is affecting scotrail services until about nine o'clock tomorrow morning, again because of things like fallen trees,

and there will be isolated flooding there as well. glasgow and edinburgh and glasgow and airdrie are the areas worst affected there. and flooding has affected rail services in wales, and between leeds and here in north west england. now of course with the rain and wind, we have got problems with power outages as well and what we are hearing from electricity north west is that it has more engineers on standby prepared for any power cuts in the coming hours, and the energy network association has just this second told us that at lunchtime today, around 8,600 homes were without power as a result of storm gerrit. that storm due to move to the north—east later today. if you are travelling today, do check your roots. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news.

rail passengers are experiencing major disruption to theirjourneys because of planned engineering works being carried out at london st pancras. east midlands railway have cancelled all services towards luton airport because of a signalling issue. the midland main line from st albans has also been hit by similar problems. network rail has apologised for the delays. the chancellorjeremy hunt will unveil his spring budget on march 6, in what could be his last chance to introduce tax changes before a general election. the conservative party has been hinting it could make pledges on housing and taxes, as rishi sunak struggles to turn around his party's major deficit in the polls. metropolitan police officers have arrested a 16—year old boy on suspicion of arson after a fire at a school in west london. ten fire engines and about 70 firefighters were called to the selective catholic school on seagrave road in fulham this morning. the blaze at the london 0ratory school is now under control. you're live with bbc news.

sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's adam. let's begin with football, where manchester city's return to premier league action is one of three games to come on wednesday. city, of course, won the club world cup just before christmas and later play everton at goodison park as they look to close the gap at the top of the premier league table on leaders liverpool. they're currently eight points behind them with two games in hand. pep guardiola's side are the first english club to win five trophies in a calendar year, but the manager is still keen for them to try and emulate last season's success. the most difficult is arrive to play this tournament. 0nce the most difficult is arrive to play this tournament. once we are here we have to perform well and, yeah, really pleased. i had the feeling that we closed a chapter. we won already all the titles, some of them in a row. so there is nothing else to win. i had the feeling that the job is done, it is over, and tried to buy another book and start

writing again. because the book, the last eight years it is over. chelsea will look to bounce back from defeat at wolves on christmas eve when they take on struggling crystal palace at stamford bridge. wolves are away at brentford. mauricio pochettino admits his chelsea side are way below where he'd hoped to be. we wa nt we want to be on the top, even if no one believed but of course in the circumstances i think we are in a position where we are fighting for different things. yes, we are chelsea because of our history and everything, the demand is to be on the top but at the moment being realistic we need to increase in the way that we compete if we want to win more games. anti—discrimination charity kick it out say anyone found guilty of racially abusing luton town's carlton morris must

face "the strongest possible consequences." the luton striker complained about a comment made by the home crowd late on in the premier league match against sheffield united at bramall lane. luton boss rob edwards confirmed after his side's 3—2 win that the matter has been reported to the police. to cricket now. australia captain pat cummins took three wickets to shift momentum away from pakistan on day two of the second test in melbourne. elsewhere, south africa are currently 174—3 in response to india's first innings total of 2115 in their first test in centurion. and bangladesh have beaten new zealand by five wickets in their first t20 in napier. litton das' unbeaten 42 giving the visitors a 1—0 series lead with eight balls remaining. the second game takes place on friday. details of all those scorecards over on the bbc sport website. and finally for now, the detroit pistons broke an nba record — but not one they'll be proud of.

that's because they've now lost a record 27 games in a row, after being beaten by the brooklyn nets. that's the most consecutive defeats in a season, in league history. they haven't won since their first home game against chicago bulls on 28th october. we have got to stay together. right now it's the easiest time to stand off and be on your own but we need to continue to lean on each other and continue to push each other, hold each other accountable. and that's all the sport for now. the uk transport secretary has told the bbc that by 2026 there could be driverless cars on british motorways and other roads. mark harper also said by the end of that year he expected to see the owners of those vehicles being able to travel without having to watch where they're going.

