residents in "at risk" areas are being advised to prepare to evacuate. and it's notjust the midlands. there's been widespread flooding across several parts of england, with major disruption. we've got water flooding under floors, we're taking stuff upstairs. just moving everything, any valuables, we're just moving up onto tables, upstairs, as best we can. we'll be live in nottinghamshire where the river trent could reach some of its highest levels this century. also tonight... we report on the attacks on shipping in the red sea, and what they could mean for costs on the high street. rishi sunak hints when an election might be called, as keir starmer steps up his bid to become prime minister. # you ain't nothin�* but a hound dog, cryin�* all the time. # could elvis soon be back in the building — albeit virtually?

and, how to defy climate change and rising flood waters — one brick at a time. 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, a first look at tomorrow's front pages. good evening. there've been hundreds of flood alerts across england today, as heavy rain continued to batter parts of the country. and there are fears tonight the river trent, could come close to its highest water mark on record this century. a major incident has already been declared in nottinghamshire due to widespread flooding, caused by storm henk. the county council is urging residents in at risk areas to prepare in case they need to evacuate, with the environment agency at one stage issuing more

than 50 flood warnings and flood alerts for the east midlands alone. navtej johal is live in nottingham for us tonight with the very latest. this is the river trent behind me and you can see here just how high it's become. this is the area where the environment agency says it will reach its peak. it's currently at its peak. i know the spot very well, there are about a dozen is steps down to the river, if you took one step you would be under water. i've never seen anything like it and that's the same message i've been hearing from people across the county today. storm henk may be gone but it's certainly not forgotten. this is what it left behind in nottinghamshire, where a major incident has been declared and water levels on the river trent are as high as they've been in more than 20 years. the council is making the decision could see the river surging

past their headquarters, but not every seat here was suitable for a good view. its every seat here was suitable for a good view— good view. its similar levels to that of 2000, _ good view. its similar levels to that of 2000, so _ good view. its similar levels to that of 2000, so it's _ good view. its similar levels to that of 2000, so it's that - good view. its similar levels to i that of 2000, so it's that serious, and we must ask people to be aware and we must ask people to be aware and stay safe. and we must ask people to be aware and stay safe-— and stay safe. flooded roads are causina and stay safe. flooded roads are causing problems _ and stay safe. flooded roads are causing problems and _ and stay safe. flooded roads are causing problems and making i and stay safe. flooded roads are causing problems and making it| causing problems and making it harderfor people to causing problems and making it harder for people to evacuate. in places it's become difficult to tell what's river, watts canal, what's supposed to be dry land. in the village of east bridge road, many people have never seen it so bad. we went people have never seen it so bad. - went to bed last night knowing the river was coming up so my partner set the alarms to check it every couple of hours in the night. the river started coming into the property at six this morning. we spent most of today keeping it out, which we did a very good job of until about 2:30pm this afternoon where the river trent got the better of us. in where the river trent got the better of us. ., . ' where the river trent got the better of us. . . , ., of us. in radcliffe on trent the fire service — of us. in radcliffe on trent the fire service needed _ of us. in radcliffe on trent the fire service needed to - of us. in radcliffe on trent the fire service needed to be - of us. in radcliffe on trent the l fire service needed to be carried of us. in radcliffe on trent the -

fire service needed to be carried in at this static caravan park and rush hour was proving difficult. the yellow warning for heavy rain covers most of the southwest, southeast and parts of the midlands, and there are more than 200 flood warnings across england. and in wiltshire tonight, flooded fields have led to flooded homes and frustrated residents. we've got water flooding under floors, we've taken upstairs. the council have the phone off the hook. the police aren't interested in closing the road, i'm amazed there hasn't been an incident. the fire brigade isn't interested, no one is interested. we brigade isn't interested, no one is interested-— interested. we were sat having a nice class interested. we were sat having a nice glass of _ interested. we were sat having a nice glass of wine _ interested. we were sat having a nice glass of wine by _ interested. we were sat having a nice glass of wine by the - interested. we were sat having a nice glass of wine by the fire - interested. we were sat having a nice glass of wine by the fire andj nice glass of wine by the fire and my partner's friend texted and said, i my partner's friend texted and said, i hope _ my partner's friend texted and said, i we you _ my partner's friend texted and said, i hope you are ok, and we were, like, _ i hope you are ok, and we were, like. 0k. — i hope you are ok, and we were, like, 0k, what's going on? so we came _ like, 0k, what's going on? so we came out— like, 0k, what's going on? so we came out and went, oh, yeah. the rain is came out and went, oh, yeah. tie: rain is disrupting rail came out and went, oh, yeah. t'i2 rain is disrupting rail services came out and went, oh, yeah. ti2 rain is disrupting rail services and all sorts ofjourneys. it's difficult to get around, even for those who know the land best. this

