live from washington, this is bbc news. at least eight people have been killed after a major earthquake struck japan. thousands evacuated from coastal areas, though all tsunami warnings have now been lifted. south korea's main opposition leader has been stabbed during a public event. the country's president has called the attack unacceptable. israel's supreme court strikes down judicial reforms that sparked widespread protests last year. it's seen as a blow to prime minister benjamin netanyahu. hello. i'm helena humphrey.

it's good to have you with us. we start onjapan, where search and rescue efforts are under way after a powerful earthquake struck the country on new year's day. at least 13 people are reported dead, according to local media. thousands of rescue personnel have been dispatched tuesday, but are struggling to navigate badly damaged roads. the epicentre of the 7.6 magnitude quake, was in the province of noto. tremors were felt hundreds of miles away in the capital tokyo. tens of thousands of people were told to head to higher ground. tsunami warnings have now been lifted. several aftershocks have been reported in the region. these are the latest images coming from wajima city, which was particularly hard hit. you can see crews battling several fires amid collapsed buildings. and here firefighters are working to rescue people believed to be trapped under the ruins of a seven—storey building. both the uk and us have said they're ready to provide any necessary assistance to japan. prime minister kishida has described the damage as extensive.

translation: the self defence forces will face _ many difficulties reaching the disaster—hit areas because roads have been cut off. people and buildings will be rescued as soon as possible before buildings collapse. i have ordered officials to do everything they can to get to disaster—hit areas. the bbc�*s suranjana tewari has this report from japan. this footage from inside someone's home captures the moment the powerful earthquake struck. some staff at this news network took cover, while others wanted to cover the story. the 7.6 magnitude earthquake struckjust after 4:00 in the afternoon, local time. it was caught on camera in this supermarket. there was chaos and confusion.

tsunami warnings were issued, then downgraded, on the ishikawa coastline, and people were told to head to higher ground. translation: | would| like to ask all residents to continue to pay close attention to the occurrence of this strong earthquake. if you are in a region where a tsunami is expected, please evacuate as soon as possible. more than 140 kilometres from the epicentre, this video was taken by english teacher barnie davis. itjust kept going. it was really long. the fridge door was opening and shutting, pictures were going all over the place, everything fell off the shelves. it was pretty dramatic. barnie and his family went to the local evacuation centre until he was told it was safe to return home. but then... literally just as we're talking, my phone's given us an alert, there's been another little earthquake up north again. the whole evening, there have been aftershocks.

despite the damage to roads and buildings, this earthquake is not as severe as 2011, when a magnitude nine quake triggered a tsunami, leading to a nuclear meltdown at the fukushima power plant. this time, all nuclear facilities are currently u naffected. our reporter suranjana tewari was injapan when the quake hit. shejoined mejust hours ago with more. great to see you. if you could just begin by telling us a little bit about the latest on the ground where you are. yeah, helen, iwill- _ authorities have downgraded the latest tsunami warning, they issued an issue in ishiwaka prefecture as soon as the 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck, did trigger waves of one metre across the west coast as japan, even as far as south korea. what we do know is buildings have been damaged. some fires were started. some people have died and many more remain trapped.

the army have been deployed to try and help with the response. i am actually in a neighbouring prefecture, nagano, in the mountains and i was here on holiday and i actually, we got an alert on our phones, because japan has a very sophisticated tsunami and earthquake warning system, we got alerts on our phones and sirens before we felt the shaking as far as this neighbouring prefecture. for people who have had to evacuate, what kind of conditions have they been staying in? do we have any idea about the level of destruction or when they will be able to go back home? the big fear is that coastal area and the fear of the earthquake triggering a tsunami, the government says around 100,000 people have been asked to move to higher ground. many people spent the night in evacuation centres, again because japan is a hotbed

