to confront chinese aircraft. this is now happening every day. and: as the world's tallest wooden wind turbine starts turning, we look at how renewable energy just got greener. hello, welcome to the programme. there 5 growing concern about a widening of the conflict in the middle east after an intensification in fighting across the israel—lebanon border in recent days. a member of israel's war cabinet has warned that the military will take matters into its own hands if the lebanese government and the world don't stop cross border attacks by the hezbollah militant group. benny gantz said time for a diplomatic solution was running out. meanwhile, in gaza, thousands of palestinian families are trying to find shelter as israel broadens its ground offensive across the centre

and south of the territory. the hamas—run health ministry in gaza has says more than 21,100 people have been killed during 11 weeks of fighting. our middle east correspondent yolande knell has the latest from jerusalem. we've put this into perspective already. what we've had since the deadly 7th of october, attacks on southern israel by hamas. up at the other end of the country, across the northern border, we have seen the worst cross—border violence since the 2006 devastating war between israel and hezbollah. this powerful lebanese—armed group, which is backed by iran. and in the last couple of days, things have really intensified. yesterday saw the heaviest barrage of rockets, it appears, since this escalation began, more than 30 fired at northern israeli towns. nobody was injured. those rockets were intercepted

or landed in open areas. but this comes a day after israeli warplanes killed three people in southern lebanon, said to be hezbollah fighter and two of his relatives. and we have had really a large number of people killed in southern lebanon, something like 150 since the start of this escalation. most of them said to be fighters, but also other civilians. and on the israeli side, there have been at least nine soldiers killed and four civilians. so inevitably, the war in gaza has been taking most of the international attention. but there's been this warning now from senior israeli political figure benny gantz, who's a member of the war cabinet, but he's also a former israeli military chief of staff, saying to the lebanese government and to the international community that basically, if more isn't done to rein in hezbollah, to push it away from its positions close to the border, then israel will be forced to act, and that could lead to a bigger escalation.

yolande, i was asking richard kemp there about concerns relating to the civilian casualties in the gaza strip. and his response was really that president biden condemning what he had described as indiscriminate killing of civilians was really to appease his political supporters in the united states and wasn't really supported by his actions. would you agree with that? i would say that there is global, international, there's international concern about the civilians who are being killed, it now stands more than 21,100, according to the hamas run health ministry, most of them women and children. those images are very shocking that we see on a daily basis of bodies being pulled from the rubble, including the bodies of small children. those images go out around the arab world in particular, where events in gaza are really

being followed minute by minute, but also, of course, all around the world and cause so much horror. this is one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history that there has been. and so i think that is something that we know that many of israel's close allies have expressed concern about. one of the most recent calls from the french president, emmanuel macron, to israel's prime minister just yesterday. there's disruption on the roads and rails today after storm gerrit battered many parts of the uk — with scotland badly affected, and dozens of houses in greater manchester damaged by what the police are calling a localised tornado. engineers in the north of scotland are working to reconnect up to 16,000 properties which lost power, but some residents in remote areas may be cut off for 48 hours. aruna iyengar has the latest. storm gerrit swept across much of scotland, bringing heavy snow, flooding homes, causing power cuts and travel misery for many. the major a9 route has reopened after it closed

in the highlands for several hours. meanwhile, thousands of homes across scotland have suffered power cuts. scottish and southern electricity networks said they'd restored power to more than 25,000 homes — but at least 16,000 are still cut off. for some customers — especially those in rural areas — it could be up until friday before power supplies are reconnected. but it is far too early for us to say at the moment, with scottish and southern electricity continuing to cause damage to the power network. 0n the railways, lner — which runs services up the east coast from london to scotland — is warning of major disruption this morning, with some services arriving several hours late. this tree fell on the line at dumbarton, but has now been cleared. in bowling, the lines were flooded.

customers stranded by the disruption were told to book hotels, which they can claim back. the west coast has also been badly affected. avanti west coast said its route to scotland was impassable. it stopped services north of preston yesterday and put on coaches. this couple got stuck in preston after getting on a train at euston. supposed to go all the way through to glasgow, but unfortunately we're here. my granddaughter's birthday tomorrow, so i need to get up there. there was widespread flooding. this was cupar in fife. disruption continued in the north of england overnight, with trees and walls coming down in high winds here in stalybridge. police was describing it as a major incident under localised tornado. 0oh! air travel has been affected, too, with these american airlines passengers experiencing a particularly bumpy landing at heathrow.

