ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, says that russia has targeted his country with more than 100 missiles in the past 2a hours. at least ten people have been killed after cities across ukraine came under attack. this was the scene this morning in the capital kyiv, where at least three powerful explosions were heard in the city centre. odesa, dnipro and kharkiv are among other cities hit. ukraine's air force says it has "never seen so many locations targeted simultaneously". the attacks come just days after ukraine struck a russian warship in the occupied crimean port of feodosia. live now to kyiv and our correspondent james waterhouse. good morning. what seems struggling this morning as the geographical spread of the attacks, can you take

us through the latest? it is spread of the attacks, can you take us through the latest?— us through the latest? it is quite strikin: , us through the latest? it is quite striking. as _ us through the latest? it is quite striking. as you _ us through the latest? it is quite striking, as you say. _ us through the latest? it is quite striking, as you say. the - us through the latest? it is quite striking, as you say. the first. us through the latest? it is quite i striking, as you say. the first time in more than a year since a russian missile was able to penetrate the kyiv air defences and i think that is a reflection of our defences across ukraine being overwhelmed in the way that they have, you have heard for the air force is saying and i think that it's really telling something. more than 18 strategic bomber aircraft were used by russia, it says i every type of missile was launched, the only ones with ash from the sea and you take all of these things together, living in the west, that bill is far from the conflict, once a city for millions of ukrainians escaped to go on to the border to poland and romania, we

have seen damage to a high—rise building, in odesa, some extensive damage in dnipro, we are told a shopping centre was hit, kharkiv in the north east, hit more regularly because it's only a0 miles from the russian border, people get used to living with this aerial threat, school children taught in the city subways. in the north, an area left alone since the initial retreat from central kyiv, over is untouched and i think this is vladimir putin and russia, exercising a familiar legs in that it can target the home of ukraine and it has done so in a week when ukraine has sunk the us for receiving the last of its approved military packages which includes air defences. it has been another difficult morning but especially so for ukraine. figs

difficult morning but especially so for ukraine-— difficult morning but especially so for ukraine. ~ , i. for ukraine. as you say, coming the da after for ukraine. as you say, coming the day after the _ for ukraine. as you say, coming the day after the final— for ukraine. as you say, coming the day after the final tranche _ for ukraine. as you say, coming the day after the final tranche of - for ukraine. as you say, coming the day after the final tranche of aid - day after the final tranche of aid from the us is signed off and we know this is far less than ukraine says it needs? it know this is far less than ukraine says it needs?— know this is far less than ukraine says it needs? it really is. ukraine will be looking _ says it needs? it really is. ukraine will be looking at _ says it needs? it really is. ukraine will be looking at what _ says it needs? it really is. ukraine will be looking at what it - says it needs? it really is. ukraine will be looking at what it could - will be looking at what it could have had, i think. we are talking about a package worth $250 million, no small sum and ammunition desperately needed but a package like that alone allows ukraine to continue its defence for now in terms of air defence, trying to suppress russian forces with artillery fire on the front lines which are not moving and when they are, they are not moving in the fairview of ukraine but getting bogged down in the us congress, a package worth around $15 billion and that are seen by kyiv is the type of package which would allow it to continue its fight but allow it to pursue its goal and dream of liberating its territory. we are

talking about armoured vehicles and long—range missiles, tanks. yes, the help of western allies and munster quite a sizeable intervention but it is the us which leads the way and coordinates the support and it can manufacture weapons at the scale and speed which ukraine needs in the face of a russia which is very much on a warfooting face of a russia which is very much on a war footing as well. as it continues to try and take the whole of ukraine, we must remind ourselves of ukraine, we must remind ourselves of that. g ., , , ., of that. james, but the moment we will leave it — of that. james, but the moment we will leave it there. _ of that. james, but the moment we will leave it there. there _ of that. james, but the moment we will leave it there. there is - of that. james, but the moment we will leave it there. there is a - of that. james, but the moment we will leave it there. there is a live i will leave it there. there is a live page running on the bbc news website, developing situation in ukraine and all of those latest developments are contained there. to the us and the state of maine, where the top election official has ruled that donald trump cannot run for president there in the upcoming elections. the reason — mr trump's actions leading up to the riot at the us capitol in washington in 2021 — which the ruling in maine says was enough to trigger

a constitutional clause banning anyone from holding office who's "engaged in insurrection". maine is the second us state to take this course of action — colorado did so earlier this month. but similar efforts to prevent mr trump from running have been thrown out in michigan and minnesota. the decision in maine was taken by the secretary of state, shenna bellows — she told the bbc why she had acted as she did. it's really important for your viewers to understand the maine law process, because every state is different. under the united states constitution, time, place and manner, elections are held in different ways. we have different voting rights, different ballot access laws. and so under maine law, if a candidate qualifies for the ballot, any registered maine voter may bring what's called a section 336 challenge. and that's what happened here in the state.