for more, let's speak to erin baker, editorial lead at auto trader. getting customer acceptance for this is going to be one of the biggest hurdles, taking a rise of the row completely. do you think 2026 is feasible? i completely. do you think 2026 is feasible? ~ :: ~ , , feasible? i think 2026 is entirely feasible? i think 2026 is entirely feasible for _ feasible? i think 2026 is entirely feasible for trials _ feasible? i think 2026 is entirely feasible for trials of _ feasible? i think 2026 is entirely feasible for trials of these - feasible for trials of these vehicles on our roads and for understanding a bit more how they are used, how they are beneficial, are used, how they are beneficial, are they reading our road network correctly? are we experiencing unforeseen accidents with them? is the tech 0k? is 2026 feasible the mass adoption whereby anybody wants an autonomous car can buy one and useit? an autonomous car can buy one and use it? no, ithink an autonomous car can buy one and use it? no, i think that is too early. but in general it is good news the automotive vehicle bill, early this year, putting forward more resource, finance and putting more resource, finance and putting more into r&d around these areas. have you tried one of these cars? yes. and i like many others like the

lima out there, like many in this country where we are a nation of petrol heads, ifound country where we are a nation of petrol heads, i found a bit concerted. i travel from travel sickness and so i didn't like it that much. i don't think we will be like suddenly we can think brilliant we can give up driving, i don't think it'll be like that. we have huge congestion on our roads, we have omissions that we need to get down and autonomous vehicles are undoubtedly the way in which to start congestion, dialling down the kind of human error that is the cause of 88% of collisions out there. and lowering our emissions and air pollution. i there. and lowering our emissions and air pollution.— and air pollution. i have a long “ourne and air pollution. i have a long journey tonight. _ and air pollution. i have a long journey tonight. to _ and air pollution. i have a long journey tonight. to be - and air pollution. i have a long journey tonight. to be honest, and air pollution. i have a long l journey tonight. to be honest, i quite like to watch a film instead of driving the family but there we are! what about the software and the technology? does it still need to develop in order to deliver this by

2026? ., ~ ., , ., 2026? yeah, i think it does and i think most _ 2026? yeah, i think it does and i think most car— 2026? yeah, i think it does and i think most car experts _ 2026? yeah, i think it does and i think most car experts out - 2026? yeah, i think it does and i think most car experts out there | think most car experts out there would agree. if you speak to anyone actually who right now has a card that has got advanced driver aids in it, like lane keep assist which pulls you back into your lane if you go outside of the markings without indicating or anyone who has cruise control, that means that it breaks on excel rates for you, we all have an element of that technology, or a lot of us do, in our cars at the moment. those elements get a mixed reception as it is. people who have emergency braking sometimes finds the car misreads the roads and breaks were it's not expected to. so there are definitely wrinkles to iron out before this tech becomes foolproof. i5 iron out before this tech becomes foolroof. , ., , ., foolproof. is aligned entirely to the electric— foolproof. is aligned entirely to the electric car _ foolproof. is aligned entirely to the electric car market? - foolproof. is aligned entirely to the electric car market? i - foolproof. is aligned entirely to | the electric car market? i guess foolproof. is aligned entirely to i the electric car market? i guess it must be given a lot of their manufacturing is heading that way. no, there are plenty of internal combustion engine on the roads,

petrol and diesel cars, that have these advanced safety systems built into them and a lot of this stuff you can have with any sort of car, emergency braking, lane assistance and so on. but we are on the road to 2035, as the tories are stipulating, thatis 2035, as the tories are stipulating, that is when we have a cut—off of the sale of petrol and diesel cars so we'll have to go electric. in a senseit so we'll have to go electric. in a sense it is all aligned with electric because we are all on the road pure electrification and more driver assistance and a certain level of autonomy. i think the commercial fleet, level of autonomy. i think the commercialfleet, big fleets level of autonomy. i think the commercial fleet, big fleets of vans moving around the country delivering stuff for example, autonomous driving makes perfect sense. ijust think when it comes to private cars we might see a little bit of a difference in take—up. we might see a little bit of a difference in take-up. lovely to get our difference in take-up. lovely to get your thoughts _ difference in take-up. lovely to get your thoughts on _ difference in take-up. lovely to get your thoughts on that. _ difference in take-up. lovely to get your thoughts on that. thank - difference in take-up. lovely to get your thoughts on that. thank you . your thoughts on that. thank you very much. that is the future, 2026. let us know your thoughts on that, whether you would buy one of those are let go of the wheel.

