at ten: their survival is nothing short of a miracle. hundreds of people escape an airliner that bursts into flames in japan. the intense fire was the result of a collision with a smaller aid plane en route to help victims of yesterday's massive earthquake. terror on board, as smoke fills the cabin and the plane catches fire. translation: i can only say it was a miracle. - we could have died if we didn't evacuate at that point. but five people did die on the aid plane. also on the programme: in lebanon, a drone strike kills the deputy leader of hamas, threatening an escalation of the war with israel. junior doctors in england are due to go out on a six—day strike from tomorrow, the longest continuous industrial action in nhs history. the former head of

the charity kidscompany, camila batmanghelidjh, has died. she was 61. double ten! and he finishes it on double ten! _ and britain's luke littler, atjust 16, makes history by reaching the final of the world darts championships. and on newsnight at 10.30pm, we'll go deeper behind the headlines and speak live to key players on today's big stories. plus, we'll take a first look at tomorrow's front pages. good evening. their escape was nothing short of a miracle, from a burning airliner which burst into flames after a collision at tokyo's haneda airport. 379 people were on board the japan airlines airbus a350, with just a handful

of the passengers suffering minor injuries after escaping the flames down inflatable slides. the jet was coming in to land when there was a collision with a coastguard plane. five people on board the smaller aircraft died. it was heading to deliver supplies to people affected by yesterday's 7.6 magnitude earthquake in the province of noto. our correspondent, suranjana tewari, is live at haneda airport for us tonight. clive, the sun hasjust clive, the sun has just come up clive, the sun hasjust come up here in tokyo. behind me, haneda airport is slowly resuming service. about 100 flights were cancelled as a result of that collision on the runway. mostly domestic flights stop international flights have been taking off and landing as well, but really extraordinary images coming in, and people here arejust digesting what happened when those

two planes collided, leading to that massive fireball on the runway, and this is just 2a hours after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake shook many prefectures across the country, especially in the north—west, with tremors being felt as far afield as tokyo. the moment of impact. a japan airlines plane skids down the tarmac at tokyo's haneda airport, after a collision with a smaller plane operated by japan's coastguard. inside the air bus, chaos, as passengers see heat and smoke billowing from an engine. and in the terrifying moments that followed, the plane finally comes to a stop. "get me out," she screams,

as passengers panic. within moments, and as the cabin fills with fumes, inflatable slides are released, allowing hundreds of passengers and crew to scramble to safety, miraculously unharmed. translation: i miraculously unharmed. translation:— miraculously unharmed. translation: ., ., translation: i was wondering what ha ened, translation: i was wondering what happened. then _ translation: i was wondering what happened. then i _ translation: i was wondering what happened, then i felt _ translation: i was wondering what happened, then i felt the _ translation: i was wondering what happened, then i felt the aeroplane l happened, then i felt the aeroplane tilted to the side of the runway, and ifelt tilted to the side of the runway, and i felt a tilted to the side of the runway, and ifelta big bump. the and ifelt a big bump. the flight attendants told us to stay calm. i can only say it was a miracle. we could _ i can only say it was a miracle. we could have — i can only say it was a miracle. we could have died if we didn't evacuate at that point. a huge _ evacuate at that point. a huge fire quickly takes hold and overwhelms the passenger aircraft, and then, this. those on board the second plane were not as fortunate. five of the six people aboard died, though the pilot escaped. that aircraft was

travelling to i near the epicentre of a six 7.6 magnitude earthquake. the crew were carrying food and preparing to help with the rescue effort. the crew here at haneda airport deployed a hundred fire trucks to try to control the blaze, and it took six hours. experts say it is because of japan's strong safety record and the training of its staff that the crew were able to respond so effectively in time. translation: we respond so effectively in time. translation:— respond so effectively in time. translation: ~ ., 4' translation: we will work with the transort translation: we will work with the transport ministry _ translation: we will work with the transport ministry to _ translation: we will work with the transport ministry to determine - translation: we will work with the transport ministry to determine the l transport ministry to determine the cause of the accident. the scene needs to be preserved for that, but we will try to get airport operations going as quickly as possible. investigators will be desperately looking for answers as to how two planes were on the runway at the same time. an extraordinary moment, but coming so soon after a powerful earthquake, japan finds itself

