live from washington. this is bbc news. and the us house speaker leads a delegation of republican lawmakers on a tour of the us—mexico border. they want the white house to agree to stricter migrant policies. hello, i'm caitriona perry. we begin with a developing story. a us court has released hundreds of pages of court documents connected to the financier and sex offenderjeffrey epstein. those files contain the names of people accused of wrongdoing, while others

on the list are making allegations or are potential witnesses. former president bill clinton and prince andrew are among those named in the documents. a judge ordered the release as part of a lawsuit related to epstein�*s associate ghislaine maxwell. she is serving a 20—year jail term for the crimes she committed with epstein. when ordering the release of the list, new yorkjudge loretta preska said many of those named in the lawsuit had already been identified by the media or in maxwell's criminal trial. the bbc is currently reviewing the 915 pages of documents. we'll have more details on this story for you in the hours ahead. iran's supreme leader says there will be a harsh response after around 100 people were killed by explosions in the southeastern city of kerman. the blasts were near the saheb al—zaman mosque, where thousands of people gathered to mark the anniversary of the death of a top military commander, qasem soleimani. soleimani was killed in 2020

by a us drone attack, though the united states denies it was behind wednesday's strikes. the us also said it had no indication that israel was responsible. caroline hawley reports. the roads leading to the cemetery were packed with people who had gone to pay respects to qasem soleimani. officials say the bombs had been planted in bags and were apparently set off by remote control. whoever did this was clearly aiming to cause mass casualties. the iranian red crescent said their efforts to evacuate the injured were complicated by the size of the crowds. and a first bomb was followed swiftly by a second, more deadly explosion. it comes four years to the day since qasem soleimani was killed himself in an american drone attack while on a visit to iraq. general soleimani was a huge figure in iran, commander of its powerful revolutionary guards, responsible for arming its proxy militias in the middle east, including hezbollah in lebanon and forfunding hamas.

he had a devoted following among supporters of the iranian regime. his funeral was attended, according to estimates, by more thani million mourners. so who would have wanted to attack the commemoration of his death and why? the most telling thing here is that this attack in kerman does not fit any modus operandi of what the israelis have traditionally done. they are looking for specific individuals, not for large events with lots of people. but there are at least two groups that have a history of doing just this type of thing in iran. the sunni jihadist groups on whom suspicion for this is likely to fall, although no group has yet claimed to have carried it out. the iranian supreme leader, ayatollah khomeini warned of a harsh response.

whoever was behind the explosion they have heightened tensions in a region that was already a tinderbox. elsewhere in the region, the leader of the lebanese militant group hezbollah warned israel of a "decisive response" to the killing of a hamas leader. saleh al—arouri was killed tuesday in a drone strike in southern beirut. israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it killed saleh al—arouri. speaking to a rally earlier, hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah described the death as a serious crime that could not go unpunished. our correspondent in beirut, hugo bachega, was listening to the hezbollah leader's speech. some strong words from hassan nasrallah, the leader of hezbollah reacting to the killing of the deputy leader of hamas in beirut on tuesday. he described it as a flagrant israeli aggression and he said this was a crime that would not go unpunished. obviously this happened in an area of beirut that is a hezbollah stronghold. this was not only a blow for hamas but perhaps a message

to hezbollah that attacks like this can happen deep inside areas controlled by the group. hassan nasrallah also said, "we're not afraid of war" and in a message to israel, he said if israel decided to go to war against hezbollah, this would come at a very high price. this has been the message given by the israelis to hezbollah, warning the group against any escalation of the situation here. some israeli authorities have been saying that the israeli military could do to beirut what has been done to gaza. now a delegation of several dozen house republicans has travelled to the us—mexico border. the fact—finding tour comes as republicans try to put pressure on the white house to take a tougher stance on illegal immigration. us house speaker mike johnson and his fellow republicans have tied border security to any further aid to ukraine and israel. they're pushing for more border walls and restrictions on asylum claims by migrants.

