on the ship within 2a hours. the us says the gunmen — who launched the raid from yemen — attacked in four boats, coming within 20 metres 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. our correspondent shaimaa khalil reports from jerusalem. street by street, the battles on the ground in gaza rage on. israel is concentrating its ground offensive on the centre and the south of the strip. with hamas fighters continuing to resist the idf�*s advances. translation: the war is at its height. - we are fighting on all fronts.

we have huge success but we also have painful cases. central gaza is the latest focus of israel's military operation, with heavy bombardment on the densely populated nuseirat refugee camp. further south, in neighbouring deir al—balah, palestinian rescue workers stand around the body of their colleague. he was killed in a strike near the al aqsa hospital where many of the wounded are being treated. this is the safe area where palestinians were told to come to escape the fighting in the centre. but as the military operation expands, safe areas for gazans keep shrinking. the southernmost city of rafah has now become the last stop for hundreds of thousands of displaced people fleeing the heavy bombardment in khan younis. many using makeshift shelters near the border with egypt. there is nowhere else to go from here.

translation: | hope - that the war will end soon. i hope we can return to our homes, go back to school, return to everything that is familiar in the new year. the fallout from the war in gaza continues to be felt in the red sea, with yet another houthi attack. the us central command said that navy helicopters destroyed three of four small boats used by the iranian—backed militants as they attempted to board a container ship. this footage released last month shows some of the group's armed militias dropping from a helicopter and seizing a cargo ship in the southern red sea. the houthis have claimed that their attacks on this vital shipping route are directed at vessels linked to israel in response to its conflict with hamas. as this year draws to a close there is no end in sight for the war in gaza or the suffering of its people. earlier i spoke tojuliette touma director of communications for the united nations relief and works agency — she explained the issues they are

facing on the ground in gaza. 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 also 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. what kind of steps can 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 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,

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 terms of how 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 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 you have opened up a vaccine clinic in rafah, how is that going? the aid agency brought in much needed vaccines for kids, which is absolutely fantastic. we together with who will continue to give children vaccines, including against polio and measles. 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. ellie price reports. the first eurostar train to leave london since friday night pulled away just after eight o'clock this morning. 41 services were cancelled yesterday, leaving lots of passengers disappointed and stranded, and madly trying to reorganise their new year plans. a little bit anxious because i'm just waiting to travel, spend the new year with my fiance. he is french and lives in paris. so we're just waiting to see. he works for french border police. so we'lljust see what happens.

we tried flying to brussels. that didn't work out either. and now we're back to take a train today, hopefully. they gave all the standby seats away so they didn't have - any seats on the plane. so it's been a disaster from start to finish? yes. it was all caused by flooding in two high—speed rail tunnels under the thames. pumping this much water out wasn't a quickjob. we have cleared the water from both of the tunnels that were impacted yesterday under the thames and we are looking to run a near normal service this morning. it's had a knock—on effect on domestic high—speed services, too, though most seem to be running on time now. eurostar say all speed restrictions on the line have now been lifted and all services will be travelling at normal speeds. but for many it wasn't quite the bon voyage to 2023 they were looking for. ellie price, bbc news, st pancras, in london. 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 14 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. now it's time for a look at today's sport with sarah. thank at today's sport with sarah. you very much. good a there are two games this new year's eve in the english premier league, and arsenal are bidding to go back to the top of the table. they're away to fulham. and after around 15 minutes. in fulham it is 1—0 to arsenal. an early goalfor the in fulham it is 1—0 to arsenal. an early goal for the visitors there. in north london, tottenham

are taking on bournemouth. they are also leading with an early goal. you can of course follow them on the bbc sport website and app. new zealand skipper mitchell santner took four wickets as they beat bangladesh by 17 runs in their third t20 match in mount maunganui. he helped dismiss the tourists for a modest iio but new zealand collapsed to 49—5, before recovering to within 16 runs of victory, when heavy rain halted play. they were ahead of the dls rate at that stage and the match was eventually called off, giving the hosts the win which ensured the series finished all—square. at the united cup tennis in perth, taylor fritz has led the usa to an impressive comeback win over great britain. katie boulter gave britain the lead with the best win of her career, beating world number five jessica pegula in three sets. but fritz was too good for cameron norrie, levelling the tie and taking it to a deciding mixed doubles match. boulter was back, paired with neal skupski, and they raced through the first set 6—1

but fritz and pegula won it on a super tie—break to reach the quarter—finals. british teenage darts sensation luke littler�*s breathtaking run at the pdc world championship in london continues. the 16—year—old thrashed five—time winner raymond van barneveld 4 sets to one to reach the quarter—finals. a victory all the more special as the dutchman was littler�*s idol when he first started playing. unbelievable. 10,13 years ago i was doing his celebration, throwing on my little board and now i've just beaten him, one of the greatest stage of them all. i'm only 16. i've got nothing to fear, i've got no one to fear, because my game can be better than anyone's on my day and i've just shown it there, i've just beaten one of the best to have graced that stage. it gives me goosebumps. i have won three world youth titles and this is the biggest one of them

all and i'm only three wins away now. the detroit pistons�* record—tying losing streak in the nba has finally come to an end. they'd lost 28 games in a row, but they squeezed past toronoto raptors 129—127, cade cunningham with 30 points and 12 assists. that helps them on the way to the much—needed victory. 0h, oh, man, ifeelamazing. yes, this is my first time. i am teasing right now in this interview but i feel good. it's been a long time coming. i want to go back to where we were. i want to go back to where we were. i think he's right to be cheese in the interview. the dallas cowboys have ended the nfl season with a100% home record for the first time in 42 years. they onlyjust held off the detroit lions though, winning 20—19 — it was a controversial ending, with the lions penalised when jared goff found lineman

