the funeral of the hamas deputy leader — killed in a drone strike in beirut — is due to take place shortly. saleh al—arouri's assassination has raised fears of a wider regional conflict — with the lebanese group hezbollah warning there'll be a decisive response. a day of mourning in iran after two explosions in the southeast of the country kill nearly a hundred people. as a year of elections around the world gets under way — the man hoping to be britain's next prime minister sets out his vision. prince andrew and bill clinton are among those named in newly—released court documents relating to sex offender — jeffrey epstein. and — a darts dream dashed — sixteen—year—old luke littler misses out in the final of the world championship.

hello, i'm lucy hockings, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. we begin in the middle east — and the aftermath of several acts of deadly violence in different countries — which, it can be argued, are all linked in different ways. there's no end in sight to the fighting in gaza — with israeli forces continuing with their military operation against hamas. there are reports of dozens more deaths following israeli air strikes in southern gaza. in lebanon, a funeral will be held shortly for a senior hamas figure — the group's deputy leader — who was one of several people killed in an explosion in beirut on tuesday. hezbollah — a powerful paramilitary and political group in lebanon — has blamed that atack on what it says was "flagra nt "israeli aggression." both hamas and hezbollah have close ties to iran — which itself is holding a day of mourning, after 85 people were killed by explosions near an event to mark the anniversary of the death of the iranian general qasem soleimani.

he died four years ago in a us drone strike — but the white house has dismissed any suggestion that it was involved in this latest incident. and alongside this — several nations have issued a warning to the houthi militants in yemen — who are also close to iran — to stop the attacks on shipping in the key lanes in the red sea. so much to break down here and in the coming minutes, we'll explain how it all fits together — and what might happen next. let's start with iran — where the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei has promised a harsh response against, what he says, are the criminal enemies behind wednesday's bombing at that memorial event in kerman. his words have been echoed by president raisi. translation: i warn the zionist regime, do not have doubts, - you will pay the price for this crime and all the crimes you've committed, which will be very regrettable. as i mentioned — the us has denied any involvement and says there's nothing to suggest that israel was behind the attack. national security spokespersonjohn kirby gave

the white house line. we have no indication at this time at all that israel was involved in any way whatsoever. no indication, butjust to be clear, you don't think, did they support or assist in some other way? i'm not going to speak for another nation. i willjust tell you that we have no indication that israel was in any way involved in this. let's turn now to lebanon — where the funeral is being held of the deputy leader of hamas. saleh al—arouri was seen as a key intermediary between hamas — which is considered a terrorist organisation by many countries around the world — and its allies and supporters. let's ta ke let's take you straight to beirut. live now to our middle east correspondent hugo bachega in beirut. give us a sense of the atmosphere there today. in give us a sense of the atmosphere there today-—

there today. in about half an hour time we are _ there today. in about half an hour time we are going _ there today. in about half an hour time we are going to _ there today. in about half an hour time we are going to have - there today. in about half an hour| time we are going to have prayers and that will be followed by a procession for those people who were killed in that explosion that happened on tuesday here in beirut, including the deputy hamas leader saleh al—arouri. and then a funeral event is going to take place at the refugee camp here in beirut. yesterday we heard from hassan nasrallah the leader of hezbollah which is a powerful lebanese group and he described it as a flagrant israeli aggression, this assassination that happened here in beirut on tuesday and it was obviously a blow for hamas but it was very symbolic for hezbollah because this happened in an area of beirut that is a hezbollah stronghold. and hassan nasrallah said this crime as he described it

would not go unpunished. and so there are fears here concerns that this could lead to an escalation of violence between hezbollah and israel. we have seen that since the beginning of the war between israel and hamas, hezbollah and the israeli military have exchanged fire along the border but so far this violence has been contained to the area along the lebanese, israeli border. we had some strong words yesterday from hassan nasrallah but no open threat to attack israel and i think this is perhaps an indication that any kind of response is going to be measured to avoid any kind of major retaliation from israel. for to avoid any kind of ma'or retaliation from israel. for many in lebanon they _ retaliation from israel. for many in lebanon they are _ retaliation from israel. for many in lebanon they are watching - retaliation from israel. for many in lebanon they are watching closelyl lebanon they are watching closely what is happening in gaza as the death toll continues to rise but many are remembering what happened in 2006, and don't want a repeat of that. remind us what happened then and the that something similar could

