technology. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's news day. hello and welcome to the programme. here is the latest on the conflict in gaza. israel is expanding its ground offensive into palestinian refugee camps into palestinian refugee camps in central gaza, causing thousands of people to flee. the united nations estimates thousands on the move. meanwhile, each of has put forward a plan to end the fighting, including more prison

and hostages 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 al 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 seventh october attacks. their message to those in power — bring the hostages back home now. i am from kibbutz kfar aza.

i was there on seventh 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 herfamily 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. 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 unprecedented 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 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 fighterjets, 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 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." on 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. so, is china's propaganda strategy in taiwan working? i asked isabel hilton a visiting professor at the lau institute at king's college london. they are certainly having an effect. and 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 tactics have got more sophisticated since then. so it's 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 its attack has grown exponentially in 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 certainly will have an effect. it will depend how sophisticated taiwan internet users are, if they can be counted on to 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. and voters in taiwan, they are also witnessing what's happening to hong kong as beijing tightens its grip. we just heard another pro—democracy activist, tony chung, fleeing hong kong to seek asylum in the uk. yes, and the hong 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 non—interference, and it broke that promise, so it has made taiwanese voters much more suspicious of any offer from china. and more than 80% of taiwanese voters say they like the status quo, they like the de facto independence that taiwan has. the problem is how to maintain that. and as china amplifies the threats, both the kind of incursion that we heard about earlier and the undermining of social issues — the creation of that sort of sense that you cannot trust anything or trust anybody — that all has an effect. and on the one hand, we have a party — the kuomintang — which is promising to lower

those tensions, and on the other, we have beijing saying that if you vote for the dpp, it's effectively a vote for war, so these are difficult choices for the taiwanese people. and among taiwanese voters, 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? yes, and it is an ageing society, so they're not by any 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, ko wen—je, 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. 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. 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 on that as quickly as possible, 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. the health security agency says that 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 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. coastal communities in california are on high alert after what has been described as a high surf expected to peak in the next few hours. bulldozers have been deployed to build a sand wall to keep the water from nearby homes. flood warnings have also been

issued. you're live with bbc news. 2023 was the year when the crisper gene—editing technology went from research to reality. crisper 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 crisper be used to treat other diseases, like cancer? i spoke to doctor see—see

calhoun, who's medical director of the sickle cell program at yale university school of medicine. she told me how big a deal as you treatment is. as you mentioned, the global burden of sickle cell disease is tremendous, and so what this means for us is a new frontier and opportunity to cure a disease with such a shortened life expectancy. but the expense of this treatment, reportedly some $2 million, it will put it out of reach for many people. how hopeful are you that the price will eventually come down? sickle cell disease has been 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, and so what this represents is a new frontier in that area. this is a first step, but to your point, it's quite expensive, and so the next step is, how do we improve accessibility and decrease costs so that we can offer

this notjust in developed countries but also worldwide, where we know sickle cell is most prevalent? i think with any new drug, initial uptake is slow and costs are high, but i am so optimistic that this drug will be 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? do they think that this will one day become accessible? absolutely. so. . . crispr for sickle cell disease were approved on a friday. the following monday, i had clinic and every single patient asked me about it. people who have sickle cell disease, who have been 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's not to people in the scientific community who are impassioned and excited about this, but more importantly it's patients who live with this disease every day. and beyond sickle cell, what other diseases might gene editing help to treat in coming years? we're hopeful that the science behind gene editing will be able to be broadly applied, like you mentioned, to cancer, to infectious diseases — there's already been clinical trials — to neurodegenerative diseases like parkinson's and to alzheimer's. there is broad applications in which clinical trials are already under way to improve inherited disorders and also life—ending disorders. new year's resolutions was to be made around the world and is the perfect time to help their priorities to encourage people to quit smoking. in the uk, a

new nhs campaign features david james. . , ., new nhs campaign features david james. ., , ., . ., james. literally one cigarette not me james. literally one cigarette got me addicted _ james. literally one cigarette got me addicted for - james. literally one cigarette got me addicted for 15 - james. literally one cigarette got me addicted for 15 years. | got me addicted for 15 years. in this campaign, david james adjoins other ex—smokers and health professionals. he says his children are the main reasons he stopped smoking. it is a tough thing to give up. i am not pretending you canjust do it without a second thought. if you get those tough moments, think about your own health, your children, and think about the impact you are having on them in a positive way i not smoking. them in a positive way i not smoking-— them in a positive way i not smokina. ~ . . ., ., ,, smoking. according to the nhs, about 76.000 — smoking. according to the nhs, about 76,000 people _ smoking. according to the nhs, about 76,000 people in - smoking. according to the nhs, about 76,000 people in the - smoking. according to the nhs, about 76,000 people in the uk| about 76,000 people in the uk die every yearfrom about 76,000 people in the uk die every year from a smoking related illness. it die every year from a smoking related illness.— related illness. it was not until i gave _ related illness. it was not until i gave up _ related illness. it was not until i gave up at - related illness. it was not until i gave up at the - related illness. it was not until i gave up at the age | related illness. it was not l until i gave up at the age of 30, started training better, not getting out of breath during training sessions, becoming the athlete i was before i started smoking, that i actually realised the first