facing two tragedies in as many days. suranjana tewari, bbc news, tokyo. 55 people are now known to have died in yesterday's earthquake injapan. it was 7.6 in magnitude, hitting the region of noto, with tremors being felt hundreds of miles away in the capital tokyo. the country's prime minister is tonight warning it's a race against time to rescue all those still trapped beneath the rubble. our correspondentjean mckenzie has the very latest as she tries to make her way to the town of wajima, near the epicentre of the quake. sirens this is a race for survival. rescue workers stream throuthapan's isolated noto peninsula, the roads blocking their way. they're trying to reach these worst—affected areas in the north where people are trapped under their collapsed homes. many families were out at temples celebrating new year's day whenjapan was hit by its strongest

earthquake in 12 years. nomura—san thought his shrine was going to collapse. "the whole gate was swaying. the alleyway was swaying too. the children had to squat on the floor so as not to fall over," he told me. alerts chime as we travel towards the epicentre, we're alerted to another earthquake. these aftershocks keep coming. further in, old wooden homes have been brought to the ground, not made to withstand the ferocity ofjapan's enduring quakes. toshio iwahama lives here alone after losing his wife. at 82, he doesn't know how he'll manage the repairs. translation: we always have earthquakes around here, - but ijust didn't think we'd get a big one like this.

i didn't take it seriously. i thought we were safe here. this is only the tip of the destruction. we are trying to get closer to the epicentre, to a city where we know that at least a dozen people have died and many more are trapped in their homes that have collapsed. but we are struggling because, if you look at this road here, it is completely ruptured. and this is what we keep coming up against, these coming up against, these roads that are totally blocked off, and even these emergency services here, these rescue teams, have been struggling to reach people in these worst—affected areas. so we are still trying to piece together the extent of the damage, and how many people have been killed and injured. some firefighters have managed to get into the wrecked city of wajima and are searching for survivors. but the death toll is expected to rise. the people here have lived through many an earthquake, but never felt tremors of this magnitude, which have shaken

both their surroundings and their sense of safety. rescue efforts are continuing today, because we know that there at least two towns which appear to have been cut off completely by road. in the city of wajima, which we have been trying to get to, there have been more than 100 reports of people trapped in their homes, and not all of those homes have managed to be searched yet. in another town on the coast, the mayor have said about 90% of homes have either been totally or partially destroyed, so rescue teams are being flown into these areas by helicopter and brought in by sea, as is food. but the prime minister has admitted that progress has been slow, hampered by these roads, and that more deaths are expected as

more homes are slowly searched today. thank you, jean mckenzie. hamas, engaged in a bitter war with israel in gaza, says its deputy political leader has been killed in a drone strike in lebanon. hamas, designated as a terror organisation by the uk government, says israel is to blame for the attack. our correspondent shaimaa khalil is injersusalem. shaimaa. in the last couple of hours, we have been getting reaction to the death of saleh al—arouri. we have heard from his brother in lebanon, saying that it would not go without punishment. this was a man who they worked very closely with.

a hamas senior official killed in a hezbollah stronghold. this is the aftermath of the blast in the heart of the dahiyeh neighbourhood, beirut�*s southern suburb. hamas's deputy leader saleh al—arouri and several others died in the explosion. local media has said this was an israeli drone strike, but the idf has told the bbc they will not comment on reports by foreign media. this blast comes at a very volatile moment in the region. it was condemned by the lebanese caretaker prime minister najib mikati, who said israel wanted to drag lebanon into a new phase of the conflict. israel has not said it was behind this attack, but government adviser mark regev made this point — that whoever did it, this was not an attack on the lebanese state, but rather a surgical strike on hamas leadership. saleh al—arouri was a senior hamas figure on both the political and the combat fronts.

he helped establish the group's military wing, the izz ad—din al-qassam brigades. on october 7th, he was with ismail haniyeh, the head of hamas, watching footage of the deadly attacks in israel. al—arouri was one of the most closely connected hamas officials to both iran and the iran—backed hezbollah group in lebanon. he is seen here with iran's supreme leader, ali khamenei. this is his west bank house in his home town north of ramallah, destroyed by israel's military after october 7th. and this is ramallah tonight. hamas supporters mourning a leading figure and vowing revenge. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem. lyse doucet is with me. what does this mean for the war? and for the region, the very tense region tonight, which is fraught,

clive, with greater risk. it underlines how unpredictable and dangerous this war is. the day began with growing worry about how to respond to the iranians backed houthi attacks on shipping, and tonight it is ending with a very sharp escalation on another front. since the war began, it is believed that saleh —— his in its first saleh it -- it —— it because what it calls its resistance to be patient. in other words, it will take its time to carry out retaliation and similar scope and scale. it has had the effect of stopping the effect indirect talks in cairo and prison