happen again. and the that something similar could happen again-— happen again. exactly, and i spent weeks in southern _ happen again. exactly, and i spent weeks in southern lebanon - happen again. exactly, and i spent weeks in southern lebanon on - happen again. exactly, and i spent weeks in southern lebanon on last year after the october attacks and people obviously remember the devastation caused by the war in 2006 between hezbollah and israel. there is no public support here in lebanon for another military confrontation. obviously, this country is also going through a massive economic crisis, when we talk to people here they remember what happened in 2006, they talk about how the country is struggling right now, not only with an economic crisis but a political crisis, there is no functioning government in this country. i am pretty sure that all these factors are being taken into consideration by hassan nasrallah and by hezbollah when it comes to the group's reaction to what is happening in gaza. obviously these attacks that have targeted israeli

positions. attacks that have targeted israeli ositions. ., ~ attacks that have targeted israeli ositions. ., ,, , ., ., attacks that have targeted israeli ositions. ., ,, ., ., , positions. thank you for “oining us from beirut. * positions. thank you for “oining us from beirut, we h positions. thank you for “oining us from beirut, we will_ positions. thank you forjoining us from beirut, we will return - positions. thank you forjoining us from beirut, we will return there i from beirut, we will return there when the funeral gets under way. good to have you. live to washington and barbara slavin, a distinguished fellow at the stimson centre — a nonpartisan global peace think tank. could you explain to our viewers how influenced he will be but how influenced he will be but how influenced hamas are by iran. i think we are seeing similar reactions from hezbollah and from the iranians, a lot of vague threats of severe retaliation, but nothing specific and in both cases, there is no desire, i think, to see a wider war. the iranians want to profit from what is happened in gaza and

the hamas attacks of october seven. they are trying to say that this is their retaliation somehow for attacks on iran, attacks that killed qasem soleimani four years ago. so they are piggybacking off the struggle of the palestinians. they themselves do not want to get embroiled in any kind of direct conflict. ~ . ., , embroiled in any kind of direct conflict. ~ _, , ., embroiled in any kind of direct conflict. ~ , ., ., conflict. when it comes to what ha--ened conflict. when it comes to what happened yesterday _ conflict. when it comes to what happened yesterday with - conflict. when it comes to what happened yesterday with 84 - conflict. when it comes to what - happened yesterday with 84 people killed, the ayatollah promised a harsh response but they haven't worked out who is really responsible.— worked out who is really resonsible. ., , ., �* responsible. know they haven't, qasem soleimani _ responsible. know they haven't, qasem soleimani had _ responsible. know they haven't, qasem soleimani had enemies, | qasem soleimani had enemies, although he was revered by a section of the iranian population, government supporters and someone, others saw him as a defender of isis, many in iran didn't like him, didn't like iran is involvement in what they regard as an arab conflict

and isis itself saw qasem soleimani as a tremendous foe. so i think we're all waiting to see who exactly responsible. the iranians will blame israel, the united states in some fashion. they will insist that the united states created isis through the invasion of iraq which i think is probably correct indirectly. but this does not have a look of an israeli operation, the israelis are much more prone towards assassinations like that of the hamas deputy in beirut or of a iranian general on christmas day in syria. so we are waiting to see who is responsible. this syria. so we are waiting to see who is responsible.— syria. so we are waiting to see who is responsible. as we talk about the stories it seems _ is responsible. as we talk about the stories it seems that _ is responsible. as we talk about the stories it seems that nothing - is responsible. as we talk about the stories it seems that nothing in - is responsible. as we talk about the stories it seems that nothing in the | stories it seems that nothing in the middle east happens in isolation but can you explain what you think the israeli response is when we see that they try to link everything back to

iran. i they try to link everything back to iran. ~ , they try to link everything back to iran. ~' , ., they try to link everything back to iran. ~ , ., , they try to link everything back to iran. ., , ., , , iran. i think they are trying very hard to pretend _ iran. i think they are trying very hard to pretend there _ iran. i think they are trying very hard to pretend there is - iran. i think they are trying very hard to pretend there is no - hard to pretend there is no palestinian issue. iran, obviously, is a country that plays in the various regional conflicts, that looks for burning issues, the looks for areas where arabs are being discriminated against in countries like lebanon, iraq or yemen and the palestinian cause has been one that iran has embraced since the 1979 islamic revolution. iran doesn't create the situations, it exploits them. israel isjustified in some sense in pointing to iran but on the other hand the israelis cannot expect iran will be able to solve the palestinian issue for them, even if iran was to stop its support for hamas, i think i'm pretty sure that palestinians would continue to