of all smoking was not good for me personally. fist of all smoking was not good for me personally-— me personally. at the moment ou have me personally. at the moment you have to — me personally. at the moment you have to be _ me personally. at the moment you have to be 18 _ me personally. at the moment you have to be 18 years - me personally. at the moment you have to be 18 years old - me personally. at the moment you have to be 18 years old to l you have to be 18 years old to buy cigarettes. in england, the government says it wants to raise the age by one year every year but some critics say it could lead to the creation of a black market. it means anyone who has heard a 111 this year or younger will ever be able to buy them. younger will ever be able to buy them-— younger will ever be able to bu them. . ., buy them. we are able to look at what things _ buy them. we are able to look at what things make _ buy them. we are able to look at what things make people i at what things make people start smoking and what we picked up strongly was that there was an effect of parents and peers, so if teenagers parents or theirfriends and peers, so if teenagers parents or their friends smoke, they are three or four times likely to start smoking than if thatis likely to start smoking than if that is not the case. fix, likely to start smoking than if that is not the case.— that is not the case. a large art of that is not the case. a large part of the _ that is not the case. a large part of the campaign - that is not the case. a large part of the campaign is - that is not the case. a large part of the campaign is to i part of the campaign is to deter young people from taking up deter young people from taking up the habit and also was against vaping unless uses a tool to give up cigarettes. the message is clear that now was the time to quit. the top election official in has

disqualified donald trump from the ballot in the election next year. maine is the second state to bali former president for his role in the january the sixth attack on the capital. colorado is the other one. the republican party in colorado has appealed against that decision and donald trump has said he would do the same. the christmas travelling period can be stressful, but passengers at portland international airport were treated to an unusual way to destress this christmas — therapy llamas. dressed in their christmas best, llamas beni and prince visited the airport to bring festive cheer to travellers and staff. handler shannonjoy walked the duo round the airport and made sure they behaved themselves. portland airport said that animals had brought "instant joy". earlier i spoke to shannon and her mother lori from mountain peaks therapy llamas and alpacas. my my mum and i have been sharing

our llamas in the community for the last 15 years. the airport knew what we do in our community and thought it would be a great way to help a little distressing during the holiday travels. ~ . , ., travels. what is it about llamas that _ travels. what is it about llamas that are - travels. what is it about llamas that are so - travels. what is it about. llamas that are so soothing travels. what is it about - llamas that are so soothing for humans? it llamas that are so soothing for humans? , ~ ., humans? it is like hugging a ciant humans? it is like hugging a giant teddy _ humans? it is like hugging a giant teddy bear. _ humans? it is like hugging a giant teddy bear. they - humans? it is like hugging a giant teddy bear. they are l humans? it is like hugging a| giant teddy bear. they are so big and fluffy. they are £350, a lot it fluffy, there is something so relieving about wrapping your arms around them and getting all of their hair. you can feed them carrots as well. i you can feed them carrots as well. ., , ., ., you can feed them carrots as well. ., ,, ., ,., well. i saw that you have both llamas and — well. i saw that you have both llamas and alpacas. _ well. i saw that you have both llamas and alpacas. i - well. i saw that you have both llamas and alpacas. i was - llamas and alpacas. i was looking up the difference. i don't know if it is correct but i read that llamas could be more aggressive than alpacas. do you actually have to train

them or are they pretty instinctive?— them or are they pretty instinctive? ~ , . ., instinctive? we can select our herd for the — instinctive? we can select our herd for the unique _ herd for the unique personalities. it is a common misconception that llamas are more aggressive than alpacas. in fact, they are confident animals. i say they will stand their ground as they get away from me where is the alpacas will be timid and shy and run away from you first. you can find social and sweet llamas and intelligent alpacas, they arejust and intelligent alpacas, they are just not as frequent. the? are 'ust not as frequent. they are just not as frequent. they are behaving _ are just not as frequent. they are behaving quite _ are just not as frequent. they are behaving quite well. - are just not as frequent. they are behaving quite well. to i are just not as frequent. they are behaving quite well. to the llamas and alpacas, i guess, work in other sectors outside the airport?— the airport? yes, this is the first time — the airport? yes, this is the first time visiting _ the airport? yes, this is the first time visiting the - first time visiting the airport. we did it for three days this holiday season. we want to make a routine thing for travellers. we routinely go

inside the new communities and schools and hospitals and work with individuals with down syndrome, autism and we visit all over portland and oregon. we are familiar with these unique locations. irate we are familiar with these unique locations. we might love to see them _ unique locations. we might love to see them in _ unique locations. we might love to see them in a _ unique locations. we might love to see them in a tv _ unique locations. we might love to see them in a tv gallery. - to see them in a tv gallery. would that be allowed? irate to see them in a tv gallery. would that be allowed? we have been to a lot _ would that be allowed? we have been to a lot of _ would that be allowed? we have been to a lot of studios. - would that be allowed? we have been to a lot of studios. they - been to a lot of studios. they used were. they go inside the elevators and other locations. are adaptable animals. from llamas to lemur, let's look at some more cute pictures. lemurs are critically endangoured. 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. this animal testing newsday is the last for this year. we wish you all a happy new year and we will see you on monday. 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 northeast 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, southwest 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 first of january, it stays quite cool and unsettled, and a chilly first week of january to come with low pressure always nearby.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. # nothing compares. # nothing compares to you... the point at which i start

crying is on the lines, "all the flowers that you planted, mama, in the backyard, all died when you went away." because as a young child, i had spent time living in the garden, only being allowed to enter the house to wash the floor every day. # these are dangerous days. # to say what you feel is to dig your own grave. fight the real enemy. people say it derailed my career. but i think it re—railed my career, because i didn't want to be a pop star. # so happy christmas. # i love you, baby. # i can see... it's true i'm out of it most of the time, but i can write songs when i'm out of it. in fact, it's easier for me. # ..singing galway bay. # and the bells are ringing out for christmas day.