and hostage exchanges, but it's clear that will not be the only response. israel would know that, and it has never confirmed or denied whether it carries out assassinations. prime minister netanyahu warned how hamas it would go after them wherever they were. parts of england and wales have been battered by storm henk, with heavy rain and strong winds causing power outages, transport disruption and flooding. gusts of up to 80mph have been recorded at exeter airport, the most powerful winds in 30 years. some flood warnings remain in place, but the worst of the storm seems to have passed. here's ellie price. when weather alerts are issued warning of a risk to life, this is what they mean. we just happen to be driving along the a22 in east sussex when we came across it. a tree on the edge of the ashdown forest blown over and into the road and onto two passing cars.

coming along, got about halfway along to hear, and as we passed, that tree fell completely across the pair of us. damaged one van, i managed to avoid most of it, just took my bumper off and my light out. i ran over to see if took my bumper off and my light out. iran over to see if i took my bumper off and my light out. i ran over to see if i could help, but he was trapped in there. tiara but he was trapped in there. two eo - le but he was trapped in there. two peeple were _ but he was trapped in there. two people were taken to hospital but not seriously injured. several major roads have been closed through fallen trees and floodwaters. this is what it looked like from the air in east yorkshire. due to severe weather... ,, ., ~' due to severe weather... storm henk made the commute _ due to severe weather... storm henk made the commute back _ due to severe weather... storm henk made the commute back even - due to severe weather... storm henk made the commute back even more | made the commute back even more miserable on the day after the holidays, causing problems across the uk on the railways. even on the platform, this was okehampton station. high winds about 80 mph moved things that should not... leading to numerous close encounters. floodwaters also did their own damage. according to uk power networks, more than 2000 properties were affected by power cuts this evening.

the national grid were on the case earlier in wales. it is mid—afternoon now, it has stopped raining, but it is certainly very windy, and there have been more flood warnings across the uk, from wales to east anglia, as far north as hull, and down south here in east sussex. serena is not usually able to go rowing in her back garden. this is your garden. you don't have a water feature or anything? no, this is normally rolling pasture. i know this area is historically floods, but i have seen in the last three years that i have been here, it's getting worse and worse. storm henk should be easing, but the rain waters and the advice to take care may last a little longer. our correspondent phil mackie is in worcester. how bad has it been where you are? it has been terrible, it has rained for about a 24—hour, it stopped this afternoon but began yesterday

afternoon but began yesterday afternoon and we've had about a0 millimetres, an inch and a half or so, which is added to the trouble. cast your mind back to storm babet in october which was the first of four floods in worcester so far this winter and this is by far the worst point of these are the highest levels we have seen for over a year orso levels we have seen for over a year or so and impact the way things are going, and they have risen by well over an inch while i've been standing here in the past hour, things could approach some of those record levels we saw in 2020. back at the start of the century, they talked about events like this happening every 50 years and this is the seventh such flood since then, and itjust shows how bad things are getting. if you look at those houses, you can see they have flood gates, pumps, people are more resilient but they kind of shrugged their shoulders a bit because these things are happening far more often than they used to. we have seen people coming and going from the houses and if you walk down there, you are waist deep in water. thousands of properties used to plod along the river seven, most of those

are now protected but the flood defences that protect them are going to be sorely tested over the next day or so because storm henk may now be over but these rivers will keep rising over the next few days as all of that water starts getting in to the major river systems.- the ma'or river systems. travel still the major river systems. travel still growing- — the major river systems. travel still growing. thank _ the major river systems. travel still growing. thank you - the major river systems. travel still growing. thank you for - the major river systems. travel i still growing. thank you for that. —— trouble still growing. less than 2a hours after vladimir putin said moscow would intensify strikes on ukraine, five people have been killed less than 2a hours after vladimir putin said moscow would intensify strikes on ukraine, five people have been killed and more than 120 have been injured after a series of overnight attacks. the capital kyiv came under sustained attack from missiles, and residential areas in the north—eastern city of kharkiv were also hit. a quarter of a million people in kyiv have been left without electricity, from where james waterhouse has the very latest. it was a threat kyiv used to contain but it has been a week where the city has been overwhelmed. air defences still shoot down russian missiles, like this one.