of seismic activity, it has a lot of these plans in place, these preparations in place, so everyone knows where their local evacuation centre would be. and the other issue though is electricity power cuts, tens of thousands of homes do not have electricity and we are sitting near freezing temperatures in some areas that are affected. for people who are affected who did not manage to evacuate on—time, tell us the search and rescue operations that continue and the potential sadly for the death toll to rise? it was night injapan, the earthquake struck at 4pm and it became dark very quickly, in winter it becomes very dark quickly, overnight it was not clear how bad the damage has been, the authorities have said it is quite difficult

to access the quake—hit areas because of roadblocks but because the roads have been damaged in the area, and responders are struggling to reach people but now that the sun has gone up, they will be able to see how much damage there is been, we are hearing reports of damage to infrastructure and the transport network has also been affected. briefly, you mentioned you received a text message alert have there been any reports of people saying they were not warned about the possibility of a large—scale earthquake? not as far as we have seen, as i mentioned because japan has so many earthquakes, there is such a big threat of earthquakes they have a very sophisticated warning system. i will say the, i received the alert and very quickly

we felt the ground shaking and we were quite far away from the epicentre, i can imagine if people were closer they may not have had that much time to seek shelter. but what we do know is this earthquake is not as big as the big one in 2011 which triggered a nuclear disaster at fukushima, that is the big concern, the nuclear plants along the coast but authorities have said those nuclear plants have not been affected by this latest earthquake or the after—shocks. sura njana tewari. thank you so much for bringing us up to date. we have a major story developing in south korea, where the country's main opposition leader has been stabbed. lee jae—myung was touring the site of a proposed airport in the southern port city of busan when he was attacked by an unidentified man. a warning that we are about to show you some graphics images. this was the moment of the attack. you can see the assailant

approach him in a crowd of reporters. we have stopped the footage just before mr lee is attacked. south korea's yonhap news agency says the assailant claimed to be a supporter and asked for an autograph, before stabbing him on the left side of his neck. yonhap also reports the 59—year—old remained conscious throughout and was rushed to a local trauma ward for treatment. live now to kelly kasulis cho, the washington post's seoul breaking news reporter. welcome to you, kelly, thank you forjoining us on this story. what is the latest we know on this attack, about how it happened?— it happened? well, 'ust like what was i it happened? well, 'ust like what was shown _ it happened? well, 'ust like what was shown in h it happened? well, just like what was shown in the - it happened? well, just like i what was shown in the video, it happened? well, just like - what was shown in the video, we know that lee jae—myung was attacked while visiting, you know, a potential new airport

thatis know, a potential new airport that is being built in busan. we know that the man who stabbed him was apprehended and we know that the busan police is investigating the attack. certainly, it seems that even though he was injured, there is a laceration to his neck, and he is being treated, the semi—official newsagency here in south korea with government funding has said that he is conscious and being treated. the last we know he is conscious, receiving treatment on the trauma ward. ijust want a watmore you can tell us about mr lee. we know he only narrowly lost the presidential election in 2022. ajudge in september of last year denying an arrest warrant which was out for him on broad corruption charges. just tell us more about him and about his politics as well.- about him and about his politics as well. right, so lee jae-myung — politics as well. right, so lee jae-myung is _ politics as well. right, so lee

jae-myung is a _ politics as well. right, so lee jae-myung is a very - jae—myung is a very important political figure jae—myung is a very important politicalfigure in jae—myung is a very important political figure in south korea. his politics tend to be liberal or sort of centre—left. he is often touted as this person of influence who has a rags to riches story. he has said he worked as a boy in factories and that he sustained a permanent injury to his arm as a boy working in those factories and he later grew up to be a labour lawyer, the mayor of the city, and then a governor, which is a major province with millions of people right next to seoul. this sort of policies he has supported in recent years are more social welfare programmes, covid for residents, free school uniforms, in korea these are sort of left—leaning policies. he ran for president in 2022 and he just narrowly

lost. just buy a couple of votes really, a few percentage points. he is a divisive political figure points. he is a divisive politicalfigure in points. he is a divisive political figure in south korea. south korean politics are extremely polar ties between conservative and liberal. right now we have a conservative president in power and he has been subject to several investigations involving allegations of favours, being granted when he was mayor, corporate donations, preferential treatment of a development company, and he has denied all of those charges. but, again, you know, south korean politics are very polarised and certainly this event is big news. tell polarised and certainly this event is big news.- event is big news. tell us about more _ event is big news. tell us about more about - event is big news. tell us about more about that i event is big news. tell us - about more about that reaction when we have just seen an incredibly distressing incident against somebody who was such a prominent figure in south