i qualified trump for the ballot, and there were three challenges brought by citizens of maine, in a couple of cases two former republican state senators and a democratic... former democratic state senator. that requires me, under maine election law, to hold an administrative hearing, to review the evidence and the facts. both parties may be represented by counsel, and mr trump was represented by an attorney, as were the challengers that i mentioned. they brought forward witnesses, exhibits. i was then required to review that evidence and the hearing record, the law and the constitution. and ultimately, that is my sacred obligation, it's my duty to uphold the constitution. maine's secretary of state, shenna bellows there. mr trump has not yet commented on this latest turn of events — but his campaign has previously accused mrs bellows of being a hyper—partisan, biden—supporting democrat —

and says it will take legal action. let's take a look at how the decision in maine might affect the presidential election. maine is one of only two states in the us which does not operate a winner takes all policy — when it comes to presidential elections. it means the four electoral college votes can be split. this happened in both of the last two elections, with donald trump taking one vote each time, and his democratic opponent three votes. for context — america's 50 states share out 538 electoral college votes in total — the majority needed to win the presidential election outright is 270. so, the trump campaign has promised to appeal against the decision in maine in court. but what does it mean for the wider election,across the us? we put that question to daniel lippman, white house reporterfor the us news organisation politico. i think it's basically the second

domino here because there's a lot of democrats who don't think that trump is eligible because of his actions on january 6th. but until colorado did this recently, no one was willing to take him off the ballot. and so i think this is going to call for the supreme court to get involved soon, and decide whether he is eligible or not to be listed on the primary ballots and also for the general election that will carry through. because right now you could have him on 25 ballots and him not on 25 other ballots. and then republican states could try to take offjoe biden, even though he hasn't been accused of anything similar, but as kind of a revenge push. all robot space plane has blasted

off from florida. it was carried into orbit by spacex, the orbital vehicle will carry out a series of expenditure on its mission according to the pentagon and rim will involve exposing plant seeds to the effect of radiation during a long space flight. the last mission lasted more than $900. the us launch comes two weeks after china sent its own robert space plane into orbit for the third time. leroy ciao is a former nasa astronaut and international space station commander and he told us fight there is so much secrecy surrounding the mission. , , ., , ., mission. the missions remain classified, _ mission. the missions remain classified, the _ mission. the missions remain classified, the first _ mission. the missions remain classified, the first flight - mission. the missions remain classified, the first flight was | classified, the first flight was around 2010 so this is the seventh light, as you've mentioned, the fourth 1a for this vehicle. the mission remains classified, the fact that it launched on a falcon heavy suggests it went into a deeper spacious regime and higher levels of radiation, probably carrying out

similar experiments as it did in the past, possibly testing sensors, changing orbits, doing different manoeuvres. as you mentioned nasa has a spacey experiment on board so we do not really know too much but we do not really know too much but we can guess at some of these things. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the chief inspector of prisons for england and wales has called for a fundamental re—orientation in the way the system is run. charlie taylor said the high availability of drugs in some prisons was a barrier to rehabilitation. and he said many inmates were failing to learn to read — and not developing the skills they need for a life of work, rather than crime. a man who died after a car hit a group of people in sheffield was a good samaritan who was trying to help another person. police say christian marriott was out for a walk on wednesday with his wife and two young sons, when he stopped to help an unconscious woman

after a row between two groups. two men have been arrested on murder charges. a clean—up operation is taking place after around 100 homes were damaged by a tornado in stalybridge, in greater manchester, during storm gerrit. it tore roofs off some houses, blew over trees and damaged cars but there are no reports of any injuries. you're live with bbc news. in the uk — files released today show how tony blair's government considered radical policies to cut immigration in 2003 ? including setting up a holding centre on the isle of mull. sanchia berg reports. 20 years ago, asylum seekers climbing the eurostar fences desperate to get to the uk. images like these prompted the prime minister to consider radical measures. files released today at the national archives include a document prepared for tony blair

injanuary 2003. entitled asylum: the nuclear 0ption, it asked whether the government should break away from international norms, support safe havens in third countries, set up a detention centre on the isle of mull. these earlier files show what led up to the nuclear option for asylum — tony blair's frustration at the numbers of people seeking asylum in the uk. he wanted to bring them down and, in december 2002, he wrote, "we must search out even more radical measures." this is so similar to the debate that we're having now and the proposals — radical proposals — that are being pursued. and we were at that point, not publicly to the same degree, but similar proposals being discussed in earnest behind closed doors. and it also just showed to me there's a perception that conservative governments are those that truck in immigration and asylum restriction.

