we will bring in more new year's celebrations around the world later in the programme. but now, let's turn to the middle east. the us military says its helicopters have destroyed three small boats 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 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. 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. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem. earlier i spoke to rear admiral dr chris parry, a former royal navy warfare officer, for more information on the attacks. well, i think it's a continuation of the pressure that iran, through the houthis, is trying to apply to free world nations to try and offset the support that they're giving to israel. they're not too fussy about some of the vessels that they are attacking. originally, of course, they said they were attacking those with israeli connections. they've become a lot less discriminating since, and i think they're just trying to make trouble in one

of the chokepoints of the maritime trading system. you mentioned that the choke points. so talk to us about that bab el mundo, so talk to us about that ——bab al—mandab that particular section of the red sea. tell us why that's so important and why they've targeted that. one of the things i've said over the years is that the sea is the physical equivalent of the world wide web, and you get sort of chokepoints where the geography constrains the maritime routes. so you get it in the english channel, the malacca straits near singapore, and the bab al—mandeb, which is off aden and you get quite a lot of shipping going through. it's very high density and of course much of the oil and gas that the west uses comes through that route. the only alternative really is to go around the cape and it's quite significant, of course, that the houthis, as the agents of iran, are not constraining oil and gas that is going to china and india, but they are constraining the oil

and gas that is coming to europe and the rest of the free world. joining me from tel aviv is danny danon. he's a senior member of israel's knesset as well as israel's former ambassador to the united nations. thank you very much indeed for joining us. ijust want to pick up on events in the red sea. that is will have a plan at all to deal with the houthis in israel itself as there has been constrained from other countries and what to do with this. does israel think they should do more about what the houthis are doing? do more about what the houthis are doin.? do more about what the houthis are doinu ? ., ., doing? good evening, lorraine. indeed, doing? good evening, lorraine. indeed. we _ doing? good evening, lorraine. indeed, we have _ doing? good evening, lorraine. indeed, we have a _ doing? good evening, lorraine. indeed, we have a plane - doing? good evening, lorraine. indeed, we have a plane and i doing? good evening, lorraine. i indeed, we have a plane and have doing? good evening, lorraine. - indeed, we have a plane and have the capability to deal with the houthis, but we expect the international community to be involved on this issue. because it is a threat not only to israel, but the entire western democracies and i think what western democracies and i think what we said at the beginning it has a fight against democracy, not against israel. i think the us and other countries realise that which is by raising the international community coming together with a major force to fight back against those pirates. it's well is also saying it will continue, or benjamin netanyahu is saying it is caught they will

continue with the war until hamas is dismantled. , , ., continue with the war until hamas is dismantled. , ,., ., continue with the war until hamas is dismantled-— dismantled. given some of the main leaders have — dismantled. given some of the main leaders have not _ dismantled. given some of the main leaders have not been _ dismantled. given some of the main leaders have not been killed - dismantled. given some of the main leaders have not been killed or- leaders have not been killed or captured yet, how far do you think they have got with deteriorating hamas's capacity for causing damage? we have two major objectives anywhere, first the eradication of hamas. it does not mean we will kill everybody in hamas, but definitely we want to make sure and as woodwork will not be in power in gaza after about. ~ ., ., ., , about. we do not intend to stay there forever. _ about. we do not intend to stay there forever. -- _ about. we do not intend to stay there forever. -- to _ about. we do not intend to stay there forever. -- to make - about. we do not intend to stay there forever. -- to make sure | about. we do not intend to stay - there forever. -- to make sure hamas there forever. —— to make sure hamas will not be empowering power in gaza. and the second is at the release of the hostages have been held for almost three months. we saw a report about the abuses comedy tortures that the hostages are suffering from and we are committed to do everything we can to bring them back home. you to do everything we can to bring them back home. ., ., . them back home. you mentioned what ha--ens them back home. you mentioned what happens next — them back home. you mentioned what happens next in _ them back home. you mentioned what happens next in passing _ them back home. you mentioned what happens next in passing there. - them back home. you mentioned what happens next in passing there. the - happens next in passing there. the pressure from the us is to scale back the operations and focus on some of the humanitarian crisis in gaza itself. how do you think the