the visit comes as us border officials say they're on track to process more than 300,000 migrants in december, the highest monthly tally on record. speakerjohnson says the crisis is pushing the country to a breaking point. the situation here and across the country is truly unconscionable. we would describe it as both heartbreaking and infuriating. 0ur communities are overrun. we have local resources that are being strapped, we have lethal drugs pouring into our country at record levels. it is in less than three years that president biden took office that this has happened. montana congressman matt rosendale was part of the house republican delegation. he spoke to me a short time ago. congressman matt rosendale, thanks forjoining us on bbc news. it has been reported that local officials have described the trip by you and your colleagues as a photo op, that actually it is action in washington, dc is

what they would prefer to see rather than individuals like yourself coming to the border. what do you say to that? i agree. i don't go down for photo ops, i go down for additional information and raise awareness and get more people across the nation to apply pressure on their representatives to take that action. at this point, what we are left with are, in order to implement the policies that are necessary to secure our border, it is going to take members of congress to stand up to the biden administration and say we're not doing anything else. we are not going to fund government, we are not going to take any other action in the house of representatives until we have the remain in mexico policy reinstituted to keep people across the border while they are waiting for their status to be evaluated. we're not going to fund government until we

have the balance of the security system put in place and we're not going to fund government as long as we have record numbers of illegals taking up 302000 a month coming into our country and we don't know what kind of harm they want to do to americans. the white house press secretary has today said it is actually house republicans who are obstructing border security by not passing the legislation that president biden has looked for, calling for more resources, more immigration judges, a lot of what you are calling for but that is what the white house has said. the white house is 100% inaccurate. what they want to do is pump more money down onto the border and for two years now, the border patrol agents have told me personally they do not want to have more money sent down. they don't want more structures built. they don't want to have more agents

because this is the biden administration's ploy in order to get more people processed faster. the faster you process people, the more people you bring into the country illegally, what it does is incentivises those after them to bring more in. this is what has exasperated the problem to begin with. they said what we need are the implementation of policies that keep people from coming into the country. that is what is going to secure our border. given the discord that exists between the two parties on this and the distance between your positions on this, is it going to be possible to agree any sort of deal when there are only two weeks or so left before another shut down his face? i think that is why we need to use the leverage of funding the federal government. i truly do. i think this is a large enough threat, national security, lives are at risk, we absolutely should be willing to shut down and not find the government if we cannot get president biden to implement the provisions of hr2

which means keeping the folks claiming asylum status in mexico while waiting for hearings and securing the border with balance of security measures that need to be built down there. you are prepared to shut the government down, this funding is also tied up with funding and support for ukraine which we heard from president zelenskyy is almost out and that is badly needed for that fight against russia. also funding for israel and the support the us has pledged there. are you prepared to see that support not delivered on either? i would tell you that the house of representatives set legislation over to the senate in the form of the department of defence bill and estate foreign operations appropriations bill that already provides around $3.6 billion worth of aid to israel in addition to that, we have already separately sent over a bill for $14.5

billion of aid to israel that we had taken from the irs. most of the people i represent feel that is a win—win. taking $40.5 billion from the irs that have been weaponised against the american people anyway and providing that additional funding for israel. no—one i talk to one is to provide any more funding for ukraine until our sovereign borders are secure. and then even after that, we have to have a discussion about what those funds are going to be utilised for and what is the final goal. what is the mission in ukraine? can you see any resolution to that issue? based on what you are saying there, it would seem the two parties and president and yourselves and the house are quite far apart. we are very far apart. if we are having discussion about a supplemental.

a supplemental that president biden has been talking about. supplementalfunding package that piles together ukraine funding, sovereign border upon the coming israel aid funding and disaster relief funding for the any combination thereof is not going to pay the united states has of representative. we will leave that there for the moment. thank you very much forjoining us. thanks for having me on. and one additional note: independent senator krysten sinema said on wednesday that senate negotiators are �*closing in�* on a bipartisan border security deal. but she added that there's still work left to do on any final package. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a story making headlines in the uk. a teenage darts prodigy has seen his fairy—tale run to the world championship come upjust short. 16—year—old luke littler stunned the tournment by rising from a lowly 164th in the world to reach the finals.

but he was ultimately defeated by world number—one luke humphries, by a score of seven—sets to four. the bbc�*s nick garnett has more now from the saint helen's darts academy, where littler trained since he was a boy. luke littler it is just 16 years old, he is still at school and cannot even alone to —— learn to drive yet and cannot even buy himself a pint to commiserate but he's still the youngest player in the final anything game's history. but what he has done to the game is a real legacy. he has brought in new people but also he has brought people here, more members, 90 or so children coming every week to play and to try and beat their real hero. he still walks away with $250,000 in prize money for his efforts. you're live with bbc news. japan's government is stepping up its emergency response to monday's earthquake, which has killed at least 73 people. this is the coastal town of suzu in the noto peninsula, where the epicenter