is gloucestershire. these cows and horses won't be roaming far on their new island in leicestershire. some have been able to see the lighter side of it all though.— side of it all though. good afternoon. _ side of it all though. good afternoon, welcome - side of it all though. good afternoon, welcome to . side of it all though. good| afternoon, welcome to the side of it all though. good - afternoon, welcome to the rose side of it all though. good _ afternoon, welcome to the rose and crown, riverside view, and probably the best guinness... the crown, riverside view, and probably the best guinness. . ._ the best guinness... the landlord of this ub the best guinness... the landlord of this pub has — the best guinness... the landlord of this pub has no _ the best guinness... the landlord of this pub has no chance _ the best guinness... the landlord of this pub has no chance of— the best guinness... the landlord of this pub has no chance of a - the best guinness... the landlord of this pub has no chance of a dry - this pub has no chance of a dry january. we see the trent behind you so high. how bad could things get? the environment agency says the river trent is likely to peak overnight into tomorrow morning, but i'vejust spoken to overnight into tomorrow morning, but i've just spoken to the council about ten minutes ago and they say currently there are well over 100 properties which are flooded in the county, and that number will rise overnight and into tomorrow. so, lots of concern, lots of issues currently being presented, lots more calls coming in for the council to

deal with. there is a rest centre, which has been set up in newark, north of here, a town not far from nottingham as well and we are expecting to see more disruption, more issues. this isn't the first time however that the major incident has been declared in nottinghamshire. it was the same situation during storm babet. but the problem is, storm henk has passed, that was a couple of days ago, and we are still feeling the effects of it and the worst impact could still be felt, could still yet be felt, over the next 2a hours. navtej johal on the banks of the river trent in nottingham, thank you. let's look at the continuing disruption to international shipping in the red sea now, with some uk businesses warning supplies of their products could be delayed if the problems in the middle east persist. attacks by iranian—backed houthi militias from yemen have meant 20% of ships are now avoiding their usual quicker route through the suez canal, opting instead for a safer but longer passage, adding

nine days on the voyage. the additional fuel and labour costs, along with spiralling insurance premiums, make the cost of trade between the far east and europe much more expensive — a higher cost that could be passed on to consumers. here's katy austin. the string of attacks on vessels by houthi rebels in the red sea means delays and increased shipping costs for businesses here in the uk. literally, 100% of the lines are delayed. the difficulty what we have is that a valentine's day order is no good to a customer and a consumer on 15th february. here's the problem — on this map, you can see the difference that avoiding the red sea makes to the journey of goods coming to europe from asia. they'd use it to reach the suez canal, through which 30% of the world's shipping—container volume passes. the alternative route is around africa's cape of good hope. the extra 3,500 nautical miles can

take ten days longer. this animated video shows the movements of container ships in the few days after the first attack in november. compare that to the past three days. you can see just how many are now taking the longer route. today, next became the latest major retailer to warn deliveries of its stock could be delayed. hopefully, it would be resolved in the next month or so, but if it isn't, what we're likely to see is probably slightly reduced choice of the things we'd normally see in things like clothing retailers, in electrical retailers, and also maybe longer delivery times, particularly of new products, cos they will take longer to take come from the factories in the far east to our stores here in britain. the united states, britain and ten other countries have warned rebel forces in yemen that they will face consequences if attacks on commercial ships continue, warning they posed a direct threat to freedom of navigation. i'm not going to spell that out but it is quite clear to me that this is unacceptable, illegal.

it is not to do with gaza or israel, this is about the freedom of navigation and the ability of ships to carry their cargo and the world economy, every economy, will suffer if ships keep coming under attack in this illegal and unacceptable way. global shipping has been rocked by other crises in the past few years — the huge container ship ever given got stuck in the suez canal in 2021, and the covid pandemic caused extensive supply—chain disruption. how much of a headache this latest problem becomes for businesses and consumers will depend on how long the threat to one of the world's biggest trade routes continues. katy austin, bbc news. james landale is with me. lord cameron that talking tough, the foreign secretary, but what can the west as it were do to deal with this crisis? ~ , crisis? clive, i think the first thing the — crisis? clive, i think the first thing the uk. _ crisis? clive, i think the first thing the uk, the _ crisis? clive, i think the first thing the uk, the us- crisis? clive, i think the first thing the uk, the us and - crisis? clive, i think the first i thing the uk, the us and other western powers are trying to do is to internationalise this issue, they

