in an attack on a container ship in the southern red sea. it's the second assault by iran—backed houthi rebels on the ship within 2a hours. the us says the gunmen — who launched the raid from yemen — attacked in four boats, coming within 20 meters of the vessel. the fourth craft fled the area. the houthi rebels say their actions are in protest against the gaza war, where there were more air strikes by israel overnight. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, is insisting that the war in gaza will continue until all hostages have been released — and hamas has been dismantled. yolande knell reports. a giant campsite for the displaced. crammed into an ever shrinking area, tens of thousands of gazans who fled the fighting have set up makeshift tents and shacks by the egyptian border. israel says it's not restricting aid for gaza,

but the un complains the amount getting in is woefully inadequate. it's a very long and convoluted process with numerous checks before the aid actually gets into gaza, and then once the aid is in gaza it's very difficult to get aid to people. essentially we're delivering aid under fire. gaza streets have been turned into battlegrounds as hamas fighters try to block the advance of israeli soldiers. a main focus for israel's ground troops is now the southern city of khan younis and the central urban refugee camps. translation: we arrested dozens of terrorists in a school. _ they were hiding amongst civilians, hamas and the islamicjihad. we took them to israel to continue their interrogation. large numbers of gazans have been detained by israel. the men here were picked up near their homes in the north. they claim they were beaten, stripped to their underwear, and mistreated, even burnt with cigarettes. we can't independently verify their accounts. "they used obscene words," says this man. "they'd hold you like a dog and make you crawl, then there would be five soldiers who'd hit you alternately on the head and body." israel insists it treats detainees according to international law. for now there's no sign that israel

is lowering the intensity of its attacks on gaza. it says its aim remains to dismantle hamas. hamas says it won't give up the remaining israeli hostages it's holding unless there's a full ceasefire. and with a new year about to begin, for those living close to gaza's front—line, the suffering continues. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. live now to juliette touma, director of communications for the united nations relief and works agency, known as unrwa. fans for being with us. given the intensity that yolande was describing, how difficult is it for people to get hold of food and so on in gaza? , ., ., ., in gaza? yes, thanks for having me, and wishes — in gaza? yes, thanks for having me, and wishes for _ in gaza? yes, thanks for having me, and wishes for the _ in gaza? yes, thanks for having me, and wishes for the new _ in gaza? yes, thanks for having me, and wishes for the new year. - and wishes for the new year. extremely challenging to deliver assistance to people across the gaza strip right now, also because very

little humanitarian supplies continue to come into gaza, and also the fighting itself, and the fact that there is a raging war in the gaza strip stands in the way. the level of desperation among people, you may have seen videos that we posted, the media posted, of people who are absolutely hungry, starving, coming to aid trucks. there are also telecommunications cuts that are re—occurring. so it's a combination of challenges that stand in our way to deliver as much assistance that we should be. to deliver as much assistance that we should be-_ to deliver as much assistance that we should be— to deliver as much assistance that we should be. ~ . ~ ., , ,, we should be. what kind of steps can ou take to we should be. what kind of steps can you take to ensure _ we should be. what kind of steps can you take to ensure the _ we should be. what kind of steps can you take to ensure the safety - we should be. what kind of steps can you take to ensure the safety of - you take to ensure the safety of those convoys and make sure that the aid is distributed fairly? what sort of steps have you had to take? first of steps have you had to take? first of all, we coordinate _ of steps have you had to take? f “st of all, we coordinate all of our movements with the israeli authorities on the ground, and sometimes it doesn't work, like you've seen a few days ago, and one of our convoys, after it had delivered assistance to the north,

which is also restricted for us, that convoy got shot at by israeli soldiers. thankfully, we did not have any casualties on that convoy. convoys and the delivery of assistance should always be safe, and parties to the conflict should do everything possible to safeguard humanitarian access. in do everything possible to safeguard humanitarian access.— do everything possible to safeguard humanitarian access. in terms of how much food people _ humanitarian access. in terms of how much food people are _ humanitarian access. in terms of how much food people are getting - humanitarian access. in terms of how much food people are getting hold i much food people are getting hold of, what is your concern at the moment, what are you worried about if it carries on as it is at the moment? i if it carries on as it is at the moment?— if it carries on as it is at the moment? ~ ., , , ., moment? i think we are beyond concerned. _ moment? i think we are beyond concerned, we _ moment? i think we are beyond concerned, we are _ moment? i think we are beyond concerned, we are at _ moment? i think we are beyond concerned, we are at the - moment? i think we are beyond concerned, we are at the stage | moment? i think we are beyond - concerned, we are at the stage where it is notjust the concern, there was a united nations report that came outjust recently, warning about the hunger and high levels of starvation in the gaza strip. as the world counts down to the new year, there is another countdown that is happening in gaza, and that is the countdown against the risk of