korea. , ., ., , korea. yes, the footage has . one korea. yes, the footage has gone viral. _ korea. yes, the footage has gone viral, the _ korea. yes, the footage has gone viral, the footage - korea. yes, the footage has gone viral, the footage of. korea. yes, the footage has l gone viral, the footage of the attack, it is certainly very disturbing and very shocking and, of course, prominent politicalfigures and, of course, prominent political figures condemn this attack. president aoun, the current leader of south korea, has said the attack is an example of all. the justice party, which is sort of a centre—left party within south korea put out a statement calling it an act of political terrorism, so the reaction of course is very negative and there are very strong supporters in south korea as well as people who do not want him to be a politicalfigure. the washington post breaking news reporter there in seoul, kelly kasulis cho, thank you for bringing us up—to—date with all of those details. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a major story out of the uk now. the number of migrants crossing

the channel fell for the first time last year since record keeping began. new uk government figures show that total arrivals were down by more than a third in 2023, compared with the year before. mark easton has more. the number known to have crossed the channel and 2023 was down around one third from 2022, still almost 30,000 individuals arrived on the kent coast, the second highest figure either, —— eva, but officials one to three key deals they say helping turn the tide, dealwith deals they say helping turn the tide, deal with france improving security in the post around cali, a deal with turkey to disrupt smuggler supply chains, and a deal with albania to return failed asylum seekers. the deal the government regards as the game changer is with rwanda, but that plan was ruled unlawful. migration is likely to be a vital issue for prime minister rishi sunak in the uk general election,

which is expected later this year. he has promised to clear a backlog of asylum seekers. new date is due on tuesday. you're live with bbc news. in a major decision, israel's supreme court has struck down the controversial judicial reforms that were a centrepiece of prime minister benjamin netanyahu's government agenda. the reforms sparked months of mass protests last year. the change would have limited the power of the top court to overturn laws it deems unconstitutional. mr netanyahu has argued that the changes are required to reset the balance between the judges and politicians. but critics say it would have severely weakened the judicial system, preventing proper oversight of the government. the court was split in its decision, with eight judges voting in favour of striking down the law, while seven voted to uphold it. israel's justice minister and architect of the law yariv levin criticised thejudges, calling the decision undemocratic. but opposition leader yair lapid welcomed the verdict saying on x, that the court had "faithfully fulfilled its role

"in protecting the citizens of israel." from jerusalem, here's our correspondent shaimaa khalil with more. this is a big blow to benjamin netanyahu and the hardline governing coalition in this showdown between the judiciary and the right—wing government. this is the supreme court taking their power back when it comes to checks balances. before the october seventh deadly attack by hamas on israel, before the war in gaza, israel had experienced unprecedented division and turmoil internally because of these proposed judiciary reforms by the government, many calling it a threat to democracy, and there were many, many disagreements about the separation of powers. and at the heart of this was this bill that the government pushed through, this reasonableness bill, essentially stopping the supreme court from its ability to stop the government from making

any decisions that were deemed unreasonable. now the supreme court has overturned that, saying, "we will keep you in check." this could not have come at a worse time for the benjamin netanyahu government, already under extreme pressure and anger from the hostage families who are saying that the government is failing to bring the hostages back, and now, this government is staring down a constitutional breakdown and crisis in the middle of this conflict. so what comes next for mr netanyahu and his proposed judicial reform? abc news reporter jordana miller is injerusalem with more. they can't appeal against what the supreme court said but if they chose to, they could ignore the ruling, which would bring a kind of constitutional crisis to israel.

