live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. the government of taiwan has accused china of mounting a major misinformation campaign, to try to influence the outcome of the island's presidential election that's taking place next month. taiwan's ruling democratic progressive party — or dpp — is seeking an unprecdented third consecutive win. but the ruling party is loathed in beijing, which has long laid claim to taiwan. china's air force has also increased incursions across the taiwan strait in recent weeks. rupert wingfield—hayes

has that story. it's 6am and this fighter base on the coast of taiwan is already a hive of activity. on the apron, mirage 2000 fighter jets from taiwan's rapid reaction squadrons, theirjob to meet any incoming threats 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 taiwan is an inseparable part of china. "they tell us the taiwan strait is peaceful," he says. "then why are there chinese ships and 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 china is sending a very strong signal to the united states, evenjapan — "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 that the intimidation is working. at this rally, supporters of the frontrunner to win taiwan's presidency tell 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. if 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 fighter jets, china more than 2,000. whoever wins taiwan's presidential race will face a military balance tipping ever more in china's favour. rupert wingfield—hayes,

bbc news, in hsinchu, taiwan. live now to isabel hilton in london. she is a visiting professor at the lau institute at king's college london. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday today. as we heard in rupert's report, china is ramping up the pressure and with a free press and an open internet, the door is wide open for beijing's propaganda to target some voters. in your view, are there tactics working? it is hard to know _ are there tactics working? it is hard to know if _ are there tactics working? it is hard to know if they _ are there tactics working? it 3 hard to know if they are working, but they are certain to having an effect. the last time china tried to do this, it had a negative effect, because it was rather crude and obvious and people reacted by voting overwhelmingly for the dpp, the current ruling party, but china's taxing to vet more sophisticated since then. so it has got much better at generating disruptive messages, feeding them into social

media, making them look as though they originate in taiwan. it is simply, the sophistication of it has grown exponentially over the past few years, and there are 20 million cyber attacks daily on taiwan, mainly from china, so the sheer volume of the effort is also pretty impressive. it is certainly going to have an effect. it depends on how sophisticated taiwan users are, if they recognise this is coming from they recognise this is coming from the mainland or if theyjust take it as an amplification of existing divisions and disputes which certainly exist in taiwan, as in any democracy. certainly exist in taiwan, as in any democracy-— democracy. and voters in taiwan, the are democracy. and voters in taiwan, they are also _ democracy. and voters in taiwan, they are also witnessing - democracy. and voters in taiwan, they are also witnessing what - democracy. and voters in taiwan, they are also witnessing what is l they are also witnessing what is happening to hong kong as beijing tightens its grip, wejust heard another pro—democracy activist, tony chung, fleeing hong kong to take asylum in the uk.— chung, fleeing hong kong to take asylum in the uk. yes, and he hong

kona asylum in the uk. yes, and he hong kong situation. _ asylum in the uk. yes, and he hong kong situation, from _ asylum in the uk. yes, and he hong kong situation, from the _ asylum in the uk. yes, and he hong kong situation, from the imposition| kong situation, from the imposition of the national security law two years ago, has had an effect on taiwanese thinking, because it made the taiwanese think that china promised hong kong 50 years of noninterference, and it broke that promise, so it has made taiwanese voters much more suspicious of any offerfrom china, and more than 80% offerfrom china, and more than 80% of taiwanese voters say they would like the status quo, they like the defective independence that taiwan has. the problem is how to maintain that. as china amplifies the threats, both the kind of incursion that we heard about earlier in the sight of him, and the undermining of social issues, the creation of that sense that you cannot trust anything or trust anybody, that all has an effect, and on the one hand, you have a party which is promising to lower those tensions and on the