looming famine, which could happen in the coming few weeks if no more food supplies come into gaza, adequate food supplies. i understand that ou adequate food supplies. i understand that you have — adequate food supplies. i understand that you have opened _ adequate food supplies. i understand that you have opened up _ adequate food supplies. i understand that you have opened up a _ adequate food supplies. i understand that you have opened up a vaccine i that you have opened up a vaccine clinic in rafer, how is that going? the aid agency brought in much needed vaccines for kids, which is absolutely fantastic. we will continue to give children vaccines, including against polio and measles. thank you very much indeed. russia has carried out more drone attacks on ukraine, with reports of explosions in a number of cities, including kharkiv and kyiv. the missile strikes on central kharkiv injured at least 21 people, including two teenage boys. the strikes are in apparent retaliation for ukraine's drone attack on the russian city of belgorod yesterday, which killed at least 20 people.

and reuters is reporting the governor of belgorod has issued a warning more missiles are heading towards residents there. the kremlin has requested an urgent meeting of the un security council. here's our russia editor, steve rosenberg. explosion caught on dash cam, a giant explosion in the centre of belgorod. there was panic, as people ran for cover. siren wails not everyone could. russia says at least 20 civilians were killed and more than 100 injured after a series of ukrainian strikes on the heart of the city, although the russian military claimed it had shot down most of the missiles. as emergency crews rushed to the scene, the scale of the damage became clear. billowing smoke making belgorod look more than ever like a front line city.

ukraine's border is just 20 miles away. the local governor, vyacheslav gladkov, said these were the deadliest consequences of ukrainian shelling that his region had experienced. explosion the attack came just a day after russia had carried out a huge wave of strikes across ukraine with missiles and with drones. at least 39 people, kyiv said, were killed. belgorod has come under attack before... ..with explosions like this one at the airport and at a power station. this kind of thing never happened before russia launched its full—scale invasion of ukraine. now, a deadly new strike on the eve of the new year holiday. russia has already hit back with new attacks of its own. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. explosion.

the first eurostar service today to paris has left london, following a day of cross—channel chaos. all trains were cancelled yesterday due to flooding in tunnels under the river thames. these pictures are of passengers boarding at st pancras this morning. eurostar says all services will run to and from london, but there are warnings that delays are still likely. simonjones reports. the queues at st pancras have been building since the early hours. eurostar says it plans to run all 32 scheduled services today, but they will be packed. that means many people unable to travel yesterday will struggle to make it across the channel today, leaving new year plans in doubt. oh, my goodness, it was a whirlwind, but we all stayed calm. i was very impressed. everyone stayed pretty calm, considering. but we're happy to be here. i'm reasonably optimistic because they told us yesterday that they're going to have two or three more trains.

really happy that i'm able to go back home today, yes. - and i'm feeling much . happier than yesterday. what happened yesterdayjust looked like complete chaos. a lot of people sound like they're scrambling, trying to get where they're going. and today's a new day, so it looks like we might be good. yesterday saw cross—channel chaos. lou docherty was supposed to get to disneyland paris. i've lost my hotel, my travel, my theatre that i booked, and i kind of don't have any plans for new year's eve now. i'll probably end up spending it with my parents, or i'll end up watching a disney film to try and pretend that i'm there. it's really disappointing. this was the cause of the problem — the high speed rail line left resembling a river. pumps and tankers have finally cleared enough waterfrom one of the two affected tunnels for trains to move again. but speed restrictions will be in place.