but more are getting through, in a deadly aerial escalation. today a person was killed in kharkiv in the north—east, just a0 miles from the border with russia, a city where explosions usually come before air raid sirens. four more died in and around kyiv, including here at this apartment block in the heart of the city. this is how close the missile got to hitting this block of flats. the crater is about five metres deep and just look at the devastation caused. you can see the windows completely, not blown through, blasted through. even the block on the other side has been blown through and the buildings across the road from there, such is the force generated from blasts like this. we have not seen attacks like this since the early days and weeks of the invasion. there were fears russia had been stockpiling missiles to use around

the new year period, and with no more military aid set to arrive from the us for now, attacks test air defence systems which rely on continued western help. translation: we were getting ready to have breakfast and go to work- and then it blew up. everything blew up. i sat down and started putting on my shoes, bent down and windows flew over my head. translation: i want putin to die very much, i want it so much, - and everyone who supports him because today's event ruined the lives of hundreds in one minute. there have been a lot of hits before this, a lot killed. all this is on him. russia says it targets military sites but it is civilians who bear the brunt of these assaults. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv.

a 23—year—old woman who ran over and killed herfiance after a row at a party has been found guilty of murder. ryan watson, who was 2a, died after being dragged under a car. the judge at chester crown court told alice wood she may never be released from prison. junior doctors in england are due to go on a six—day strike from tomorrow morning, the longest continuous stretch of industrial action in the history of the nhs. the stoppage is part of the acrimonious dispute over pay. hugh pym is here with more details. yes, clive, this is uncharted territory. this unprecedented strike comes at a time always seen as the most stressful for the nhs — the first days after the new year bank holiday. here are the dates. the action in england begins at 7am tomorrow morning and continues for six days and ends early on the morning of tuesday, january 9th. and junior doctors in wales will also go on strike over pay

for three days from january 15th. strikes in england by all nhs workers have resulted in more than a million operations and appointments postponed so far. during the three—dayjunior doctor strike before christmas, nearly 88,000 were put off. nhs leaders have warned that the continuing strikes are presenting serious challenges. no doubt those strike periods have taken their toll. we have made progress on waiting lists after the pandemic but not as much as we might have done without those strikes. and of course, for patients who are stuck in the middle, i think it is becoming really tough, and of course for our staff, who are having to cover during periods of industrial action, i think they are getting weary too. so what's the row all about? the government awarded an average 8.8% pay rise to junior doctors in england this year, and then, during recent talks, said they could add another 3%. but the doctors' union the bma said this still wasn't a credible offer.

originally, they asked for 35% to compensate for past inflation. in scotland, union members accepted a 12.a% offer from the scottish government. in northern ireland, junior doctors are being balloted on strike action. and in wales, as we've heard, there is a strike planned. ministers have said they won't talk to the bma while strikes are planned in england, but the door is otherwise open for negotiations. further talks seem possible, but whether they lead to a resolution of this bitter dispute is another matter. clive. hugh, many thanks. hugh pym. the home secretary says the government has "done what it promised" and tackled a backlog of older asylum cases. james cleverly says "every single one" of the backlog applications has been processed, although there are around a,500 "complex" cases still being looked at. labour has accused ministers of manipulating the figures. here's mark easton. a pledge delivered or a promise broken? well, this is what the prime minister claimed

on social media today — asylum backlog cleared. it is just over a year since rishi sunak told parliament he would abolish that backlog by the end of 2023, two days ago, but did he really manage it? the government says the pm's pledge applies only to what it calls the legacy backlog. now, those are asylum seekers who were waiting for a decision on their claim for refugee status before june the 28th 2022 and that bit of the backlog, in the blue here, well, you can see that has fallen significantly, from around 100,000 cases to, well, not quite zero, a,500 are still in the system but now reclassified as complex. and while the focus has been on the legacy bit, another backlog has been growing, the red bars here. new cases in the system now number more than 9a,000, a higher number actually than the one the pm promised to reduce to zero. so with thousands of the legacy group still in the system as well as those new cases, can the government really claim

to have abolished the backlog? this is how the home secretary, james cleverly, explains it. they have all been through that processing, they have all been dealt with in terms of getting through that, as i say, that adjudicating, initial adjudicating process. that is what we meant by addressing the backlog. we have done that, we have completed that. so, a distinction between claims processed and claims resolved. and we also know that a third of the legacy backlog asylum applications that have been processed were neither accepted nor rejected. 35,000, infact, were withdrawn or voided, often because the home office had lost contact with the claimant. the labour party says the government is cooking the books. rishi sunak's claim to have cleared the asylum backlog isjust totally false. in fact, the figures are nearly 100,000 cases and they haven't even fully cleared the bit of the backlog they were targeting.

