britain's prime minister says a general election is likely to take place in the second half of this year. a major incident is declared in nottinghamshire, as the county is hit by flooding and rising river levels caused by storm henk. thousands attend the funeral of a hamas deputy leader killed in beirut. and elvis is back in the building, he is making a comeback in a new stage show which is made possible by artificial intelligence, and a lot of unseen footage. and a lot of unseen footage. hello, i'm ben thompson.

welcome to the daily global, where we'll bring you the top stories from around the world. 2024 is shaping up to be a year of elections. two billion people — one in four of the world's population — will go to the polls this year in votes that could change the global political landscape. 50 nations will hold elections. starting with bangladesh, the polls include seven out of the world's ten most populous nations — india, the united states, indonesia, pakistan, russia and mexico. and the uk will go to the polls at some point this year. british prime minister rishi sunak has said his assumption is that a general election will be held in the second half of this year, despite some speculation it could take place in the spring. opinion polls put mr sunak�*s conservatives well behind the opposition labour party. with the details, our political editor, chris mason. can i welcome to you this morning, rishi sunak, the prime minister? mansfield in nottinghamshire — a town the conservatives want to hold onto at the general election.

happy new year! how are you doing? the prime minister taking questions at a youth centre and taking this crucial question from a reporter. it's a new year — is it also going to be a general election year? yes! so, look, my working assumption is we'll have a general election in the second half of this year. in the meantime, i've got lots that i want to get on with. words that grab attention, say something — but commit to nothing. 150 miles away, on a visit to bristol at exactly the same time, we tell keir starmer what rishi sunak has just said. the prime minister is now hinting, without setting a date, that it might be later in the year. squatting in downing street for months on end, dithering and delaying, when the country wants change. what is he hiding? the conservatives have a mandate, don't they, to serve in government throughout this year? you can clamourfor an early

election, but that's the constitutional truth. but what mandate... well, they won the last general election. the third prime minister that they've had since they won in 2019! and it's notjust keir starmer with a keen eye on when the election is. i think the prime minister is running scared of the voters. people are fed up with the government's economic policies, with their health policies. they want change, and they want an election. the liberal democrats agree with them. rishi sunak isjust clinging on to power. i don't think it really matters in the scottish context, whether the election is in may or indeed later on this year, because what we know for certain is the tories will get beat, just as they've done every election in scotland since 1955. back here on the outskirts of bristol in a spot that labour needs to win from the conservatives, sir keir took on criticism from one of his own mps that it's not obvious what he stands for, and he claimed people are increasingly annoyed, irritated, by all politicians.

the biggest challenge we face, bar none, the shrug of the shoulder. because this is the paradox of british politics right now. everyone agrees we're in a huge mess. everyone agrees as well that it's been like this for a while, that britain needs change, wants change, is crying out for change. and yet trust in politics is now so low, so degraded, that nobody believes you can make a difference any more. well, it turns out there may be a little more time than some thought for leaders, whoever they are, to take this on. words, crowds, persuasion, promises — 2024 will have the lot of them. live now to political correspondent hannah miller.

hannah, so it's all in the language, isn't it? working assumptions of the prime minister to call a general election in the second half of this year, so it tells us, as chris was saying, a little bit, but at the same time it could mean anything, couldn't it? the same time it could mean anything, couldn't it?— couldn't it? the thing to be really clear about _ couldn't it? the thing to be really clear about then _ couldn't it? the thing to be really clear about then is _ couldn't it? the thing to be really clear about then is this _ couldn't it? the thing to be really clear about then is this is - couldn't it? the thing to be really clear about then is this is still - clear about then is this is still rishi sunak�*s choice, whichever language you choose to use, the way it works here in the uk is that prime minister is give essentially five weeks' notice for the campaign and then we have polling day. that has to be still no later than the 28th of january, 2025. has to be still no later than the 28th ofjanuary, 2025. and fundamentally, those packs haven't changed today. but we have seen today rishi sunak really attempting today rishi sunak really attempting to kill off speculation that he might go sooner than that elections traditionally tend to be in may. there will be local elections in may, and there had been a lot of people thinking he might choose to