and here's a clear case that shows, no, that is not the preserve of conservative governments — labour governments, too. the rwanda scheme is different from anything tony blair considered, because rwanda would take over the asylum claims. sanchia berg, bbc news. for more on this let's speak to andrew fisher. he's a columnist for the ipaper and former executive director of policy for the labour party. good morning and thank you for joining us. it's always fascinating from papers like this release because it gives us an insight into what people were thinking about behind closed doors but what struck were thinking about behind closed doors but. he were thinking about behind closed doors but. ., , were thinking about behind closed doors but. . , . ., , doors but. he was particularly interesting — doors but. he was particularly interesting is _ doors but. he was particularly interesting is one _ doors but. he was particularly interesting is one thing - doors but. he was particularly interesting is one thing is - doors but. he was particularly i interesting is one thing is these were radical ideas that were discussed and considered but never enacted because they also recognise

the drawbacks which as it would be defeated in the courts and second it would damage international standing as a country that did not follow below and i think the face of the young swiss international political pain if we did so actual fact it was never enacted. that's one element of it but the second thing that struck me as it reveals a certain mindset, i think. almost an imperial arrogance that britain does not have to do its international duty in the world, there are other countries can take responsibilities that that we do not to, even though we are dictatorships around the world, we fight wars illegally and because these refugee flows, we should never have to accept the consequences and the sad kind of mindset which provides british politics today. instead of actually seeking asylum seekers who have been persecuted, tortured, fleeing war, as people we should help you see them as a problem we need to keep out and i

think that this extremely arrogant, the country should take them whether it's remanded now or the falkland islands or the other of man, tanzania, undertony islands or the other of man, tanzania, under tony blair that was considered. so it's the mindset of this ought to be the problem of someone else or can we push it away and we should close off the borders and we should close off the borders and pretend we live in a world even though we interact with the world and because the refugee flows that we see coming to our shores. there were peeple — we see coming to our shores. there were peeple who — we see coming to our shores. there were people who will— we see coming to our shores. there were people who will say _ we see coming to our shores. there were people who will say criticisms levelled by some within the labour party towards the government could have been levelled at the blair government 20 years ago. the blair government — government 20 years ago. the blair government had _ government 20 years ago. the blair government had these _ government 20 years ago. the blair government had these private - government had these private discussion papers undergo the government did do things on silent policy it did not enact any of these proposals but look at the opposition to the remand plan from sir keir starmer today, to the remand plan from sir keir starmertoday, it's to the remand plan from sir keir starmer today, it's not a moral objection to it, it's technocratic, it's too expensive, it will not

work. labour put out a social media are before christmas saying £300 million of british taxpayer money due to rwanda, not a single asylum seeker centre. the implication is if lots of asylum seekers are sent it might be value for money but it's not same, absolutely apparent that the sixth richest country in the world, sub—saharan africa, a dictatorship with human rights abuses should take asylum seekers. the objection is about funds and whether it will work and get the courts, technocratic arguments so if you look at what keir starmer is apparently considering their spin press briefings over the last couple of weeks that labour is looking to offshore processing claims and so on, it's the same mindset, if the problem of someone else. but takes a small proportion of the world �*s asylum seekers, 100 million people displaced in the world, we are

talking about tens of thousands coming to the uk. we do not take many in comparison to fuel other european nation so it's a mindset of its the problem is somebody else and thatis its the problem is somebody else and that is pursing the whole debate and we should be looking at how we help people. we should be looking at how we help --eole. �* , people. and, we must live it there but thank you- _ to the middle east now — where israels bombardment of southern and central gaza has continued through the night. troops are battling hamas close to areas where large numbers of palestinian civilians are sheltering. 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 a warning: 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. live now to our middle east correspondent, yolande knell who's injerusalem. we are seeing lots of pictures there about the movement of people, the united nations warning something like 150,000 people are being displaced with very little idea of where they are supposed to go.

indeed, what has happened in the past week as israeli ground forces have pushed into the urban refugee camps in the centre of the gaza strip and that's where a lot of people displaced from the north who left their homes in the early stages have led to. now they are now once again, into a big town in the centre of gaza but not finding places to stay. most places have already been taken so you are seeing scenes of people setting up camps really on the street, moving into the grounds of the hospital and similar scenes down in the rafah crossing area, near the egyptian border, another 150,000 people reported to have moved there, swelling the numbers with displaced people, people who fled the fighting in khan younis which remains the main focus of the israeli ground offensive and we've