of the erathquake took place. the sheer force of the quake flattened homes and dumped boats in the streets. rescue teams continue to search collapsed houses. on wednesday, japan's prime minister fumio kishida announced plans to multiply the number of military and rescue personnel. however, the region continues to be rocked by aftershocks, which are complicating rescue efforts. wajima is a town close to the epicentre of monday's earthquake. 0ur correspondentjean mckenzie is there and has the latest. wajima is burnt and broken. it's taken us two days to reach this city, closest to the epicentre. these are the remnants of the town's market, which was filled with small wooden stalls. but when the earthquake hit, a fire broke out and spread instantly, wiping out this entire site, and firefighters are still having to comb through this smoldering rubble

to check that the flames are fully extinguished. the town is devoid of people. the sound of alarms, crushed and activated in the quake, add to the eeriness. it's not known if people are trapped inside these splintered homes. rescue teams have struggled to get here. these search dogs only arrived here this morning. there has been a huge delay in searching for survivors, and the teams are now going one by one to each of these collapsed wooden houses to search for them. but they don't know if anyone is inside here. their searches aren't based on any information, they've told us. this resident has come to tell the rescuers she thinks her husband's aunt is inside. translation: she's 95 and can't move much. l we've looked in all the evacuation centres but can't find her.

but the dog can't get far enough in. the team must move on. time is too critical. here, some certainty — there is a woman inside, but alive? they don't know. the window to find people is closing. jean mackenzie, bbc news, and wajima injapan. separately, japanese authorities say a coastguard aircraft involved in a fatal collision at tokyo's haneda airport was not cleared for take—off. the smaller plane collided with a japan airlines passenger jet on the runway on tuesday. newly released air traffic control transcripts show the japan airlines flight was cleared to land. all 379 passengers and crew on board the passengerjet were safely evacuated. but five coastguard crew members were killed in the fiery crash.

in what's thought to be the biggest prisoner exchange of the nearly two—year war, russia and ukraine have swapped hundreds of captives. the russian defence ministry says 248 prisoners of war held by ukraine have been returned. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky said 230 ukrainian prisoners were released by russia. the countries have exchanged prisoners several times over the course of the war. both sides said the united arab emirates mediated the latest exchange. with the second anniversary of russia's full—scale invasion of ukraine only weeks away, the families of more than 10,000 ukrainian civilians killed in the conflict are living in grief. 0ur senior international correspondent 0rla guerin tells the story of two young women who were killed last summer in zaphorizhiya. in the heart of kyiv, pride of place goes to those who died defending ukraine. grigori comes to show his wife some of his fallen comrades.

there are many. "he was a poet," he tells her. "and he was a banker." "the country has lost all these people," he says, "they were the best of ukraine, the bravest, "maybe the most heroic." singing and ukraine has lost voices of the future, like kristina and svitlana. this was in august in the city of zaporizhzhia. "our last song will be for her son," says kristina, who was 21. singing 20 minutes later, both were dead.

singing they were having a rest at a playground around the corner when a russian rocket slammed to earth. kristina's mother, halyna spitsyna, doesn't know how to live without her. translation: you don't know what plans - to make for tomorrow. sometimes you are able to smile. but then you remember that she can't smile anymore. i can't explain it. it's as if you have died, but can still speak. svitlana's family inhabit their own universe of grief. father yurii siemieikin, mother anna and 12—year—old sister sasha.

"i live in my own world," she says. "i feel safer now "because i feel that svita is always with me." yurii tells me svitlana, who was 18, was musicalfrom childhood and wrote her own songs. he heard the explosion here at home and rushed to look for her. translation: police . brought me to the place, and i saw what i saw. svitlana was lying on the ground in front of me. how is it possible in the 21st century to do something like this completely unprovoked?

i don't know. kristina and svitlana lie buried side by side. they sang to raise funds for troops and civilians and to raise morale. halyna finds cold comfort at the graveside. translation: you come here to see or hear something. - the winds blows and you think it's the soul of your child hugging you. her child and so many more are gone, killed on and off the battlefield. the hope of ukraine filling early graves. 0rla guerin, bbc news, zaporizhzhia.