do it then instead. going in the second half of this year it means he potentially gets to have two whole years in office, it doesn't necessarily mean anything in terms of how people will feel towards the conservative government. people might seem to feel better off this year, other people worse off, depending on factors like house —— housing and inflation. the only thing that is clear, the later rishi sunak�*s weights the longer he stays in power. sunak's weights the longer he stays in ower. ., , ., , in power. that gets me to my next oint. in power. that gets me to my next point- we've _ in power. that gets me to my next point. we've heard _ in power. that gets me to my next point. we've heard from _ in power. that gets me to my next| point. we've heard from opposition parties, labour say that rishi sunak is simply running scared of the verdict of the british people, the lib dem leader saying he has bottled it, and the leader of the greens, he is terrified of a thumping defeat. and that sort of the point here, isn't it? rishi sunak, a year ago

today, laid out his five priorities. he is five pledges to the british people. and i think if we are being kind of generous here, he's met two of them, hasn't he?— kind of generous here, he's met two of them, hasn't he? many people who sa that he of them, hasn't he? many people who say that he has _ of them, hasn't he? many people who say that he has had _ of them, hasn't he? many people who say that he has had one _ of them, hasn't he? many people who say that he has had one of _ of them, hasn't he? many people who say that he has had one of them, - say that he has had one of them, whether it's really his doing, you can kinda get into, but clearly it is a lot of ambiguity around exactly when those pledges will be met, and indeed, whether or not he will do. i think you would expect the opposition parties to have come out in the way they have today, the words around it did delay, clinging onto power downing street. they are going to react like that if he doesn't have the general election in may, and i think he will be hoping by having kind of killed off the idea that is likely to happen in may, and that that's the way he might be thinking, he will help, he has to ride this out for the next few days while they say that but he can kind of move on to governing those pledges that he's made, make

those pledges that he's made, make those happen, bejudged on those, and that that will be the conversation rather than an endless conversation rather than an endless conversation about when this election may be. but conversation about when this election may be.— conversation about when this election may be. but it was a pure bit of politics _ election may be. but it was a pure bit of politics as _ election may be. but it was a pure bit of politics as well, _ election may be. but it was a pure bit of politics as well, wasn't - election may be. but it was a pure bit of politics as well, wasn't it - bit of politics as well, wasn't it today? the opposition labour party leader here starmer, if he were to get the keys to downing street. somewhat upstaged by the announcement from rishi sunak. he was talking about what a labour government might look like without promising too much. economic growth before reducing income tax, anyone who might feel they would be better off might have a long to wait. fine off might have a long to wait. one off might have a long to wait. one of labour party's, _ off might have a long to wait. (me: of labour party's, the economy, conservative ground for fighting election but they feel like people feel worse off at the moment because of everything that has been going on with the cost of living, and they want to be making that argument,

cure starmer also talked about pledges to have violence against women. —— halve violence against women. —— halve violence against women. how it would get the growth that it says that it wants to achieve in government. there was clearly an attempt by the labour leader to set that out once again, new york, new start, say that again and get his request at the vote of the timing of rishi sunak, he didn't say that accidentally, he knew exactly what he was saying and what he was going to say, the timing of it did somewhat upstaged the labour party leader, and has turned today to conversation against that labour election and what exactly labour party was promising. it’s election and what exactly labour party was promising.— election and what exactly labour party was promising. it's going to be a busy or _ party was promising. it's going to be a busy or right _ party was promising. it's going to be a busy or right around - party was promising. it's going to be a busy or right around the - party was promising. it's going to i be a busy or right around the world, but also here in the uk for the

general election, thank you hannah, live there in westminster. now to storms in the uk. nottinghamshire county council has declared a major incident because of rising water levels on the river trent. villages along its course are being told to be prepared for flooding. some residents have been moved from their homes as a precaution. elsewhere, the met office has issued a yellow warning for rain covering the south of england. the warning, which stretches from cornwall to east anglia, says there could be power cuts and major travel disruption. she the word 0ur correspondent dan johnson has the latest. storm henk may be gone, but it's certainly not forgotten. this is what it left behind in nottinghamshire, where a major incident�*s been declared for the flooded villages of the trent valley. river levels are still rising here and could pass records set more than 20 years ago. it is similar levels to that of 2000. so it's that serious, and we must ask people to be