because let us say there was another decision that the government made to appoint someone who had no experience in a position or even had previous criminal behaviour in this position, for example the finance ministry post. i'm giving you that example because it is actually a real example of when the supreme court said no, this person — it is an unreasonable nomination, it is unreasonable to put this person in this position when he has been convicted for example of tax evasion. so in other words, they can ignore it but that is unlikely during this war time, it is likely the judicial review is now shelved for a very long time. the israeli court's decision comes as, inside gaza, a fresh bombardment of airstrikes. aid groups are warning that the humanitarian situation is dire. gaza's hamas—run health ministry says nearly 22,000 people have been killed since the war began.

the uk government says it won't hesitate to take further direct action against houthi rebels, who are attacking foreign ships in the red sea, to show their support for hamas. 0ur security correspondent, frank gardner, has more on what kind of direct action might be. well, euphemistically, grant shapps, the defence secretary, is calling it direct action, the risk of direct action if the houthis don't stop their attacks. i think there's a number of options. at the minimum, it means continuing to shoot down the drones that the houthis are firing, but this is not a very cost—effective exercise for the west. so you've got us, britain, france, other nations, all that have got navies in that region as part of a coalition, a us—led coalition called 0peration prosperity guardian. but it costs roughly 100—times more to fire off, say, a sea viper missile from a royal navy destroyer to shoot down a drone than it cost the houthis to launch a little $20,000 drone. so that isn't going to work in the long—term.

they are hoping to dissuade the houthis from doing any more of these. and with the implicit threat that if they carry on, there is the risk that the us and britain and others will actually use air strikes and tomahawk missile, cruise missile strikes to take out the houthi launch sites. they don't want to do that because it's quite risky. i mean, you risk metastasizing the hamas israel war into something much bigger, potentially pitting iran and the us forces into a direct confrontation because iran supports the houthis. ukraine's capital, kyiv, has been attacked again by russian drones early on tuesday morning. it comes as emergency services in kyiv are still collecting bodies from a russian drone attack, on friday. that killed 29 people. russian president putin has pledged to intensify attacks on ukraine, following days of aerial bombardment from both sides in the war. during a visit to a military hospital in moscow, mr putin said russia

wanted to end the conflict but only on its own terms. he also claimed ukraine's western supporters were the biggest obstacle to ending the conflict. meanwhile, there have been more strikes in the port area of 0desa. russia launched 90 drones early on monday, 87 of which were destroyed by the country's air defence systems. 0ur reporter 0lga malchevska has been speaking to locals in 0desa, kharkiv and occupied crimea, about the past few days of heavy strikes. what is usually a moment to celebrate turns into another deadly night for people in 0desa, coming under attack from russian drones. hannah tells us she had to run to the shelter right at midnight. because of the russian fireworks, they are coming. the first time we came at midnight, and now it is again. ukraine woke up to at least five killed in southern 0desa and eastern donetsk, occupied by russia.

moscow blames kyiv, repeating it does not target civilians. kyiv says russia sent a record 90 drones all over the country. ukraine is still mourning the deaths of more than a0 civilians killed just two days ago. this is what is left from a 5—star hotel in the centre of kharkiv. katerina lives nearby. translation: when i was cooking our festive meal, l i had to shelter in the bathroom because of the attack. the drones were right above our home. it was very scary. and this video we received from the occupied crimea. decorated with ukrainian symbols, this christmas tree would be labelled extremism by russia if found. locals hope this year will finally bring freedom and peace. 0lga malchevska, bbc news. pope francis has condemned the recent arrests

of roman catholic priests and bishops in nicaragua. at least fourteen members of the clergy have been detained in the country in the past two weeks with no clear motive. in his new year's message, the pope called for them to be released. translation: i follow with concern what _ translation: i follow with concern what is _ translation: i follow with concern what is happening i translation: | follow with | concern what is happening in nicaragua, where bishops and priests have been deprived of theirfreedom. i express my closeness in prayer to them and theirfamilies and to closeness in prayer to them and their families and to the entire church in the country. i also invite all of you here to pray insistently and all of gods people and hope that we always seek the path of dialogue to overcome difficulties. let us pray for nicaragua today. mickey mouse and minnie have long been fixtures in the public�*s imagination and now the're in the public domain. that's because us copyright law covers characters for 95 years and the pair first appeared