0ther flights had to be cancelled. and the rnli is urging people visiting coastal areas to be careful along exposed cliffs, seafronts and piers. aruna iyengar, bbc news. the colorado republican party has asked the us supreme court to intervene after the state's top court disqualified former president donald trump from appearing on the state's republican primary ballot. the appeal comes after colorado's supreme court ruled that mr trump was not an eligible candidate because of his role in the january 6th attack on the us capitol by his supporters in 2021. trump is the frontrunner for the republican 2024 presidential nomination, and is expected to file his own appeal. this all comes as michigan's supreme court has rejected an attempt to remove donald trump from running for president in the state next year. the taiwanese government has accused china of mounting a huge misinformation campaign to try and influence the outcome of the island's presidential election in a little over two weeks�* time.

taiwan's ruling democratic progressive party is attempting to win an unprecedented third consecutive term. the party is disliked by beijing, which claims taiwan as its own. the dpp�*s presidential and vice—presidential candidates have both been banned from travelling to china or hong kong. from taiwan, rupert wingfield—hayes reports. it's 6am. and this fighter base on the coast of taiwan is already a hive of activity. 0n the mirage, 2000 fighter jets from taiwan's rapid reaction squadrons. theirjob to meet any incoming threat to taiwan's airspace. these taiwanese fighter jets being scrambled behind me here are heading out into the taiwan strait to confront chinese aircraft that are coming across the strait and probing taiwan's airspace. this is now happening multiple times every day. these pictures are from chinese television showing their fighter

jets and that down below is the coast of taiwan. just over the horizon, there is another game of cat and mouse. this man puts up a long antenna to eavesdrop on the radio traffic coming from china's navy. radio chatter that's the chinese navy talking to the taiwanese navy saying, "your territorial waters that you claim do not exist," that the people's republic of china is the only legitimate government of china, and that taiwan is an inseparable part of china. "they tell us that the taiwan strait is peaceful," he says. "then why are there chinese ships and aircraft harassing us all the time? how is that peaceful?" back in taipei, the former head of taiwan's armed forces says china's tactics are designed to intimidate the island's voters and send a warning to its allies.

i think the china is sending a very strong signal to the united states, even to japan. "this is our area, our territorial area. so i can do whatever i want." but also in the meantime, they can use this kind of aggression to make taiwanese people scared and make taiwanese people capitulate. as polling day approaches, there is little sign the intimidation is working. at this rally, supporters of the frontrunner to win taiwan's presidency told me they would rather fight than capitulate to beijing. i'm very worried, but i'm not afraid, because i will volunteer to be a soldier if they invade our beautiful country. someday, we may be at war or something else. i'm not afraid because i think i'm taiwanese. i need to protect my country.

0n the coast the jets are returning from yet another patrol. taiwan has fewer than 300 fighterjets. china, more than 2000. whoever wins, taiwan's presidential race will face a military balance, tipping ever more in china's favour. an international trial has found a new antibody treatment could cut the number of babies being admitted to hospitals with a common winter virus by more than 80%. at least 30,000 children under the age of five are treated in uk hospitals each year for infections caused by rsv — up to 30 die. immunisation experts will consider whether to roll out this jab and another for mothers. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh reports. lion! and this? polar bear! caolan's mum knows how worrying rsv can be. when he was eight months old, the virus gave him a serious chest

infection and temperature, and he struggled to breathe. caolan was admitted to hospital in southampton twice, and needed oxygen each time. it was very stressful, it brought a lot of anxiety, a lot of doubt — especially as a first—time mother. you're constantly questioning what to do, and i didn't really understand what rsv was or the symptoms. jessica and ellie from southampton are among 8,000 children who took part in an international trial of the antibody jab. the study showed that a one—off injection meant children were 83% less likely to be admitted to hospital with an rsv—related infection. jess got the antibodyjab, but they both remained healthy. and i hoped that, in the long term, if it was shown to be effective, that it would prevent families from their babies being ill, and lots of hospitalisations.