other we have beijing saying if you vote for the dpp, it is effectively a vote for war, so these are difficult choices for taiwanese people. difficult choices for taiwanese eo - le. �* difficult choices for taiwanese --eole. �* . ., difficult choices for taiwanese --eole. ., ., ., ., , difficult choices for taiwanese n-eole. . ., . . , ., , people. and among taiwanese voters, there is a generation _ people. and among taiwanese voters, there is a generation gap, _ people. and among taiwanese voters, there is a generation gap, if _ people. and among taiwanese voters, there is a generation gap, if you - there is a generation gap, if you like, isn't there? an older generation with much stronger ties to the mainland versus young people have grown up in a democratic, open society. 5. have grown up in a democratic, open socie . ,, ., , ., ., society. 5, and it is an ageing socie , society. 5, and it is an ageing society. so — society. 5, and it is an ageing society, so there _ society. 5, and it is an ageing society, so there by - society. 5, and it is an ageing society, so there by no - society. 5, and it is an ageing| society, so there by no means society. 5, and it is an ageing - society, so there by no means the majority of voters, but they could certainly swing the result, and what is interesting about the younger voters is that there is a third candidate in this election, confusingly the tpp as opposed the dpp, the taiwanese people's party, that candidate is talking about the kind of bread—and—butter issues that voters do care about, cost of living, the cost of housing, things that really affect young people, and he is much more popular amongst the

young than he is amongst the older voters, so it is possible that in this contest for the younger voters, there will be the disruptive effect of the third candidate which could just deny the dpp its victory. it is very hard to tell at this point. you mentioned _ very hard to tell at this point. you mentioned to _ very hard to tell at this point. you mentioned to some of the other issues on the agenda, like the cost of living, but how much does geopolitics, do you think, play when voters go to vote next month? i think when you come to the presidential elections, your —— yeo publisher very important. in the last local elections in taiwan, the last local elections in taiwan, the unpopular to came through, because the main opposition party won very big in the local elections. the analysis then suggested that that was an expression of discontent about bread—and—butter issues, but when it came to the prudential election, because there was a much

bigger issue at stake, the future of taiwan itself, that it would reverse to the gym little discussion, and then you have a very clear distention between the opposition and the dpp. the dpp argue that taiwan is the fact so independent, that they would never declare it. the opposition argues it is originally mainland party and it says it would de—escalate tensions, establish much warmer and better relations with beijing. it would civilly reduce the threat. geopolitics is absolutely the deciding factor, i think. deciding factor, ithink. isabel hilton, thank— deciding factor, ithink. isabel hilton, thank you _ deciding factor, ithink. isabel hilton, thank you so - deciding factor, ithink. isabel hilton, thank you so much - deciding factor, ithink. isabel hilton, thank you so much for| hilton, thank you so much for joining us on newsday today. israel is expanding its ground offensive into palestinian refugee camps in central gaza, forcing thousands of people to flee. the united nations estimates 150,000 are on the move. israel says it is trying to protect civilians in its operation to destroy hamas — which is designated a terrorist organisation

by the uk government. meanwhile, egypt has put forward a plan to end the fighting, including more prisoner and hostage exchanges. shaimaa khalil has the latest from jerusalem, and her report contains some distressing images from the beginning. once again, a child tells their story of the war. this child's home in khan younis was bombed overnight. "we were upstairs," she says, "then we were hit, and i started running." she tries to comfort her sister, but she has no idea that her mother and brother were killed in the strike. herfather, abdullah, sits next to the body bags. he's still in shock. "this is my son," he says. "this morning, he asked me for biscuits. "i went to buy them.

"when i came back, ifound him and my wife dead." the ground offensive continues to deepen in the southern city of khan younis, where hundreds of thousands have fled from the fighting in northern gaza. israel says it's trying to protect civilians during its operation against hamas fighters. but it said it regretted what it called extensive collateral damage in a strike last weekend. the hamas—run health ministry says at least 86 people were killed in the strike on the maghazi refugee camp in central gaza. israel says it used the wrong type of munition. people shout here injerusalem, thousands of teenagers march towards the israeli parliament. "alive, now," they chanted. they want a new deal to return those still in captivity. the war is not going to end any time soon. that is the message from the israeli government. but that only increases the frustration among the young people gathered here,

many of them from communities that have been worst—affected by the 7th october attacks. their message to those in power — bring the hostages back home now. i am from kibbutz kfar aza. i was there on 7th october and my people were kidnapped. we want them back. for me, personally, i really hope that it ends for both sides as quickly as possible. war is horrible on either end of it. judith weinstein haggai was thought to be in captivity still, but now she's believed to have been killed on october 7. her husband gadi is also believed to have been killed by hamas. in the agony of war, new life begins. iman tends to three of her quadruplets. one is still in intensive care. there is very little food and not enough formula or diapers. she and her family are sheltering in a un school after being forced out of their home in the north. her new babies born into displacement. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.