on film in steamboat willie 95 years ago. so as of monday, new year's day, disney no longer has full control over how those characters are used. noor nanji has more on what that means. it was the animation that launched the house of a mouse. 1928 short film steamboat willie featured non— speaking versions of mickey mouse and minnie. these early images are now available to the public in the us to use as they like. this is a deeply symbolic and long—awaited moment because of disney's pursuit rule and the extension of the copyright term that prevented these from going into the public domain for an additional 20 years. there are still limits. you cannot start making merchandise in the same product they sell. that is what

trademark stops.— product they sell. that is what trademark stops. other famous preperties _ trademark stops. other famous preperties now _ trademark stops. other famous properties now available - trademark stops. other famous properties now available to - trademark stops. other famous properties now available to the | properties now available to the public include the silent film, the circus, by charlie chaplin, let's do it by cole porter and orlando by virginia woolf. but 0rlando by virginia woolf. but there are a few successful examples of the love and of property being used for new original content. winnie the pooh, which is also owned by disney, was turned into an r—rated horrorfilm disney, was turned into an r—rated horror film after entering the public domain in 2022. the movie was a far cry from the childhood book. and with that in mind, it would be in disney's interest to keep tight control on how their most iconic characters are used. noor nanji, bbc news.

you're watching bbc news. thank you for your company. our colleagues in london are taking overfrom here. bye for colleagues in london are taking over from here. bye for now. hello there. we've got some very strong winds and some heavy rain on the way for tuesday, that brings with it the risk of some disruptive weather. little sign of that yesterday across northern england and scotland, with clear, blue, sunny skies for many. however, towards the southwest of england, the waves were picking up as the winds increased, all tied in with the next weather system. now it's this lump of cloud that's out to our west that we're watching, to develop into quite a nasty—looking area of low pressure. now, through the remainder of the night, one band of rain clears eastwards, another one heading into scotland, a bit of snow up over the scottish hills for a time, as well. and then we've got the next pulse of rain working into the southwest. now, bear in mind, we've already got lots of flood warnings in force, and that's before, really, the next dollop of heavy rain works in. so the rain, heavy enough

to cause some localised flooding, but as well as that, into tuesday, some very strong winds heading into southwest england, southern wales, and round the bristol channel. top gusts could reach 60, maybe even 70mph — strong enough to bring down one or two trees, hence the risk of disruptive weather. very windy for the northern isles, and the winds will be increasing inland across england and wales as this area of rain becomes much more extensive through the course of the day. and then we get a second swathe of really strong winds across parts of lincolnshire, east anglia, southeast england, especially through the dover straits. could get gusts again getting up into the 60s of miles an hour, maybe even towards 70. so, there is the threat of some disruption — weather from the heavy rain and the risk of flooding, or the strong winds that could be strong enough to bring down a few trees. either way, that lot will be clearing out of the way as we head into wednesday, but just to be followed by another unsettled day — a day of sunshine and showers. the showers heavy with hail and thunder across england and wales, blustery conditions here. lighter winds for northern ireland means the showers could last a bit longer. some heavier, more persistent rain for northeast scotland, perhaps causing one or two

issues, and cold enough to see some of the rain start to turn to sleet or snow over the high hills in shetland. quite a lot going on, then, but the weather will eventually calm down. low pressure later this week is going to start to slide away from our shores, and instead, we get an area of high pressure building in as we head towards the end of the week and the weekend beyond. indeed, quite a long spell of dry, settled weather conditions is on the cards, notjust on the weekend but well into next week. with the sunshine comes much lower temperatures and a return of some sharp overnight frosts.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. six years ago, a remarkable investigative journalist was assassinated on the mediterranean island of malta. her name was daphne caruana galizia. in life, she refused to be silenced about the scale of corruption in her homeland. in death, she has become the inspiration for a continued struggle for justice and accountability — a struggle now led by her three sons, one of whom, paul caruana galizia, is my guest today.