when you have 2a hours of disruption like this, it actually takes several days to get rid of that backlog of passengers who are affected. so this is easily going to go into wednesday or thursday of next week into the new year, causing a lot of pain along the way. high speed domestic trains into kent, completely cancelled yesterday, will run, but there will be a reduced service. the festive period has certainly been challenging on the railways. at times, passengers have seemed relieved simply to be on a train that's on the move. but the warning is that delays, disruption and cancellations could continue for a number of days across several parts of the network. thameslink trains across southeast england are suffering from staff shortages, and today there will be no services on six lines on northern. add snow and wind into the mix and it could be another difficult day for getting around. hsi, which runs the rail route between london and the channel tunnel,

says it understands how frustrating the problems have been for passengers at such an important time of year. ellie price is at st pancras with the latest. well, actually, we are not allowed to film inside, but things are looking slightly less chaotic than they did in that piece you just saw there from simon, and there are passengers who are able to go on the channel tunnel, on the eurostar, because those tunnels underneath the river thames here in london have both been cleared now of their flooding, so trains can run through. i've spoken to some passengers inside who are still frustrated, though, because there aren't extra services being offered by eurostar today, and there instead is a long queue of people who have been told they can wait in the standby queue, and if there are spare seats, shortly before some of the services leave, they can get on them, but no travellers who tried to go yesterday are able to rebook on to any of the services today, because they are now all full. so i think there will be a knock on over the next couple of days

and as simon said in his piece, there is a knock on effect to some of the domestic lines here in the uk running to the south—east, particularly kent. but it is essentially a positive picture here, things getting back to normal, slowly but surely. but as you said, there are some speed restrictions in place on some of the lines and the advice we always hear in these situations is check before you travel, and i think that is very much the case, particularly for the international travellers on the trains today, but as i say, largely a positive picture with things getting back to normal. the un says around 300 people die every year from lightning strikes in bangladesh. that's in comparison to fewer than 20 people annually in the us, which has almost double the population. lightning is now considered a natural disaster in the country alongside cyclones, floods and earthquakes. officials say climate change is leading to an increase in extreme storms, driving up the number of lightning strikes. 0ur correspondent rajini vaidyanathan reports from bangladesh.

a day of celebration turned into a lifetime of grief. mamun was due to get married when a storm struck. his family took shelter under a tin shed. it was hit by lightning. instead of his wedding, mamun was arranging funerals. translation: i ran to the river bank and found bodies lying everywhere. l i was at a loss. i couldn't even decide who to go to first. all the dead and injured were my close relatives. when i found my father's body, i simply burst into tears. lightning is a big killer in bangladesh, claiming more lives than floods annually. the government says extreme storms due to global warming have led

to a rise in fatal lightning strikes over the years. a singed football shirt — a painful reminder of how deadly lightning can be. it belonged to abdullah, a farmer who worked these fields when a thunderbolt struck him. for his wife, rehana, a loss that's hard to even understand. it was in the field? translation: my husband fell down i here when the lightning hit him. i some of the farmers brought him to this roadside shop. by then, he was dead. this is an irreplaceable loss for me. he won't come back. how do i raise my little boy now? he's only ia years old. now, she's terrified every time she sees a cloud in the sky.

the majority of victims of lightning strikes in bangladesh are farmers. working in the open, they're more vulnerable to the elements, especially in the monsoon months. despite the risks, farmers here say they have no choice but to work these fields, even if it leaves them exposed. so, what can be done to protect them? well, the government says it's planting more tall trees to attract lightning and it's developing an early warning text message system. but with hundreds of deaths in bangladesh every year due to lightning, is that enough? it's hoped these workshops, run by a local lightning awareness group, can help educate people about what to do in the face of a storm. but for families like mamun�*s, it's all too late — i6 relatives taken by lightning.

rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, bangladesh. a crackdown on xl bully dogs comes into force in england and wales today. it means owners must follow strict rules on how they are handled in public, including keeping them muzzled and on a lead. it comes ahead of a ban in february when it will be a criminal offence to own an xl bully dog in england and wales without a certificate. 0ur north of england correspondent, danny savage, has more. police at the scene of a dog attack, one where an xl bully type killed a man. elsewhere, this dog was handed in by its owner after it bit them. it was put down soon after we filmed it. too many such incidents have led to a ban on these dogs. soudal but, of course, the issue is that the aggression of a minority of xl bullies has led to all of them becoming a banned type, and all face the consequences of the law change.