around 100 homes in the uk have been damaged by a mini tornado, which ripped through a part of greater manchester. police declared a major incident in tameside after roofs were torn off homes, trees were blown down and walls collapsed. there were no reports of any injuries. elsewhere, three men died after their vehicle plunged into the river esk in north yorkshire — police said the weather conditions had "made driving hazardous." fiona trott reports. the eye of the storm. so strong that some homes couldn't even keep the residents safe. they'll evacuate us now. this tree smashed through a roof just metres from where maisie pilkington slept. if you was to get a wrecking ball and go through the house, it was like, because i opened the door and i thought,

"oh, my god." in daylight, the damage was clearer to see. metal and glass not strong enough, lead not heavy enough to withstand the force of this tornado on her street. what seems to have happened is the tree's hit the roof, gone through my bathroom, so the whole roof and ceiling of my bathroom is down, the tree is in the bathroom. the whole tree is being held up by one branch and it's starting to snap currently, i've been told. so if it does snap, it's going to go through the whole house. it wasn't just maisie's street. look at the devastation in other parts of stalybridge. their homes and their lives have been ripped apart. this was the village of carrbrook. and we were so scared, we didn't know what to do. i don't know who phoned the police. police, ambulance, fire brigade, everybody were around. and tonight, hundreds of residents still have questions that can't be answered. can i go back home? when can i go back home? is my house safe? so we're trying to get movement

ion that as quickly as possible, i but the amount of damage that it's | done to the amount of properties, | you know, we haven't got- the resources just yet to get that done very quickly. so we have gone out to get support. what people here are still coming to terms with is how so much devastation was caused by something that lasted less than a minute. tornadoes can be massively damaging. you can see winds in excess of 100mph concentrated on a very small area. that is enough to bring down parts of houses, trees, cause massive amounts of damage. what is striking is how sudden this was but also how random it was, the path of the tornado. how can the roof of one house be completely ripped off and another stay intact? but even those who have been worst affected by this, they say that they feel lucky. they say that repairs and replacements are an inconvenience compared to the tragedy that could have occurred. fiona trott, bbc news, stalybridge.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news in the uk. a man who died after a car collided with a group of people in sheffield yesterday has been named as father—of—two christian marriott. mr marriott was with his wife and two young sons when he went to provide first aid to a woman following an altercation between a group of people. police have described him as a good samaritan who lost his life while helping a stranger. the uk's health security agency says at least 30 confirmed cases of e.coli may be linked to contaminated cheese that was recalled on christmas day. an urgent recall of four types of mrs kirkham's lancashire cheese, which is produced in preston, began on monday. lancashire police say that what was thought to be a fire at the iconic blackpool tower was actually orange netting. six fire engines were deployed

to the landmark this afternoon, after reports of flames coming from the top of it. police said the tower had been closed for renovation and had you're live with bbc news. 2023 was the year when the crispr gene—editing technology went from research to reality. crispr gene editing allows the genetic information of living organisms to be modified. in november, uk regulators became the first to approve a genetic treatment for use, with the us food and drug administration following suit earlier this month. in both cases, the treatments were for sickle cell disease — a deadly blood disorder that affects millions worldwide, with a much higher incidence among african—americans. so what does the future hold for people with sickle cell? and could crispr be used

to treat other diseases, like cancer and heart disease? i'm joined by dr cece calhoun, who's medical director of the sickle cell programme at yale university school of medicine. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday today. firstly, how big of a deal is this new treatment? thank ou so deal is this new treatment? thank you so much _ deal is this new treatment? thank you so much for— deal is this new treatment? thank you so much for having _ deal is this new treatment? thank you so much for having me. - deal is this new treatment? thank you so much for having me. as . deal is this new treatment? thank| you so much for having me. as you mentioned, the global burden of sickle cell disease is tremendous, and so at this means for us as a new frontiers and opportunity to cure a disease with such a shortened life expectancy. the disease with such a shortened life exoectancy-_ expectancy. the expense of this treatment reportedly _ expectancy. the expense of this treatment reportedly some - expectancy. the expense of this treatment reportedly some $2 l treatment reportedly some $2 million, it will put it out of reach for many people. how hopeful are you that the price will eventually calm down? ,, . ~' that the price will eventually calm down? ,, x' . that the price will eventually calm down? ,, . , .,, that the price will eventually calm down? . , that the price will eventually calm down? . down? sickle cell disease has been known, down? sickle cell disease has been known. and — down? sickle cell disease has been known, and the _ down? sickle cell disease has been known, and the mechanism - down? sickle cell disease has been known, and the mechanism behind| known, and the mechanism behind sickle cell disease has been known,