taylor decker in the end zone for the two points that would have given them the win — but the officials said decker hadn't reported as an eligible receiver. proud of those guys. this was a complete team when. we did it together and that is what is important to move forward and understand that everything we have to do has to be together. special teams, defence and offence we all have each other�*s back. if one is not doing well. nobody should be doing bad. it is time for our best. and that's all the sport for now. thank you very much, sarah. 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. 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. 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 yourdog. 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. china's leader, xijinping, has reiterated his claim that it is inevitable that taiwan will be reunified

with mainland china. mr xi made the comments during his new year's address, which comes less than two weeks before a general election in the self—ruled island that beijing considers part of its own territory. in the speech, president xi also addressed a challenging year for the country's economy, stating it had �*weathered the storm'. the lengthy address covered a range of topics — including the country's covid—i9 response, sports achievements and technological developments. un peacekeepers are due to finish their withdrawal from mali on sunday —— after a long—running mission lasting it began in 2013 after an armed rebellion. the withdrawal was demanded by the militaryjunta which is building close ties with moscow. the australian journalist and documentary filmakerjohn pilger has died at the age of 8a. he worked for a number of publications including the daily mirror; world in action and the guardian and was highly critical of western foreign policy. new year's celebrations have begun.

aukland in new zealand became the first major city to mark the start of 202a. and in sydney, australia huge crowds gathered for one of the world's most spectacular fireworks displays over the harbour bridge and the opera house. many millions more are expected to take part in worldwide celebrations over the coming hours. rachel mcadam reports. five, four, three, two, one! 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. sydney followed on from auckland with huge crowds gathering to watch a spectacular firework display over the harbour bridge and the opera house. 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, 11,500 keys that are all need to be wired 11,500 cues that are all need to be wired in and tested already for the midnight moment. preparations on the day itself are often close to the wire, with the london eye rigged just 2 hours before the display starts. with the london eye rigged just two

hours before the display starts. with everything set, the sky a blank canvas, the teams will be hoping it all runs like clockwork. rachel mcadam, bbc news. and if you want to follow along with new year celebrations happening around the world, you can check out our live page on the bbc news website. a british army officer is believed to have become the fastest woman ever to complete a solo ski expedition, to the south pole. captain preet chandi or "polar preet" as she's become known, covered the 1130 kilometres in a record time ofjust over 31 days. this was her third trip to the antarctic region, and faced temperatures, of minus thirty degrees celsius. and just before we go, here's something you don't see every day. this is the moment a meteor went flying over england in the early hours of saturday. footage posted on social media showed what appeared to be a shooting star, which could be seen from locations including kent,

london and birmingham. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. we are ending the year with a day of sunny spells but also rather blustery showers. there will be some heavy downpours still to come a time some hail and thunder always possible. the ground is already saturated in a few spots. a number of flood warnings in force, do take a look at the bbc weather website for more details on those. any extra rain not welcome in a few places. low pressure centred across the uk will be pushing eastwards for the uk will be pushing eastwards for the rest of the day. blustery showers swirling around. very strong winds towards the south coast of england and wales, a weather warning in place there. gusts of wind across

the coast could get up to high as 60 or 70 mph. the coast could get up to high as 60 or70 mph. lighterwinds the coast could get up to high as 60 or 70 mph. lighter winds to the centre of the low across northern england and scotland and ireland. perhaps rain edging to parts of aberdeenshire by the end of the day. temperatures lower than they were yesterday. lots of people out tonight bringing in the new year, a scattering of showers to the south of england and here the winds are still strong and could quite possibly hamper a fireworks displays. a few showers across the south—east and east anglia but more showers across the midlands and the north—west of england speeding down this north—westerly wind across northern ireland and south—west of scotland. largely dry for much of scotland. largely dry for much of scotland. it will be a drier looking day tomorrow but more rain edging in from the south—west by the time we get to the end of the day. tomorrow though, looking largely dry through the morning for new year's day. out for a new year is what they will be some sunshine around the cloud increasing for the south later with eventually outbreaks of rain. looking driver scotland northern

england and northern ireland throughout the day. temperatures are a little lower. that rain is going to be pushing northwards and eastwards as we had three monday night, again, a lot of that will be heavy over saturated ground. there is another know that going to be spinning in from the south on tuesday as we go through the morning into the afternoon eventually clearing northwards. some more snow perhaps over the tops of the hills in parts of aberdeenshire with brisk south easterly wednesday. temperatures dropping but milder towards the south of england and wales. if few more showers possible on wednesday and thursday. it will turn colder by the time we get to the weekend. bye for now.

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". russia has carried out more drone attacks on ukraine with reports of explosions across the country. in kharkiv, the city's mayor says residential buildings have been on fire. moscow has been retaliating after ukrainian strikes on the russian border city of belgorod. 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. a spectacular fireworks display in sydney — the australian city is the latest to welcome in 2024 — as new year's eve celebrations continue around the world. now on bbc news — lives well lived: episode one. the national portrait gallery in london, where there are thousands upon thousands of faces from the past and present. for centuries, we've immortalised them in pencil, paint and through the lens of a camera. and each year, we mark the passing of people we may never have met,

there was an energy here that brought something out