from today, these dogs can only be out in public if they're muzzled and on a lead. i bought him as a staffy, but he's turned out to be an xl bully by size. before he comes over from... he has a muzzle on, yeah. the legislation�*s what it is. i'm just abiding by it. but this dog is nowhere near guilty or vicious or anything like that. it's just a small minority who have them, who don't control them properly. that's it. you all right? from today, it's also illegal to breed, sell or abandon an xl bully. that means rehoming them will be impossible. if they're not wanted, they're likely to be destroyed. we won't be able to take in any xl bullies. we won't be able to rehome any xl bullies. people are concerned about how to do muzzle training. so there's some really good advice out there on how to muzzle train your dog. but they're also concerned about the dog not being able to be let off lead. so a dog that is an xl bully and registered won't be allowed to be off—lead in a public place.

and you can see how much he loves snuffling. so, for him, this activity is going to be perfect. for months now, some xl bully owners have been taking their dogs to training... bingo. ..to get them used to a much more controlled life. good boy. at first everyone thought a ban means that, ok, that's it. you know, you have to say goodbye to your dogs. thankfully, a lot of good information came out quite quickly, and so people were able to see that that's not the case. but yeah, panic, stress, their loved fam... they're part of the family. of course, it's going to be the responsible dog owners that come forward and the irresponsible ones, it will probably be a knock at the door from the police. can you judge a temperament like this or do you need longer? really, temperament's hard because, for example, if we were saying this dog's safe, i don't think we can ever say a dog is safe. police will be calling on people who haven't declared their dogs. existing xl bullies can still be kept if owners can prove to a court they're responsible.

in cases where we believe the court may, you know, sort of approve an exemption, is we'll speak to the owner and say, "look they're obviously going to have to be spayed or neutered. the decision is with the court. but if you wanted to go ahead and do that now, things like the microchipping, the insurance and things like that, and also getting the home environment ready for the dog's return." good lad. xl bullies have caused too many problems for the government to ignore. yes, its left many owners upset, but this is seen as the most effective way to deal with them. danny savage, bbc news. it's a time of year when — despite the cold weather — plenty of people like to go for a swim in the sea. but there remains concern over the quality of water off the coast of the uk, and there's a call for water companies to provide real time data about when and where sewage is released into the sea. dafydd morgan reports. you can never have a bad swim, but do you want to come out feeling ill? robert morgan lives and breathes

the gower coastline, but enjoying this beautiful part of south wales comes with its risks. you can actually see the sewage come out of the pipe. absolutely disgusting, the smell. i'll go for a swim today. sometimes you can smell that detergenty smell. you can actually see it. sewage discharge means that some families now consider their local beaches to be unsafe. paddling on the stand—up paddle board on a beautifully, clear evening. and as soon as we're over that pipe, on one occasion, this smell, the colour of the water went from crystal clear to brown and again, unmistakably, you know, a sewage slip. combined sewage systems mean wastewater from toilets, bathrooms and kitchens is carried to sewage treatment works and the same pipes as rainwater. when rainfall is heavy, treatment plants are allowed to discharge untreated sewage to prevent the system from being overwhelmed. but if plants release more sewage than they're allowed to, they could be in breach of their permits. surfers against sewage's annual

water quality report claims that sewage was discharged for more than 600,000 hours in wales last year. every year thousands of people come to the beach here on poppet sands, this one that's proud to fly its blue flag. but figures from welsh water show the overflow system across the estuary here released on 2a occasions over the last two years. we do need to see concrete action. so promises are being made and that is all very, very encouraging. but we need to see action happening now. welsh water say that the surfers against sewage report ignored the investment made to improve water quality in seas and rivers. but they acknowledge that there's more to do and they're assessing the environmental impact of their assets, including storm overflows, so they can understand the factors impacting bathing water quality. they also say that there are other factors that contribute to sea and river pollution.