a paediatrician in southampton who helped lead the trial said the results were stunning, and could bring huge benefits for children and the nhs. every year, rsv has an absolutely huge impact on children's hospital services in the uk. so to have a drug that we can give as a preventative treatment — even during the rsv season — that can stop children being admitted, is really amazing. this antibody treatment gives children instant protection against one of winter's most common viruses. the jab — called nirsevimab — contains antibodies against rsv which fight infection. it's not a vaccine — they work by priming the immune system to create antibodies, but take a few weeks to be effective. thejcvi, which advises the government on immunisation, is considering whether the antibody jab, or an rsv vaccine for pregnant women, should be

introduced by the nhs. crocodile! caolan's parents are hoping their one—month—old rian could get the antibodyjab — but things will need to move fast if an immunisation programme is to be ready ahead of next winter's rsv season. fergus walsh, bbc news. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a 46—year—old man has died after a car hit a crowd of people outside a property in the burngreave area in sheffield. another person is also seriously injured. two men, aged 23 and 55, are being held by south yorkshire police — and the authorities are appealing for witnesses. more than 86,000 nhs appointments, including hospital check—ups and operations, had to be cancelled because of last week's junior doctor strike in england. 1500 community and mental health appointments were also affected.

next weekjunior doctors will take part in a six—day walk—out — the longest in the history of the nhs. uk sales of vinyl music albums increased by almost 12% this year , with sales returning to levels last seen in 1990. taylor swift's 1989 was the best—selling lp, followed by the rolling stones�* hackney diamonds. while the vast majority of recorded music is consumed via streaming, fans are choosing vinyl for its better sound quality and its collectible status. you're live with bbc news. we're used to seeing wind turbines made of steel — but sweden's electricity grid is now powered, in part, by the world's tallest turbine made of wood. it's built from thousands of pieces of spruce — held together by glue — and it's more than 100 metres tall. 0ur environment correspondent jonah fisher went for a look.

having brought us abba, meatballs, and flatpack furniture, from sweden comes another innovation thatjust might change the way we generate electricity. welcome to the world's tallest wind turbine tower made out of wood. almost all wind turbines are made of steel. but this one is notjust made of wood — but the pieces arejoined together... with adhesives. glue? yes. is it strong? is it as strong as steel? steel is great material, right? but steel is very heavy. and with this material, we can perform the same task, but with 30% less weight and with more than 100% less carbon emissions. we're the firstjournalists invited inside for a closer look. wind power is already one of the cheapest and cleanest ways to generate electricity. using wood could make it even greener.

if you stand there. stand there? yeah. i'm now 105 metres up at the very top of the tower. these blades are — like almost all wind turbines — made out of fibreglass. the generator that i'm standing on is primarily made of steel. but the company who's built the wooden tower say that, by making the tower out of wood, it's storing carbon dioxide. it's carbon negative. and it's that carbon dioxide that's warming our planet. but this isn't only about being greener. to reach stronger and more consistent winds, turbines need to get even taller. and that means bigger and wider turbine towers. getting those massive pieces of steel on site by road is already a major headache. and that's where wooden

towers just might come in. there's a huge amount of potential in this. that's because the towers are modular. at a factory in gothenburg, more than a hundred thin sheets of wood are glued together to make the wall sections. those modular pieces can then be more easily taken to the turbine site. making round steel tube is quite easy, but making steel modular towers — that's a challenge, really, because you have lots of bolts. we do not bolt our towers, or screw them together. we... we glue them together. right? and wood and glue is a perfect combination. so is it alljust a bit of a gimmick? well, maybe not. the project is being backed by vestas — the world's largest installer of wind power — and they told us that using wood could end up solving some of the industry's transport problems in a more environmentally sustainable way. jonah fisher, bbc news,