resist and protest against occupation by israel. it resist and protest against occupation by israel. it has been fantastic to _ occupation by israel. it has been fantastic to have _ occupation by israel. it has been fantastic to have you _ occupation by israel. it has been fantastic to have you and - occupation by israel. it has been fantastic to have you and hear. occupation by israel. it has been i fantastic to have you and hear your thoughts. thank you forjoining us. let's take you to gaza. meanwhile in gaza — the fighting continues, both on the ground, and with israeli air strikes. health officials in gaza says dozens more people — including several children — were killed in israeli bombardments overnight — including attacks on al—mawasi, which is near khan younis in the south. these pictures were released by the red crescent, which says its building n khan younis was hit, with a number of people wounded. israel had previously told people to move towards the area to avoid danger. israel has not commented on those claims. it has previously said it is only fighting hamas militants, and is not targeting civilians. the hamas—run gaza health ministry says more than 22 thousand people have been killed since israel began its military action. we've mentioned how iran and its lebanese ally hezbollah have avoided open full—scale conflict with israel, since it began its military operation in gaza. but another group with close links

to iran — the houthis in yemen — have been attacking shipping in the red sea — a key shipping lane, which leads to the suez canal. the houthis, who released this video of one hijacking incident, have said they are targeting israeli assets. 18 global shipping organisations are diverting their cargoes away from the area. the issue was debated at the united nations on wednesday — and the us, the uk and ten other nations warned the houthis that there will be consquences unless they stop their attacks immediately. the united states believes that we are at an inflection point. these attacks pose grave implications for maritime security, international shipping and commerce. that warning doesn't appear to have had any effect on the houthis so far. they've simply said they will continue to target any vessels which they consider linked to israel. our middle east correspondent yolande knell gave us this analysis of the situation from jerusalem. we've had, according to reports that were heard at the un security council last night,

some 20 ships attacked by the ira— backed houthis based in yemen, in recent weeks in the red sea and in the gulf of aden. and the un security council called many members for these attacks to stop, there has also been a joint statement by 12 countries which was put out to the same effect, basically pointing out the threat that this is posing now to regional security but also to international shipping, the freedom of navigation and even to global food supplies. yolande knell there injerusalem — and as she mentioned, we can show your live pictures looking into gaza at the moment, a lot of smoke in the air as israel continues its bombardment, we are hearing of a fire of some sort, we will bring you the latest from there just as soon as we get it. the view of a tent camp, many people in gaza

have made their way there. elections come round in all democracies, but never have the timings aligned like they do this year. 2024 is expected to be the biggest voting year in history. more than 60 countries are scheduled to hold elections, home to some 4.2 billion people — representing more than half of the world's population. that s a lot of counting. as well as countries like india, the us and russia — here in the uk its expected there will be a general election. it's not yet known when it will be, but prime minister rishi sunak said "2024 will be an election year." in expectation of this, opposition leader sir keir starmer has been speaking in bristol today. he spoke of the apathy facing voters in the uk currently. you're right to be anti—westminster, right to be angry about what politics has become but hold on to the flickering hope in your heart that things can be better because they can. you can choose it. you can choose the hope of national renewal, the responsibility of service, what politics can and should

be and you can reject the pointless populist gestures, the low road cynicism that the tories believe is all you deserve. applause live now to our political correspondent iain watson in westminster. what is the calculation here? why is he seizing on the issue of apathy? is seizing on it because he has a big lead in current opinion polls, there is a lot of scrutiny about what he might be offering as a potential prime minister but his worry is that although people are suggesting that they are disillusioned with the current government, they haven't yet come over to labour solidly to his party, he hasn't yet possibly sealed the deal so he needs to encourage people to get out and vote and vote for change. part of his way of doing this is aligning himself with those