police in pakistan have re—arrested a senior opposition leader as he was about to leave prison in the capital, islamabad. formerforeign minister shah mehmood qureshi, who's a close associate of the former prime minister imran khan, was to be freed on bail. videos posted by the pakistan tehreek—e—insaf party — or pti — show officers pushing mr qureshi into an armoured car. police said he was detained this year in connection with widespread violence. south korean police have confirmed that the star of the oscar—winning film �*parasite', actor lee sun—kyun, has been found dead in a car in the capital, seoul. police say they are trying to establish whether the star had taken his own life. lee had been questioned recently by police about alleged illicit drug use. here in the uk, people will soon be able to buy pint—sized bottles of still and sparkling wine — including champagne — from supermarkets, pubs, and restaurants. the new 568ml size will sit

alongside those already available, as part of a government drive to allow more choice for consumers. it will not apply to wine sold by the glass in pubs and restaurants. i say if you do metric, we all do metric! stay with us here on bbc news. hello there, compared to the fine, settled weather a boxing day today is looking pretty wild, all thanks to storm gerrit, which is bringing gales and heavy rain and significant hill snow across scotland, are likely to cause disruption for the rest of the day even as we head into tonight as well. here it is, dominating the weather seen across the uk. active weatherfronts, heavy

rain and bringing in frequent and heavy showers as we head into the overnight period. the rest of the day stays wet and blustery. by the end of the day we could see 90 millimetres of rain, severe gales developing across north—east scotland by will continue to see snow on the hills. gusts here in excess of 80 miles an hour. perhaps some late brightness at the end of the day towards western areas but most places will stay cloudy with outbreaks of rain. 0n the face of it, temperatures in the low teens but it won't feel like that when you add on the strength of the win. 0vernight it stays very windy, gales developing across western areas, longer spells of rain. severe gales across the north of scotland with rain and further blizzards too. the chillier night to come across the board with lengthier disguise across eastern areas. into thursday, not quite as windy across the north of scotland as what we will see today but another blustery day to come with gales certainly across england,

and parts of wales stop sunshine and blustery showers, sometimes heavy and merging to bring longer spells of rain. something chillier in scotland and northern ireland. friday, this area of low pressure brings another spell of gales and blustery showers and wintering us over the high ground. northern scotland and also the northern isles. cold air sinking southwards, it could turn this band of showery rain into something a bit wintry certainly over the hills, a few showers across north—west england. a chilly day to come across the board on friday. 0ver chilly day to come across the board on friday. over the weekend, the run up on friday. over the weekend, the run up to new year's eve, another deep area of low pressure bringing another spell of gales, heavy rain and hill snow across northern areas and hill snow across northern areas and that could affect new year's eve as well so stay tuned to the forecast.

now on bbc news, this cultural life : evelyn glennie.

hello and welcome to this cultural life, the radio 4 podcast in which we hear about the formative influences of leading creative figures. i'm john wilson and my guest is grammy—winning musician evelyn glennie, the world's leading solo percussionist. she became profoundly deaf as a child and was drawn to percussion because, as she says, she could feel the sound. we met in a radio studio in bbc broadcasting house. evelyn, welcome to this cultural life. thank you. you grew up in rural aberdeenshire. afarming family. was it also a musical household? my father could... he couldn't actually read music but he had a very good ear and he really liked traditional scottish music, and, for some reason, in those days even farms had a piano. most households had a piano, an upright piano, and we were no exception. and so he would just sit down

and play scottish traditional music.