in gothenburg, in sweden. the labour party is reportedly drawing up plans to create thousands of new nursery places for children under five. the times newspaper says sir keir starmer is looking to create new nurseries in primary schools to provide continuity of education. with more on this let's speak to our political correspondent henry zeffman. what more can you tell is about these plans? we what more can you tell is about these plans?— what more can you tell is about these plans? what more can you tell is about these lans? ~ ., ~ ., ., these plans? we have known for some time that the — these plans? we have known for some time that the availability _ these plans? we have known for some time that the availability of— time that the availability of childcare and the cost of childcare are huge issues forfamilies childcare and the cost of childcare are huge issues for families across england and we have heard a lot recently about the cost of childcare, last yearjeremy hunt the chancellor announced an expansion of free childcare hours for parents. the labour party wants them to go further but that is a

well—established political debate. what there has been a bit less of is debate about the availability of childcare provision. but actually in the last eight years there are 20,000 fewer registered childcare providers in england than there were eight years ago. that is something the labour party is now looking to address and one possible answer they are considering is incentivising primary schools to set up their own nurseries so you would have a continuity of education for a child right from the start of their nursery years all the way through to the end of primary school. that they hope would provide both wraparound care but also address some of those issues particularly of less affluent parts of england where there really is just not a lot of childcare available. isjust not a lot of childcare available-— isjust not a lot of childcare available. �* ., , ., , , available. and a secondary benefit would be that _ available. and a secondary benefit would be that parents _ available. and a secondary benefit would be that parents would - available. and a secondary benefit would be that parents would be i available. and a secondary benefit l would be that parents would be able to go out to work. that would be that parents would be able to go out to work.— to go out to work. that is absolutely _ to go out to work. that is absolutely right - to go out to work. that is absolutely right and - to go out to work. that is absolutely right and that l to go out to work. that is l absolutely right and that is to go out to work. that is - absolutely right and that is one of the reasons that i think both parties, the labour party has made a particular thing, are so keen to

talk about childcare and solve the problems of childcare because ultimately it does notjust about getting care for young child but also about benefiting the economy more generally by having parents able to work the hours they wish as flexibly as they might want. that is the potentially one criticism that i have already seen of the possibility of using primary schools to fill the gap, which is that they would have to adapt their hours because of the moment obviously a primary school is open from about eight in the morning to about 330 in the offering, perhaps that is the standard school day but it does not necessarily when a parent might be working. they might want longer childcare as you would get in a dedicated care setting. those are some of the kinks that might have to be worked out of the labour party does proceed with this planet. we the labour party does proceed with this lanet. ~ ., the labour party does proceed with this lanet. . ., ~ ., the labour party does proceed with this lanet. ~ ., ~ ., , , this planet. we also know because we have heard from _ this planet. we also know because we have heard from the _ this planet. we also know because we have heard from the finance - this planet. we also know because we have heard from the finance minister| have heard from the finance minister jeremy hunt that he will be presenting the spring budget on march the 6th. this of course lies the grant, as last chance before the

general election is it not? that the grant, as last chance before the general election is it not?— general election is it not? that is ri . ht. a general election is it not? that is right. a general— general election is it not? that is right. a general election - general election is it not? that is right. a general election could i right. a general election could possibly take place injanuary right. a general election could possibly take place in january 2025 but it is all but certain to take place at some point in 202a. that means the budget in march on march the 6th the government announced it would take place yesterday is going to be a huge political event as well as a physical event because it is the last opportunity almost certainly forjeremy hunt and rishi sunak more generally because of course he will be taking a bd look at this budget to make tax adaptations and tax cuts most likely designed to win votes. so i think we will be hearing a lot of speculation from very soon about what will be in it. ., ~ from very soon about what will be in it. . ~ , ., the gunman who killed 1a people at a university in prague confessed to an earlier double murder in his suicide note, czech police have said. the note found in david kozak�*s home contained a confession he had shot dead a man and his baby daughter