the company that covers northeast and mid wales say they take their responsibility very seriously. natural resources wales, the body responsible for monitoring water quality, said while they had seen great improvements in recent years, it was taken action to drive down sewage spills. auckland in new zealand has become the first major city to mark the start of 2024 — with a huge fireworks display. many millions of people are expected to take part in celebrations around the world in the coming hours, with crowds gathering in sydney in australia where eight tonnes of pyrotechnics will be launched from two of the country's most recognisable landmarks — the harbour bridge and the opera house. rachel mcadam has more. new year celebrations have officially begun. auckland in new zealand became the first major city to mark the start of 2024, with this light

show on its harbour bridge and sky tower. residents of the line islands in kiribati kicked off the new year an hour earlier. countries across the rest of the world are still gearing up for midnight celebrations and in some places preparations are still under way. in london, the fireworks display later is over in minutes, but is months in the making. planning started in august, but a small team of 22 have spent three long days on the final touches. 10,000 fireworks are loaded onto three barges ready to head down the thames to the london eye, where they'll be set off at midnight. we've got over 30 tonnes of equipment that gets loaded onto the barges, 50 kilometres of cable and wiring, 4,500 cubes that are all need to be wired in and tested

already for the midnight moment. the same company looks after displays across the uk, including hogmanay celebrations in edinburgh. preparations on the day itself are often close to the wire, with the london eye rigged just two hours before the display starts. with everything set, the sky's a blank canvas. the teams will be hoping it all runs like clockwork. and there will be similar hopes in sydney, australia. people have been gathering at the moment because it is only about 30 minutes until their big move into 202a. crowds at the harbour bridge, that is one of the most recognisable landmarks, and of course the opera house will be where you see those fireworks going from. i think it was about eight tonnes of pyrotechnics that will be launched

from the landmarks and several barges and skyscrapers also taking part in the festivities. stay with us on bbc news. hello. 2023 is finishing on an unsettled note. it's a day of sunshine and showers today. the showers will be heavy with some hail and thunder at times as well. we have the same area of low pressure with us today that we had yesterday. the centre of the low, which is just here, is not that windy. we do have stronger winds affecting the south—west of england and also the north—east of scotland. the legacy of the recent wet weather we have seen now for a number of weeks is that we have a number of flood warnings still currently in force. today, showers initially started off across western areas but they will become widespread today, blown along by gusty winds in the south—west, gusting into the odd 50s mph. 60mph gusts for shetland, with rain here and rain returns into aberdeenshire later on this afternoon. but otherwise, some sunshine, nowhere's immune from seeing a downpour.

some of the downpours can be quite slow moving for northern ireland, for north—west england and north wales as well. then, as we run up to the midnight hour, the new year's day celebrations — hogmanay as well — we are looking at the showery conditions prevailing. longer spells of rain potentially affecting parts of north—west england, the north midlands and north wales as well. the showers then continue through the remainder of the night with temperatures drifting a little bit lower. we might see a few patches of frost in sheltered glens in scotland. 0therwise, frost—free with temperatures between 2 to 6 celsius. new year's day, not a bad day for getting out and about and enjoying a walk for the first day of 202a. there will be some sunshine around, a few showers. further south, the weather will deteriorate with rain arriving. probably turning particularly wet in the south—west of england, southern wales towards the end of the day. that's where the mildest weather will be. otherwise a cooler day — temperatures around 7, 8 degrees. through monday night into tuesday, this area of rain will continue to push its way northwards.

we might see snow up over the highest pennines, the southern uplands and grampians for a time. more rain following that in. given the ground is saturated, we are likely to see further localised flooding building in as we head into tuesday. mild in the south, cooler weather in scotland. through the remainder of the week, it stays unsettled. temperatures on the mild side for england and wales. the cooler weather for scotland and northern ireland.

this is bbc news, the headlines: israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the country has to establish full control of gaza's border area with egypt to ensure the territory's demilitarisation. his comments come as military forces press ahead with an offensive that he says will last "for many months". following a day of travel chaos, eurostar services have resumed between london and paris. disruption had been caused by two flooded tunnels blocking the high speed rail line — leading to disappointment for tens of thousands of travellers. new year's celebrations begin as new zealand greets 2024 with a huge firework display.

now on bbc news, the travel show: azerbaijan. i'm on a journey to explore azerbaijan. neither asia nor europe, this is a country where a colourful past and prosperous present intertwine. the price of the caviar in azerbaijan is like four times less than in the uk. filled with ancient wonders, it's a place where the natural world has shaped its history for generations. a unique country, with nine climate zones. it borders russia to the north, iran to the south, with the caspian sea on one side, and georgia and armenia on the other. i want to explore the many faces

of azerbaijan, both old and new,