next stage will happen, if indeed there is a ceasefire and they were ends, and what expect to happen with the governance of gaza? we ends, and what expect to happen with the governance of gaza?— the governance of gaza? we are not there, we the governance of gaza? we are not there. we have _ the governance of gaza? we are not there, we have a _ the governance of gaza? we are not there, we have a lot _ the governance of gaza? we are not there, we have a lot to _ the governance of gaza? we are not there, we have a lot to do _ the governance of gaza? we are not there, we have a lot to do before i there, we have a lot to do before that. we are committed, we have not forgotten what happened on october 7th, and we cannot allow hamas to regroup and come again in a year or two years, so we are very determined to go all the way. regarding the day after, we do not intend to stay there. we will have to control security issues concerning our safety, but i think we will have to work 80 mechanism that will deal with the civilian issues, international forces, maybe with the civilian issues, internationalforces, maybe some with the civilian issues, international forces, maybe some of the arab countries in the region should step in also, but it will take time. so now we are focused on achieving the goals of the worm. hope achieving the goals of the worm. how difficult is it to _ achieving the goals of the worm. how difficult is it to achieve the goals of the work, given constraints —— of the war. how difficult is it to

contain or maintain a number of trips you need for the operation at the skillet is at the moment? —— troops. it the skillet is at the moment? -- troo s. , the skillet is at the moment? -- troos. , i a, the skillet is at the moment? -- troos. ,. i, , , i, troops. it is challenging because of the manpower. _ troops. it is challenging because of the manpower, our— troops. it is challenging because of the manpower, our boys _ troops. it is challenging because of the manpower, our boys will- troops. it is challenging because of the manpower, our boys will need | troops. it is challenging because of. the manpower, our boys will need to stay there as long as they need to stay there as long as they need to stay there. the challenges to manoeuvre in a very urban population with 2 million people and we do our best to minimise civilian casualties, that is why we operate very slowly, but i think we are seeing that hamas is paying a heavy price in the majority of the area we will be able to fight and win. by the way, and aswad mac are not fighting our soldiers, they were very brave when they fought women and children and rape them and kidnap them, but now they're hiding in tunnels —— hamas are not fighting our soldiers. they are coming out and trying to ambush our soldiers very unsuccessfully. thank you very much indeed, danny done on for talking to us. danny danon.

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 — which started yesterday — have now injured at least 21 people. the strikes are in apparent retaliation for ukraine's drone attack on the russian city of belgorod, which killed at least 20 people. and reuters is reporting the govenor 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. the two british skiiers who died in an avalanche in the french alps on thursday were a mother and son from manchester. the pair have been named as 54—year—old kate vokes and 22—year—old archie vokes. they lost their lives when an avalanche swept through an off—piste section of the saint—gervais resort near mont blanc. in a statement released on sunday, the family said they are "beyond heartbroken" following what they described as a "tragic accident". 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 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. 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. our 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. 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. that's it. you're 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, they're loved fam... they're part of the family. 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, 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. now it's time for a look

at today's sport. hello. two games in the premier league and there's been a twist at the top of the table. arsenal have lost 2—1 at craven cottage, missing their chance to return to the top. they took the lead through bukayo saka, but goals from rauljimenez and bobby decordova—reid either side of half time were enough for fulham to win and move them up to 13th. arsenal remain fourth, two points off liverpool and have played a game more. it was the worst game of the season, think, and the activities we had in defence, second best in every action, we could not dominate play, so we had issues because of that. so yes, really disappointing. in the day's other game, tottenham cruised to a 3—1 win over bournemouth. goals from heung min son and richarlison in the last 20

minutes, added to pape sarr�*s opener, before bournemouth scored a consolation through alex scott, who also had a goal ruled out for off—side. spurs are nowjust a point behind rivals arsenal in the table. yes, we wanted to show a little bit of a response today, the credit to them, we had today's lesser rest for meth and to put in that effort today was outstanding. hugo lloris came onto the pitch at the tottenham hotspur stadium to wave goodbye to the spurs fans at half time. he's agreed a deal to go to mls side los angeles fc when the transfer window opens. it's after 11 years at tottenham. luton town captain tom lockyer says he'll meet specialists in the new year to decide his footballing future. lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest during luton's match against bournemouth on the 16th

of december and has had an internal defibrillator fitted. in a statement on social media, he praised the doctors and paramedics, as well as the reactions of his team—mates and both sets of fans at the match earlier this month. in tennis, novak djokovic led serbia to a 2—1 win over china in the united cup. djokovic beat china's zhang zhizhen in the first match, before olga danilovic lost to make the mixed doubles the decider. well, serbia won that two sets to one. and that means they're second in group e behind china, who've already beaten the czech republic. staying with tennis, rafael nadal�*s first singles match since last january will be against austrian dominic thiem. they've been drawn against each other in the round of 32 at the brisbane open. nadal was beaten in his comeback match, losing in the doubles alongside compatriot marc lopez at the brisbane international.