well, the government has significantly improved the efficiency of the asylum system, many more decisions made each month, and its claims its policies have helped reduce small boat arrivals by a third year on year, but with an election likely later this year, the verdict on rishi sunak's immigration record will be delivered at the ballot box. our political correspondent damian grammaticas is here. mark raised the point that this is likely to be an election year so how does this play into that? the election could _ does this play into that? the election could be _ does this play into that? tue: election could be just does this play into that? tte: election could be just over does this play into that? tt2 election could be just over a year away, january 2025, if rishi sunak really holds on but there's a sense that politicians are coming back with an eye on the coming election. rishi sunak is in a position. on one side he has a lay bit with what looks like a healthy lead in the polls to his right he has what used to be the brexit party, now reform, hoping to siphon off voters and the issue he's putting at the centre at the start of the already is

immigration and asylum, stopping the boats are we know the figures for last year in 2023 showed the boats had not stopped, numbers are down but it was the second—highest year on record to the government is pointing to this dealing with older cases, trying to show it is getting a grip on this. labour have leapt on this, saying it is a barefaced lie, that there are thousands of cases but for them, they want to use this as an issue show the government they say is not delivering on its key promises to and these are all themes i think we will hear it repeated much more as we get to that election. much more as we get to that election-— much more as we get to that election. ., ., ~ , ., the former executive of the charity kids company, camila batmanghelidjh, has died at the age of 61. she stepped down from the charity in 2015 amid allegations of mismanagement but the high court later cleared her of wrongdoing. she died at her home in london yesterday after a long illness. helena wilkinson reports. camila batmanghelidjh became known

for being a children's campaign, helping vulnerable and deprived young people in inner cities across the uk. she set up the charity kids company in south london in 1996 and it ran youth centres in london, bristol and liverpool. it received millions of pounds of government funding but in 2015 she stepped down amid allegations of mismanagement. the charity closed in august that year amid protests. the charity closed in august that yearamid protests. in the charity closed in august that year amid protests. in 2021, she was cleared by a high court that anyone doing. tonight the labour mp harriet harman was among those to pay tribute to her, saying so many young people had benefited from her big heart. the 61—year—old had been ill for some time but spent christmas wrapping presents at home for vulnerable children. the charity brixton soup kitchen said she had

donated over 100 gifts last week to less fortunate children. she died yesterday on her birthday. camila batmanghelidjh, who's died at the age, of 61. 16—year—old luke littler has won his semi—final at the pdc world darts championship in london. he was already the youngest player to win a match in the tourmament. tonight he took on the 2018 champion at alexandra palace to book his place in the final. joe wilson reports. you come to the darts for a good time, it's really that simple. whoever is playing. baby pink, clever pun that this will championship has generated unprecedented attention because of the 16—year—old they all want to know, the luke little effect. but work to two players in the semifinal and that is rob cross winning the first set, intense already. take a quick break, see the sites. dress code for the semifinal? they are

following their own imagination, fancy dress is a competition in its own right. on the stage, 180 is the maximum, both players kept hitting them in the succession. cross was good, right here at the highest level, little it was better. he took the set and the lead. —— littler was better. his influence stretches far beyond alexandra palace put in st helens, where he perfected his art, his inspiration is felt most keenly among friends at the academy where he trains. ~ , , , .. , among friends at the academy where he trains. ~ , , , , ., he trains. mesmerising because, oh m cod, i he trains. mesmerising because, oh my god, i know him, _ he trains. mesmerising because, oh my god, i know him, and _ he trains. mesmerising because, oh my god, i know him, and didn't - he trains. mesmerising because, ohl my god, i know him, and didn't know he could do such big things when he was at the academy, i thought it was a normal kid who played darts but now i see him in the world championships.— now i see him in the world championships. now i see him in the world cham--ionshis. ~ , ., , championships. when he gets to be oche and he — championships. when he gets to be oche and he doesn't _ championships. when he gets to be oche and he doesn't feel _ championships. when he gets to be oche and he doesn't feel anything, l oche and he doesn't feel anything, playing _ oche and he doesn't feel anything, playing someone who knows or a stranger— playing someone who knows or a strangerjust gets on with his game. now want_ strangerjust gets on with his game. now want to see three perfect outs? this is how you finish a leg point

of the audacity, the