for over a century, yet the treatment options for sickle—cell disease have been quite limited, so what this represents is a new frontier in that area. this is a first step, but to your point, it is quite expensive and so the next step is, how do we improve accessibility and decrease costs and we can offer this notjust in the phillips countries but also worldwide, where we note is most prevalent? i think with any new drug, initial uptake is slow and costs are high, but i am so optimistic that this troubling made more accessible to people worldwide. i understand that it is also a fairly complicated treatment. part of your work is to get in touch with young people who are affected by the disease. what do they think about this new treatment? did they think that this will one day become accessible?— that this will one day become accessible? ~ , ,, . accessible? absolutely. sickle cell

disease and _ accessible? absolutely. sickle cell disease and crispr. .. _ accessible? absolutely. sickle cell disease and crispr. .. it _ accessible? absolutely. sickle cell disease and crispr. .. it was - disease and crispr... it was approved on friday. the following day i had clinic and people asked me about it. people struggling just to survive are so thrilled at the opportunity to thrive. we have other options for curative therapies, but what this does is it broadens the landscape, so it is not to people in the scientific community impassioned about this, but more importantly it is patients who live with this disease every day. find is patients who live with this disease every day. and beyond sickle-cell— disease every day. and beyond sickle-cell blood _ disease every day. and beyond sickle-cell blood other - disease every day. and beyond | sickle-cell blood other diseases sickle—cell blood other diseases might gene editing help to treat incoming years? we might gene editing help to treat incoming years?— might gene editing help to treat incoming years? might gene editing help to treat incomin: ears? ~ ., ., , ., incoming years? we are hopefulthat the science behind _ incoming years? we are hopefulthat the science behind gene _ incoming years? we are hopefulthat the science behind gene editing - incoming years? we are hopefulthat the science behind gene editing willl the science behind gene editing will be able to be broadly applied. like you mentioned, to cancer, infectious diseases, there have already been clinical trials, to neurodegenerative diseases like parkinson's and alzheimer's. there are broad applications in which

clinical trials are already under way, these disorders, also life limiting disorders. dr way, these disorders, also life limiting disorders.— way, these disorders, also life limiting disorders. dr cece calhoun, thank ou limiting disorders. dr cece calhoun, thank you so — limiting disorders. dr cece calhoun, thank you so much _ limiting disorders. dr cece calhoun, thank you so much for— limiting disorders. dr cece calhoun, thank you so much forjoining - limiting disorders. dr cece calhoun, thank you so much forjoining us - limiting disorders. dr cece calhoun, thank you so much forjoining us on | thank you so much forjoining us on newsday today. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines for you. the venezuelan leader, nicolas maduro, has ordered military exercises by the venezuelan armed forces around an oil—rich disputed region with guyana, after a british warship was deployed to the guyanese coast. president maduro accused london of breaking the spirit of an agreement with guyana to avoid military operations and ordered his defence chiefs to carry out operations in the region. nikki haley — one of the contenders for the republican presidential nomination — has sought to downplay comments in which she seemed to reject slavery as the cause of the american civil war. at a town hall meeting, ms haley said that the conflict had been about how the government

was run and what freedoms people could have. on thursday, she clarified that statement, saying that — as a southerner — she knew the war had been about slavery. new year's resolutions will soon be made around the world, and it is the perfect time for the health authorities to encourage people to quit smoking. in the uk, a new nhs camapign features the former footballer david james, with research suggesting teenagers are more than three times as likely to smoke if someone they know already lights up. here's anisa kadri. literally one cigarette got me addicted for 15 years. in this campaign, former england goalkeeper david james joins other ex—smokers and health professionals. he says his children are one of the main reasons he stopped smoking. it's a tough thing to give up, smoking. i'm not pretending you canjust