aware and stay safe. flooded roads are causing problems and making it harder for people to evacuate. in places, it's got difficult to tell what's the river, what's the canal and what's supposed to be dry land. the yellow warning for heavy rain covers most of the south—west, the south—east and parts of the midlands. in wiltshire, rivers are on the rise again. the sandbags are still out because these properties are at such a risk. you can see the flood defences are in place because they are vulnerable here right next to the river avon. and yesterday, this area was entirely flooded. so the level has dropped, but with more rain expected into the early hours of tomorrow morning, the threat is it could all get worse again. the river level was up probably to the second step. the basement of daniel's shop was already soaked yesterday. and this has happened before? yeah. i mean, last year i was advised

that there wouldn't be much flooding here at all. and another two or three centimetres of rain is expected tonight. the flood warning here is one of more than 200 across england. i'm just worried about| the river rising, really. i live slightly up the hill. if i lived further down the hill, i'd be slightly concerned. if not very concerned. what was once—in—a—ioo—year event is once—in—a—year or something... do you think we should be doing more to adapt to that? to be totally honest, i don't know what is being done. it's difficult to get around, even for those who know the land best. this is gloucestershire, and these cows and horses won't be roaming far on their new island in the midlands. the rain's disrupting rail services and all sorts ofjourneys, but the focus now is on water levels in nottinghamshire. dan johnson, bbc news. we can go live now to natalie fahy, who is the editor of

nottinghamshire live. natalie, thank you for being on the programme. we saw some of those images there, those devastating images there, those devastating images of people's homes. 0ur images there, those devastating images of people's homes. our people coping? images of people's homes. our people coin: ? ~ �* , ., images of people's homes. our people couin ? . �* , ., ., coping? well, we've been out and about across _ coping? well, we've been out and about across the _ coping? well, we've been out and about across the length _ coping? well, we've been out and about across the length and - coping? well, we've been out and l about across the length and breadth of nottinghamshire after the last few days. i haven't seen anything like this in many many years in the area, the environment agency is saying the river trent could reach the highest level since year 2000, gives you the scale of the idea there. when we hear that flooding is happening, we say oh, its going to be in the usual villages where it happens, we go out there and we speak to those people, and as more people are suffering but they are suffering far more than i've ever seen before. they told us they were living in fear of their houses being flooded again, they've having to get pumps and they've arranged themselves, they are trying to clear themselves, they are trying to clear the water themselves. there's a

villager who's got a gcb and he's taking people from one end of the village to the other, they've almost becalmed a kind of self—sustaining crisis centre if you like, there's no other help for them there. and the poor people who live in these villages have been so badly affected, isjust part villages have been so badly affected, is just part of their way of life now, and they've just been telling our reporters but they don't know what's going to happen next, how they can move on from this, are they going to have to get new carpet again, and have to get new paint, it's all those kind of things. and that's what people are telling us, it's truly shocking.— it's truly shocking. yeah, and natalie, the _ it's truly shocking. yeah, and natalie, the point _ it's truly shocking. yeah, and natalie, the point you - it's truly shocking. yeah, and l natalie, the point you touched it's truly shocking. yeah, and - natalie, the point you touched on there, this problem could get worse before it gets better, because that river has not hit its peak yet according to forecasters and the environment agency, so the worse could yet be to come, even though we're looking at pictures that show the real extent of the damage. i mean yeah, that's really shocking as well. the local resilience for them that declared a major incident at

3pm today. the river trent has not yet reached its peak, so we've got worse still to come. 0ur photographer was out by the iconic city ground, nottingham forest. he's never seen it before, and the walkways and the parks there, if that's going to get worse tomorrow, ijust don't that's going to get worse tomorrow, i just don't know that's going to get worse tomorrow, ijust don't know how many properties are going to be affected. what kind of damage we would see. and we always ask the question at this stage when we see the devastation, you know, what defences are in place? what is the environment agency, the government, being able to do in the past are kind of learn from what's gone on before and try to prevent a repeat? we always hear, don't we, that lessons will be learned, and it won't happen again. it's like you said, river levels at record highs and it's causing this destruction. well i don't actually know what the agencies and the authorities are

doing, particularly to try and prevent this from happening. i know that they are out there helping people, sandbags, the fire service has had to evacuate some people today as well, itjust has had to evacuate some people today as well, it just feels has had to evacuate some people today as well, itjust feels like they are kind of defenseless in the face of nature, if you like. it's just taken people completely by surprise. for example, today, they close consort bridge, which is one of only a few bridges over the river trent, if that closes you've got him major problem of how you're going to get around, its cutting off communities. i've never seen that bridge closed and all the time of work. people were kind of angry about this, they were driving through it anyway, i think people are feeling a mixture of fear, defiance, anger, we've got to fend for ourselves here, and the authorities are just kind of helpless at the scale of what has happened at this time around. i don't know where we go next, but we need some kind of response which we haven't seen yet.—