in woods near the city on the 15th of december — six days before the charles university attack. newly released government papers here in the uk show how the former prime minister tony blair was keen on an idea to relocate wimbledon football club — who at the time were playing in the english premier league — to belfast. they would have been renamed belfast united. 0ur correspondent mark simpson reports. a brand—new sports stadium in belfast, with a premier league football team. that was the plan 25 years ago — to help bring people together as the peace process improved. the idea of turning wimbledon fc into belfast united fc was discussed openly at the time. what the state papers released today show is the extent of the political discussions behind the scenes. there certainly were differences of opinion on that. mo mowlam, as secretary of state,

was not keen on the idea — in fact, she used the phraseology that she didn't think it was a particularly safe proposal. by contrast, the prime minister, tony blair, was extremely enthusiastic, and he wrote in the middle ofjuly 1998 that he thought it would be excellent if wimbledon moved to belfast, and that the government should try to do everything to make that happen. in the end, of course, it didn't happen. the building of sports stadiums is still a topic of debate these days, as is lough neagh — and it, too, cropped up in the old government files. in 1958, it was discussed as the site for a nuclear power plant. lough neagh, sports stadiums, and disagreements between politicians — these old files show how the present can have echoes of the past. and finally, it was fourth time lucky for lawconnect skipper christian beck in the sydney to hobart yacht race in australia.

after being neck and neck with favourite andoo comanche for the 628 nautical mile journey from sydney harbour to tasmania, the supermaxi raced to victory by a mere 51 seconds. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. after a wild wednesday courtesy of storm gerrit, thursday a little bit quieter, but still a blustery day out there with a mixture of some sunshine, hazy in places, but also some showers, even some longer spells of rain. this is the area of low pressure, which is still with us and will be with us as we go through into friday, keeping the winds quite strong across the country, but shoving batches of showers across the uk. and through this afternoon there could be a longer spell of rain in a band which stretches through eastern scotland, moving away from northern england, north wales, through the midlands towards the south west.

doesn't quite reach east anglia and the south east, and some longer spells of rain and hill snow in the west of scotland. your wind gusts today 40, 50 miles an hour, maybe a little bit more, down on yesterday's values, but still a blustery day and still quite mild for late december — temperatures seven to around 13 degrees, of course tempered by that wind. this evening, east anglia, the south east, a batch of heavy rain for a time, that could linger in the channel islands through the night. and then another area of cloud, rain and hill snow pushes through scotland into parts of northern ireland and the far north of england as we head into friday morning. north of that, we'll see some wintry showers and the risk of some ice. so, the country into almost three tomorrow, one zone through parts of northern ireland and southern scotland, northern england, cloudy. outbreaks of rain on and off, some hill snow. to the south of it, hazy sunshine and blustery showers, most frequent in the west. to the north of that band, some more in the way of sunshine, but a few wintry showers. a colder feel here.

temperatures only five or six degrees. frost then to take us through into saturday morning. but the next batch of wet and windy weather pushing its way in could cause some travel problems for the start of the weekend. brief spell of snow in northern ireland and on the hills of northern england, quickly turning back to rain early in the day, but heavy rain across many areas, more snow across scotland, and more strong winds. the snow and the winds won't be quite as significant as they were with storm gerrit, but certainly through saturday, saturday night and into sunday, as this area of low pressure pushes its way eastwards, the winds will remain a keen feature, with gales in many places. sunday, at the moment, the winds lightest across parts of scotland, but more in the way of rain, sleet and snow in the north. and temperatures starting to drop as the winds go more into a north westerly direction. new year's eve itself, as the bells toll in 2024, could be driest across southern areas. and then, for the first week of 2024, it will start to feel a bit cooler again with a mixture of sunshine and potentially some wintry showers.

now on bbc news: click. this week, nick's getting into his trunks to find out big

what a phone can do for a forest. now i've just completed another survey injust under a minute. we'll find out what lara's thinking as she immerses herself in culture. i know what i'm looking at now, but how do i feel? and less than two years after ai took up art, is it ready for hollywood? spencer's getting his big trailer voice ready. the ai will listen to the audio... deep trailer voice: ..and generate me a new one. jazz music plays. this is the tinpot jazz orchestra. it lasts less than a minute, but it is a charming, glitchy, cartoon—like production created using generative ai video tools. now, this means that

the characters weren't designed by illustrators and animators.