let's turn to some other news from around the world. donald trump has asked the us supreme court to intervene over his disqualification from the colorado primary ballot. last month, the state's highest court concluded that the former president engaged in an insurrectiion before —— insurrection before and during the january 6 capitol riots. as a result, he should not be eligible for the ballot. mr trump has made also challenged a similar exclusion from the state ballot in maine. a prominent lgbtq rights activist in uganda is in critical condition after being stabbed. steven kabuye was attacked by unknown assailants on the outskirts of the capital kampala on wednesday. police say kabuye told detectives that he had been receiving death threats. human rights groups say that people in lgbtq communities across uganda are at risk of attack following the passage of harsh anti—gay laws last year. the former president

of sierra leone has been charged with four counts of treason over an alleged coup plot in november. ernest bai koroma is under house arrest following questioning by the police. at least 21 people were killed in attacks on a barracks and a prison in freetown in november. mr koroma's lawyer said the charges are part of a political vendetta. a fascinating archaeological find is being unearthed near the welsh capital, cardiff, a medieval cemetery with 70 graves. it provides a rare glimpse into life in britain 1,500 years ago. rebecca morrelle has the story. uncovering a mediaeval mystery. just outside of cardiff, archaeologists have discovered a graveyard they think is 1,500 years old. the bodies, buried so long ago, are giving an insight into a period we know little about. each one of these is a grave, and the team have excavated 18 so far,

but they think there could be more than 70 at this site. now, they're all aligned in the same position, running from east to west. and in some of them, the skeletons are flat on their backs with their legs outstretched. but in others, like this one over here, the skeleton is in a really unusual crouching position. why this is isn't clear. were burial practices changing over time? or was there something else marking these people out as different? the skeletons are being carefully excavated and they're already providing clues about who these people were and what they did. we have some teeth that are very worn in kind of a funny way. that might indicate the use of teeth as tools, maybe for textile work, leatherwork, basketry, and where they're pulling something through their front teeth. that is glass. a shard of fine french glass has just been discovered. probably the rim from a cone beaker, so which would have looked

like an ice cream cone. a really nice find. it's just one of an array of artefacts, from fragments of pottery, perhaps from north africa, to a tiny carved peg. this little object is manufactured from animal bone. could be a peg forfora gaming board. it suggests people were coming to the cemetery to meet up — the living and the dead existing together. they are burying their dead, but they're also undertaking other forms of activity and social practice, including eating and drinking and feasting. the items unearthed in the cemetery suggest that the people were of a high status. the next step is to work out exactly who they were. archaeologists hope their excavation will reveal much more about the mediaeval way of life that's remained an enigma for so long. rebecca morelle, bbc news, cardiff. that is it for the moment. thank you for watching us.

stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. we're only a few days into the new month, but already, some spots in eastern england have seen more than half their averagejanuary rainfall. and there's potentially more wet weather to come, too, in the forecast before things tend to settle down into the weekend, and it will turn drier. but plenty of flood alerts, flood warnings still in place. keep up to date with those on the bbc weather website, and of course, on your local bbc radio station too. now, this is the pressure chart for thursday — low pressure still centred out towards the northwest of scotland. still a brisk southeasterly wind with more rain for the northern isles, and some more rain heading towards the south of england, too. more on that in just a moment. temperatures to start off thursday morning above freezing — 4—7 celsius north to south. there'll be more showers across the far north of scotland into the northern isles, also for western scotland, with a few showers heading across northern ireland into northwest england. more sunshine further south,

but it's this area of rain that is of most concern. it will be falling on pretty saturated ground, and that band of rain will be pushing further northwards as we head through the afternoon. this is how we'll end the afternoon, between around 7—10 celsius. that rain set to push further northward. still some debate as to how far north it will eventually get, but it's likely to bring us some strong, gusty winds towards the south coast as it curls off towards east anglia — of course, all unhelpfully timed with the evening rush hour, so do expect more problems, particularly where we've seen the recent flooding. but friday is happily a much quieter day of weather, that low pressure starts to move away. we've still got a legacy of cloud and some rain towards eastern coastal areas as we head through friday morning. there'll still be some showers too across parts of aberdeenshire, heading towards the northern isles, and a good scattering of showers out towards those western coasts, but plenty of sunshine around. the winds will be lighter,

and the temperatures will be a little lower too — 6—9 celsius. and then, as we head through the weekend, the high pressure starts to build in. it will become quite firmly established across the uk, and should stick around into next week, but of course, as the jet stream dips southwards, we're also going be drawing in much colder—feeling air, so there will be a drop in temperature. so feeling colder, turning dry, though, with some frost and fog through the mornings. bye—bye for now.

inflation fears mount as attacks in the red sea continue. wall street braces for the federal reserve's first 2024 meeting later this month. plus, what if it took you three hours to get to work every day? a special report on how people deal with long commutes. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. we begin the programme this hour with news about the us federal reserve. because investors hoping for a quick interest rate cut from america's central bank may be disappointed. discussions about a timetable for lowering rates were absent from minutes from their last meeting but it did show fed officials believing further hikes are off the table as inflation calls. from new york, our north america business correspondent michelle fleury sent this report.