seen overnight as the battles take place between israeli troops and hamas fighters, more israeli air strikes in the centre and the centre of the gaza strip. even in the area of the gaza strip. even in the area of the gaza strip. even in the area of the rafah crossing we have seen 20 people reportedly killed in israeli strikes, from the footage you see there is one building totally removed from the map and we are told that the house to a lot of displaced families who came from gaza city. displaced families who came from gaza ci . ~ ., displaced families who came from gaza ci . ~ . , , gaza city. meanwhile egypt where he has ut gaza city. meanwhile egypt where he has put forward _ gaza city. meanwhile egypt where he has put forward a _ gaza city. meanwhile egypt where he has put forward a plan _ gaza city. meanwhile egypt where he has put forward a plan to _ gaza city. meanwhile egypt where he has put forward a plan to try - gaza city. meanwhile egypt where he has put forward a plan to try and - has put forward a plan to try and end the fighting, ultimately to go towards a ceasefire. can you take us through what they are proposing? sure. it an important mediator between israel and the palestinian armed groups, with a vested interest here because it is the country right next door and we know there is a high level hamas delegation and camera to give its response to the

latest egyptian plan. a 3—phase plan, according to the egyptians, to try and end the war in gaza. the first stage would see renewed temporary ceasefire is, the release of more than 100 plus israeli hostages who remain in hamas captivity in exchange for palestinian prisoners in israeli jails. it could lead the egyptians are saying, we understand, to a full ceasefire in the gaza strip and there is also a plant that has been put out there for a future technocratic government agreed by different palestinian factions to take control of gaza but that leads us onto what some of the problems are when it comes to negotiations. israel making clear it wants to completely dismantle hamas, its military and governing capabilities in gaza and does not want to see it as a future political force shaping events on the in gaza. 0n the hamas

side, the group has said it is not ready to free more israeli hostages until there is a full end to the fighting and israeli troops withdraw so you can see the egyptians have lots to do. ., ., so you can see the egyptians have lots to do. ., ,, us national park service rangers have charged formerjames bond actor pierce brosnan with trespassing in yellowstone national park. mr brosnan was charged with going off trail near the mammoth hot springs and has been ordered to appear in court in wyoming next month. the hot springs are part of the park's thermal features that include geysers, steam vents and scalding mud pools. more than 20 people have been killed after falling into the park's springs. storms in the pacific have led to huge waves battering the coastline of california including this wave, which seemed to take everyone by surprise. the water crashed over the sea wall in ventura county, sweeping both people and vehicles away. eight people were treated for minor injuries. the beaches remain closed

in the area, with the us national weather service warning that coastline breaking waves are creating potentially deadly conditions. stay with us here on bbc news. if you this weekend, keep across the forecast because there is a risk of heavy rain and flooding and the impacts of snow. strong to gale force winds, are towards the west of ireland, goes through saturday, still see girls topping and tailing the country as the rain and snow sweeps east. more details in a moment but back to him now. we continue with the rest of the

afternoon, cloud across northern england and northern ireland, the far south—west of scotland. to the south, some scattered showers, blustery wind, to the north actually with wintry showers in the north of scotland but through central areas and the edinburgh region, we stay dry with some shine. tonight, a band of cloud and rain until snow fizzles out, wet and windy with wench illness in the far north—east of scotland and as the next area of rain per she temperatures rise later in the night but not before dropping as dropping as low as —7 in scotland. cole started the weekend, dry and bright start for the early risers, when developing in the vast, heavy and northern ireland and spreading north and east. could see snow for a brief time in northern ireland, over the hills of northern england before turning to rain and temperatures rising in the south and east, dry weather through the afternoon. lots of clout. it is

called across scotland, some of the rules could be impacted by heavy snowfall as we go through the second half of saturday, but it will turn back to rain later on as we see another band of rain sweeping eastwards through the latter stages of saturday across england and wales, that clears into sunday, sunshine and showers on new year's eve, windy in the english channel and across shetland again, you could see winds of 60 or 70 miles an hour, later when slow moving shower so we could see large rainfall totals for some of us but staying mainly dry and heading up to the midnight hour to work in 202a, it's cool but nothing desperately chilly and some further shower surround and windy in the far south.

this is bbc news, the headlines. ukraine says russia has launched a massive air attack overnight with explosions reported across the country. 12 people are reported killed, with at least four deaths in the city of dnipro. the bombardment comes days after ukraine struck a russian warship in an occupied crimean port.

the top election official in the us state of maine has ruled that donald trump cannot run for president next year in the state. officials say they've banned him because he incited his supporters to storm the capitol building in january 2021. israel expands its ground offensive into palestinian refugee camps in central gaza, forcing thousands to flee. it comes as a hamas delegation heads to cairo to give its response to an egyptian ceasefire plan. now on bbc news...click. this week, nick's getting into his trunks to find out 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.