do it without a second thought. and if you get to those tough moments, think about your own health, think about the children, and think about the impact that you're having on them in a positive way by not smoking. according to the nhs, about 76,000 people in the uk die every year from a smoking related illness. it wasn't till i gave up at the age of 30, i started training better, not getting out of breath during training sessions, becoming the athlete i was before i started smoking, that i actually realised that, first of all, smoking wasn't good for me, personally. at the moment, you have to be 18 years old to buy cigarettes. in england, the government says it wants to raise the age people buy them by one year every year, but some critics say it could lead to the creation of a black market. it means anyone who has turned ia this year or is younger than that won't ever be able to legally buy them. we were able to look at what things made people more likely to start smoking, and what we picked up really

strongly was there was this effect of parents and peers. so if a teenager's parents or theirfriends smoke, they are three or four times more likely to start smoking than if that isn't the case. a large part of this campaign is to deter young people from taking up the habit and it also warns against vaping unless it's used as a tool to give up cigarettes. this message is clear, that now is the time to quit. anisa kadri, bbc news. lets and this edition of newsday with some rather cute pictures. —— let us end. they are of a critically endangered lemur. this little one was born at chester zoo in the uk and weighed in at 120 grams. experts say it'll be a little while until they find out the sex of the baby. the species are native to madagascar

and are known as dancing lemurs for the way they spring across the floor. lemur babies ride on their mother's back for about three months until they are ready to explore the world on their own. that is it for the programme. we will have a lot more on the website, so do check that out, but for now, thank you so much for watching newsday. hello there. friday is shaping up to be a fairly decent day for many. there should be more sunshine around, the winds not quite as strong. there'll still be a few showers around. it will be a little bit cooler than of late, but things turn a lot more unsettled, though, for the last couple of days of 2023. you might want to take note if you have travel plans. for friday, then, we have low pressure anchored to the north—east of scotland. that's still going to bring strong gale force winds here to the northern isles, some snow showers at times. more sunshine for southern scotland. this weather front will bring a band

of cloud to northern england, northern ireland, a little bit of snow to the higher ground and plenty of sunshine for the rest of england and wales. but there will be a few showers running into wales, south—west england, the midlands, southern england later on. just about double figures in the south. otherwise, it's a cooler day across the board. as we head through friday night, it stays blustery. further showers across northern scotland, but many places will turn drier with clearer skies and light winds — a recipe of quite a cold night to come, i think, to start saturday, with widespread frost and ice to watch out for across parts of scotland. however, into the weekend, if you have travel plans, you'll want to take note to the forecast the next few days. we'll see further wet and windy weather, with snow on the hills in the north, so there could be some travel disruption. and it's all down to this next area of low pressure, a deep, low moving in on saturday to bring gales and heavy rain. many southern, eastern, northern areas will start dry and cold, but as the wind and the rain bumps into that cold air, we'll see snow falling over the high ground of northern england and across scotland, maybe even to lower levels for a while. i don't think the conditions will be too bad across the south—east at this point for saturday. double figure values again, but wet

and windy further north and west. that band of heavy rain spreads across all of england and wales through saturday night. the centre of the low moves in towards the north of the uk, so the winds turn a little bit lighter here. so i think on sunday — of course, new year's eve — the strongest, gustiest of the winds will be across southern britain, where we'll see plenty of showers rattling in. some of them could be quite heavy, but there will be some sunshine through central and northern areas. but it will be a chillier day, i think — temperatures in single digits for most. so an unsettled end to the year. as we head into new year's day, the ist of january, it stays quite cool and unsettled, and a chilly first week of january to come with low pressure always nearby.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. the rohingya are often called the most persecuted minority in the world. six years ago, they had to flee their home country of myanmar after a deadly military campaign that the united states government has called a genocide. now, in the refugee camps of bangladesh, they're being murdered.

hundreds have been killed by drug gangs and militants and the violence is ongoing. unhcr is paid tens of millions of dollars to run a protection programme for refugees. but with rohingya dying every week, is that protection programme working? this is kutupalong in bangladesh, the largest refugee camp in the world. it's home to nearly a million rohingya, a predominantly muslim minority who've been persecuted in their home country of myanmarfor decades.