haven't seen yet. thank you for talkin: haven't seen yet. thank you for talking us _ haven't seen yet. thank you for talking us through _ haven't seen yet. thank you for talking us through it, _ haven't seen yet. thank you for talking us through it, i- haven't seen yet. thank you for talking us through it, i know i haven't seen yet. thank you for| talking us through it, i know it's haven't seen yet. thank you for. talking us through it, i know it's a scary time for a lot of people right now, given we don't know what will happen next. thank you for talking to us tonight, and best of luck, i know you will be keeping your readers and viewers updated on the website. thank you for that. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. i the six day strike enters its second day. accused health system for calling doctors back when patient security is at risk. they are 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. 0fficers responded to three separate incidents involving shots being firedbut no—one was injured. more on these stories on the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. now to events in the middle east. the funeral of the deputy leader of hamas has been taking place in the lebanese capital. saleh al—arouri was killed on tuesday, sparking fears of a regional war. thousands of people carrying palestinian flags gathered in the streets as the coffins of al—arouri and two officials were carried in a funeral procession in beirut. he was assassinated in a drone strike on tuesday. the leader of the lebanese militant group hezbollah, hassan nasrallah, has threatened a decisive response to the killing. the israeli defence minister yoav

gallant has told a visiting us envoy in gaza, health officials say that some 125 palestinians have been killed in the past 2a hours as israeli forces continue to carry out their offensive. a health ministry official said that ia people, including nine children, were killed in al—mawasi to the west of khan younis, in the south of gaza. the small town had been declared a safe space by israel us secretary of state antony blinken is due arrive in region tomorrow and will visit turkey, greece, jordan, qatar uea and saudi arabia as well as israel and the west bank during a week long trip. the islamic state group has said it carried out the attack. and the blast happened near a cemetery where mourners had gathered. i've been speaking to our middle east correspondent hugo bachega in beirut. so this assassination was obviously a blow for hamas, the group's deputy leader killed here in beirut.

but it also hit hezbollah because it happened in an area here of beirut that is, you know, a stronghold of the group. so yesterday we heard from the influential leader of hezbollah, hassan nasrallah, who said this was a flagrant israeli aggression. he said this was a crime that would not go unpunished. but crucially, he didn't give any kind of indication that hezbollah is willing to escalate its attacks against israel. we know that hezbollah has been attacking israeli positions almost on a daily basis. israel has been retaliating, but so far these attacks have been contained and israeli authorities have been warning hezbollah against escalating the situation. i think we've heard from a number of officials saying that what the israeli military is doing in gaza, it could do to beirut. the israeli prime minister has warned of a catastrophic response if there is an escalation from hezbollah.

but obviously, you know, hassan nasrallah needs to show that, you know, this is not going to go unpunished, that the group is going to respond to an attack happening here in beirut in an area that is a stronghold of the group. but at the same time, it is very likely that this that any kind likely that this, that any kind of response is going to be calibrated to prevent any kind of major retaliation from israel. yes, and that is the point. he will be very mindful of provoking a big response that could be catastrophic as well for lebanon and draw lebanon into this war. we know, as you've touched on those skirmishes on the border, but so far, lebanon managing to stay largely out of this conflict. and we know these flashpoints now opening up and a lot of nervousness about the direction of this war that could change very quickly. exactly. and people here in beirut and in southern lebanon in particular still remember the devastation

caused by the 2006 war between hezbollah and israel. and, you know, there is a massive economic crisis here in lebanon as at the moment a massive political crisis as well. so there's no public support for any kind of major military confrontation because they know that any kind of israeli response it is it's going to be destructive not only for hezbollah, but also for lebanon, for the entire country. and i think that's why perhaps we're seeing, if you lines of breaking news. in the south of the gaza strip, reiterating that those military offences will continue, they say operational efforts will focus on eliminating how much leadership, enabling, he says, the return of

hostages. and that war will continue as long as is necessary. he then goes on to talk about the north of the gaza strip. we know that's been the focus of much fighting in recent weeks, he says we will transition to a new combat approach, describing that as raids, destruction of tunnels, ground and air activities and special operations. he says that after the war, hamas will not control gaza, israel says will reserves the operation and freedom of action in gaza. also a line coming to us from the idf, the israel defence force spokesman, saying that three israelis who have been missing since that hamas attack, they were declared missing previously, they are now considered to be hostages in gaza. so what of the international diplomacy, what efforts can now deliver any sort of lasting peace? to be honest, the window is closing very soon.