more details on all those stories on the bbc sport website, but that is it from me for now. thank you, jane. authorities in the democratic republic of congo say president felix tshisekedi had been re—elected. the country's election commission reports the president won about 73% of the vote, with his nearest challenger, moise katumbi, on i8%. there have been complaints about irregularities. the vote was marred by widespread logistical problems, with a number of polling stations opening late. the opposition said the problems were part of a deliberate plan to allow the results to be rigged in favour of mr tshisekedi. in some parts of the country, demonstrators took to the streets to protest the result. this here is in the city of goma, in the country's north. 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. 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. he was in the field? translation: my husband fell down i here when the lightning hit him. i some otherfarmers 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. new year's celebrations have begun. auckland in new zealand became the first major city to mark the start of 202a. and in australia, huge crowds gathered in sydney 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. sydney followed on from auckland with huge crowds gathering to watch a spectacular firework display over the harbour bridge and the opera house. japan has welcomed in the new year with this bell—ringing ceremony in tokyo. followed shortly after by seoul in south korea. fireworks lit up the sky in hong kong and the skyscraper in taipei was lit up. 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 it's been 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 cues that all need to be wired in and tested all ready for the midnight moment. preparations on the day itself are often close to the wire, with the london eye rigged just two hours before the display starts. 4,3,2,1. 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.

hello there, good evening, blustery showers. beautiful rainbow is our weather watchers in windy conditions. the ground already pretty saturated from all of the recent rain. there are a number of flood warnings in place, particularly across the welsh marches. all of the details on those on the bbc weather website. we've seen low pressure gradually push its way eastwards across the uk. in the centre of the low pressure across northern england and scotland, the winds are light but still very blustery towards the south coast overnight tonight. still plenty more

showers around as well. the focus for that wet weather across north—west england stretching down through into the north midlands and some more showers for parts of argyll and bute as well. some clearer skies for many. it's a cold, frosty start to new year's day after the hogmanay celebrations in scotland, but it is milder further south. let's take a look at new year's day. for most of us, i think it will be a nicer looking day of weather. if you fancy a new year's stroll, there will be quite a lot of dry weather around, some sunshine. that will last longest across east anglia for northern england, the midlands, northern ireland and for much of scotland. but the cloud will start to build towards the south—west of england through the late morning. there'll be outbreaks of heavy rain here by the time we get to the mid afternoon. temperatures starting to slip a little 5 to 11 degrees celsius. the milder, of course, where we've got the cloud and the rain and those heavy downpours of rain falling on saturated ground. of course, in many places. starting to drift northwards and eastwards

as we head through monday evening, eventually clearing the south coast. but there's more rain just waiting in the wings and we'll be seeing that on tuesday morning. as you can see on the pressure chart here, again, it's tending to move its way northwards and eastward. so some more heavy rain across much of england and wales. as we go through the first part of tuesday, that drifts that drifts into northern england by the end of the day. another feed of rain, some wintry showers, perhaps over the tops of the hills into parts of aberdeenshire with the brisk southeasterly wind. temperatures turning milder, of course, towards the south, underneath the cloud in the rain, 11 to 13 degrees celsius, but still colder across scotland and northern ireland. but here is the outlook for our capital cities. as we head through the start of january, things will be staying a lot colder for all of us by next weekend. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the us navy says it's sunk three houthi rebel boats in the red sea — after they attacked and tried to board a container ship off the coast of yemen. the american military says the boats got within metres of the maersk ship — which has come under attack for the second time in 2a hours. president putin says russia won't back down in ukraine, as moscow carries out more drone attacks. in kharkiv, officials say at least 28 people were injured after russian missiles hit the north eastern city. a spectacular fireworks display as hong kong welcomes in 2024 — with new year's eve celebrations continuing around the world.

now on bbc news — the royal year in review. a moment in history — the coronation of king charles iii. god save the king! congregation: god save the king! cheering. across three days in may, the nation celebrated the newly crowned king and queen.