disillusioned with politics and they are right to be anti—westminster, it is his way of trying to convince them that he is different. it is two fold, some specifics, tackling cronyism when ministers can leave government and then lobby colleagues. secondly, he had passed beyond politics that he was director of public prosecutions, the chief prosecutor in england and some mps had cheated on expenses and he sent them to jail, he is saying that i'm on your side, i'm them to jail, he is saying that i'm on yourside, i'm not like them to jail, he is saying that i'm on your side, i'm not like other politicians. the other fact he had to convince people of was that the labour policies were different from the current government, labour was criticised for not having enough definition, he said that there were changes that were worth fighting for, that includes better care for care workers, helpful people could get on the housing ladder. specifics rather than some of the grander

plans associated with him. i thought it was interesting that in a question and answer session after his speech he was asked some very specific questions, he criticised the current government for pushing the current government for pushing the tax burden of the highest level in 70 years, he was asked which taxes he would cut and he declined to answer, he said his priority was putting economic growth first. he was also asked about a big plan to spend £28 million on green projects later on in the parliament if he is elected and he simply said if the fiscal rules, the rules governing tax and spending, if you could not get get down and stick to those rules he would borrow less. so that big pledge he made of £28 million can't necessarily be delivered. his message overall although he suggested in the speech that he was offering project hope, it is a hope tempered by realism and the state of the economy, by not promising to

much, it is the line between that economic credibility but also having enough to inspire people to go out and vote and say his party is a party of change. and i think he will have to continue to develop those themes during the course of this year whenever the election is. thank ou ve year whenever the election is. thank you very much- _ around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a row about emergency cover has broken out between nhs chiefs and union leaders, as a six—day strike by england's junior doctors enters its second day. the doctors' union has accused health leaders of misusing the system for calling doctors back to work when patient safety is at risk. but nhs england insists they were genuine requests for help. a 49—year—old man has been arrested after reports shots were fired at a cinema in liverpool on wednesday evening. merseyside police locked down the showcase cinema in croxteth when a man threatened staff in the foyer before shooting at the outside of the building. officers responded to three separate

incidents involving shots being fired but no—one was injured. more than 40 people who applied to a troubles victims pension scheme have died before any decision was made., figures obtained by bbc ni reveal. the scheme, which opened in 2021, offers payments to those who suffered physical or psychological injuries in the troubles in northern ireland. despite receiving more than 6,200 applications, decisions have been made on 955. you're live with bbc news. prince andrew and former president bill clinton are among high—profile figures named in newly released court documents relating to sex offenderjeffrey epstein. they include associates, friends and alleged victims of the disgraced billionare, who died in jail five years ago. the papers relate to a case that was brought against epstein's associate ghislaine maxwell. she is currently serving a twenty—year jail sentence for child sex trafficking.

more now from our correspondent peter bowes there are 932 pages in all, all part of a civil lawsuit brought by one of the accusers. i5 of a civil lawsuit brought by one of the amusem— the accusers. is long-time friend and associate _ the accusers. is long-time friend and associate who _ the accusers. is long-time friend and associate who is _ the accusers. is long-time friend and associate who is now- the accusers. is long-time friend and associate who is now serving the accusers. is long-time friend i and associate who is now serving 20 years in prison for crimes she committed with him. yes, these documents have references to several high—profile people that we know were associates ofjeffrey epstein over the years, there are more than 60 references to prince andrew, there is the repeating of at least one allegation against him that in the past buckingham palace described as categorically untrue. the former president bill clinton is also mentioned as expected, he was known to sometimes use the plane to fly on

humanitarian trips to africa. again, there is no suggestion in these documents that he did anything illegal. there are also some references to donald trump and again no suggestion that he was involved in any wrongdoing. and also references and names of many other people who are not famous, in fact it is notable that the judge who authorised the release of these documents said many of those people had not objected to the release of these documents which suggest that for those people, this could be a clearing of the air, yes they may have crossed maths withjeffrey epstein in the past, but for them there is certainly no suggestion but they are implicated in his crimes. there is still more to come, there are more documents due to be released in the coming days. japan's prime minister has announced that more troops