for negotiations, it's still open. the qataris and others like the egyptians and the americans have shown willingness to move forward. but that window is closing because the conflict seems to be widening beyond gaza and northern israel, with the border with lebanon, with the assassination of al—hariri in beirut. of al—arouri in beirut. and obviously, as i mentioned the previous clip, what's happening in the red sea, this thing is starting to unravel. and if the israelis don't show seriousness in ending or at least sitting down for negotiation, it's very hard to see a peaceful settlement ending this conflict. what would be a sensible solution to get israel back around the table for these negotiations? because it's very easy, perhaps, for us to be distracted by these flashpoints elsewhere. we know, for example, that hezbollah�*s leader has said that, yes, there will be retaliation, but has stopped short

of calling for outright direct attacks. at the moment, it certainly seems that the lid has been kept on some of these tensions. but is it your assessment that at any moment that could change? absolutely. i think with the widening of the escalation to reach, you know, the beirut, the capital of lebanon, i think the potential for this being a wider conflict becomes reality every day. now the answer is within the israeli government itself. that growing concern over flashpoint in four places in iran, in lebanon and also in israel, gaza, and of course in yemen. just a reminder of our top story, prime minister rishi sunak suggesting a general election could take place in the second half of next year. stay with us.

hello there. as we head towards our first full weekend of january, the weather story is on the change. somewhat drier conditions are expected by the weekend, but before that, we've got this area of cloud that's bringing some persistent rain across channel—facing coasts. so it arrived in the south—west, some of it quite heavy at times, accompanied by gale—force gusts of winds on exposed coasts in the channel. and that is going to continue to drift its way steadily eastwards. it means that there will be some difficult driving conditions if you're out and about on the roads over the next few hours. this was the isle of wightjust before darkness arrived, and you can see there are certainly some localised flooding in the area. now that rain will continue to drift its way south and east. it may lingerfor a time across the east midlands, lincolnshire, east anglia as well. a few scattered showers and stronger winds across eastern scotland and some coastal showers out to the west, but sandwiched in between the two, some clearer skies and we could have some patchy mist and fog forming by morning. now the low pressure still sitting up into the far north will give

stiff winds and showers into the northern isles and eastern scotland, but a ridge of high pressure is slowly building in. so there will be some showers out to the east, a legacy of cloud east of the pennines across england. further west, some brighter, sunnier spells with a few scattered showers driven in by that north—westerly wind. temperatures are likely to peak into single figures for many into the afternoon, so we're looking at around 4—9 degrees, pretty much where they should be for this time of year. but as we move out of friday into the start of the weekend, that high pressure's continuing to build in. the isobars open up, the winds falling light. again some patchy fog could be an issue first thing on saturday morning. we still keep a risk of some showers and introduce some strong wind across the northern isles, but it's going to be a chilly start to saturday. low single figures in towns and city centres. just below, a touch of frost likely away from the breeze. now high pressure is set to establish itself for the start of the weekend, and as the wind direction swings in a clockwise direction around that high, we're

either going to have an easterly or a north—easterly, which at times will drag in quite a lot of cloud off the north sea. so, yes, we're going to be chasing cloud amounts around, but look at this. it's going to be dry, settled with some sunshine at times, but we'll need to look out for overnight frost and fog.

this is bbc news. the headlines — britain's prime minister, rishi sunak, says a general election is likely to take place in the second half of this year. a shooting at a high school in the us state of iowa — police say there are multiple victims. prince andrew and bill clinton are among those named in newly—released court documents relating to sex offenderjeffrey epstein. elvis is back in the building — he's making a comeback in a new stage show made possible by artifical intelligence and lots of unseen footage. rishi sunak has been accused of "squatting" in downing street by his political opponents after he downplayed holding a general election in the spring. after he downplayed holding speaking in mansfield,

mr sunak said his working assumption is that a poll will be held in the second half of 202a.