are being deployed to help the victims of the devastating new year's day earthquake. fumio kishida says the number of defence force personnel in the worst—affected area would more than double to 4,600. at least 78 people have now been confirmed dead. more than a dozen communities remain cut off by landslides and blocked roads in centraljapan. we have had some remarkable news, the japanese broadcaster have said that rescuers have managed to pull a woman who was in her 80s from the rubble of her collapsed house, 72 hours after the earthquake they managed to pull a eight—year—old woman from her collapsed house. many communities remain cut off by landslides, there are roads that are blocked, there has been heavy rain falling, it has been very difficult for people helping with the rescue effort. let's hear some of what mr kishida had to say at a press conference. translation: the situation in the affected area - is very challenging. but from the perspective of saving lives, we are making all efforts to rescue and provide life—saving

aid to as many people as possible before the crucial 72—hour period following the disaster elapses this evening. our correspondentjean mackenzie is in the noto peninsula — she gave us the latest on the rescue and recovery efforts. it has now been 72 hours since the earthquake and this is the critical window because after this time the chance of finding people alive it severely reduces. but many people are still missing and it is thought they are trapped under their collapsed homes. most of the affected people i in the town to the north of the peninsula, we managed to enter it yesterday and we saw huge destruction, lots of the old, traditional wooden homes have been brought to the ground. these homes were built before new regulations were built before new regulations were introduced to protect houses from earthquakes and the is that

many other people living here are elderly so they hadn't done the work to update their another of the issues has been how long it has taken rescue workers to reach people. the roads here have been so badly damaged and the area is so remote that there are limited routes to access some of these towns so they were completely cut off. access has been re—established of the past few days but search and rescue dogs only entered yesterday, so that has really slowed the process down. there are also up to 1000 people who are still entirely cut off, people living in remote coastal towns are mountain villages and they haven't been able to get any supplies at all, there are having to survive by themselves and so it may well be the government decides now to direct more of its rescue efforts towards these people. courtroom security footage has caught the moment a convicted felon lunged at a judge as she was about to

sentence him to jail. 30—year—old deobra redden is seen launching himself over the bench atjudge mary kay holthus at the clark county court in las vegas. quite dramatic and terrifying for thejudge. a court spokesperson says the judge has "experienced some injuries" after she fell back from her seat and the court marshal who came to her aid was taken to hospital for treatment. the defendant was being sentenced in a battery case. new charges have been laid against him. stay with us.

whether across the uk has certainly been testing our patients in the recent weeks but there are indications of something quieter as we head towards the weekend, until then most of the countryside looking like this, waterlogged, a lot of flooding at the moment, there are hundreds of flood warnings in effect across the country and in fact we may well add to those across southern england overnight as there is yet more rain to come. it is this swell of cloud moving in from the south—west, it will bring a brief speu south—west, it will bring a brief spell of heavy rain and strengthening winds. spelling and a lot of cloud across wales and the midlands, the best of brighter skies in northern england, northern ireland and western scotland. windy across the northern isles with a trail of showers in scotland. temperatures generally in single figures between seven and 9 degrees.

let's look at this when in more detailed, gusts of winds are likely to reach 50 or 60 mph through the channel, they will be a spell of wet weather, we will see another inch or two of rain falling on saturated ground on areas where we have flooding so this will exacerbate the issue. it will move through at a pace, lingering across lincolnshire and they will be a scattering of showers across the east coast of england and scotland. temperatures in low single figures for many, two or three degrees first thing. that weather front continues to bring windy and showery conditions across north—east scotland, our weather front through the night has eased so first thing on friday morning it will be a cloudy story with a little bit of mist and fog around but on the whole quite quiet. the best in sunshine on friday, a few scattered showers across wales and those temperatures generally around six or 9 degrees. as we move out of friday,

it looks likely that we will see areas high pressure building, here is that high coming to quite things down it means that temperatures will be just below par for the time of year and that could be a bit of a shock to the system. we will be chasing cloud around but it will be a drier story and a cooler story with a brisk north—easterly wind at times. take care.

this is bbc news — the headlines. the funeral of the hamas deputy leader — killed in a drone strike in beirut — is due to take place shortly. a day of mourning in iran, after two explosions in the southeast of the country kill nearly 100 people. yemen's houthi rebels are warned against any new attacks on shipping in the red sea. and luke's luck may have run out in the darts, but has the 16—year—old attracted a whole new generation of fans? so we heard there, several ongoing developments in the middle east — in iran, lebanon, gaza and elsewhere — so how do all the pieces fit together? here's meghan owen to explain. the middle east is a complex set of alliances and tensions. there are

that recent events could lead to a