are saying it's not about israel hamas, it's about a rebel group in yemen that is attacking shipping and a threat to freedom of navigation thatis a threat to freedom of navigation that is of interest to any country that is of interest to any country thatis that is of interest to any country that is interested in global trade, and so far that's been a pretty successful strategy. even russia and china have condemned the houthi attack. the second thing that west has tried to do is implicitly threatened military action against targets in yemen if these targets continue. so far that threat seems to have gone unheeded. today, the us navy said an unmanned houthi vessel laden with explosives went out about 50 nautical miles into the red sea and exploded within a few miles of commercial shipping, so the houthis do not appear deterred by the threat of military action. it may be that they want to test just how far western powers are prepared to go. the key to this is iran. iran has huge influence over the houthis. its iranian missiles and drones the houthis are using, so if iran

concludes that there is a risk of escalation, that its own allies are unhappy that the houthis might go too far, then potentially they could stop that but we are not there yet. there is still the risk of western military action, the risk of escalation.— military action, the risk of escalation. , ., ., ., ~ escalation. james landale, thank ou, our escalation. james landale, thank you, our diplomatic _ escalation. james landale, thank l you, our diplomatic correspondent. it was a declaration of sorts from rishi sunak today, saying the much—anticipated general election is likely to be held in the "second half of this year". but he could still call a snap election — after not ruling out going to the country before the autumn, on a visit to nottinghamshire. meanwhile, in a new year speech in bristol, the labour leader keir starmer said he hoped 2024 would give the country a chance to vote out the conservatives, accusing mr sunak of "squatting in downing street for months on end". here's chris mason. can i welcome to you this morning, rishi sunak, the prime minister? mansfield in nottinghamshire — a town the conservatives want to hold on to 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, and 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's 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 does the third... well, they won the last general election. ..the third prime minister that

they've had since the one 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 that 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 political leaders, whoever they are, to take this on. words, crowds, persuasion, promises — 2024 will have the lot of them. chris mason, bbc news. hannah miller is in westminster tonight. hannah, where do things stand tonight? the two main parties to begin to set out their stalls for voters. this

has caused — out their stalls for voters. this has caused a _ out their stalls for voters. this has caused a lot _ out their stalls for voters. this has caused a lot of— out their stalls for voters. this has caused a lot of hoo - out their stalls for voters. ti 3 has caused a lot of hoo hah today, but fundamentally the facts haven't actually changed. it still rishi sunak�*s decision when to call a general election, as long as he does it at some point this year, and he could still choose to do it whenever he likes, so why did he say this today? well, fundamentally he knew he was always going to be asked the question. he will hope he said enough to dampen down what otherwise could be endless speculation and he may well have been expecting the reaction that he got from opposition parties too, but he will hope he can ride that out over the next few days rather than have it hanging over him for months on end. why is the second half of the year attractive to rishi sunak? well, the only thing that is actually certain in all of this for him is that the longer he waits to call a general election, the longer he remains in power. he may get a full two years as prime minister. everything else is up in the air, whether that's the international

picture, whether or not people feel better or worse off this year, he will be hoping that something comes along to help him out from behind in the polls, so take today is a strong hint but no guarantee of what's likely to happen but i all right, hannah miller, thank you, at westminster. scientists have welcomed the discovery of a new type of antibiotic, raising hopes it could control one of the most dangerous superbugs. the new drug is still at the experimental stage, but if human trials work out, it would be the first new treatment against this type of bacteria in more than half a century. fergus walsh has that story. bacteria are constantly evolving and some are now able to resist even the most powerful antibiotics, posing a major threat to human health. the new antibiotic, zosurabalpin, defeated one of the toughest of all superbugs. it's called carbapenem—resistant acinetobacter baumannii, or crab for short.

it's one of the three most critical drug—resistant pathogens, according to the world health organization, because it's so hard to kill. crab thrives in hospitals, where it preys on patients with already weakened immune systems. it's resistant to nearly all antibiotics and has a mortality rate of around 50%. archive: a life-saving drug which l has revolutionised medical science. since the discovery of the first antibiotic — penicillin — these precious drugs have saved countless lives. but there's been no new class of antibiotics against the most resistant bacteria, known as "gram—negative", in over 50 years. research in the journal nature explains the new compound was able to eradicate crab infections in petri dishes and in mice. but getting any new antibiotic from the lab to patients could take up to a decade of human trials. this could definitely save lives, because we urgently need

antibiotics, because if there are no antibiotics, particularly against gram—negative infections, we might see the end of modern medicine because any minor infection, people will die, because drug resistant infection people can die within weeks. antimicrobial resistance is linked to around 5 million deaths worldwide each year, so the battle against superbugs is one humanity can't afford to lose. fergus walsh, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the day's other top stories. cctv footage from a corner shop in liverpool appears to show a gunman demanding cash, before firing a gun. there are reports of two more similar incidents at a nearby cinema and on a residential road in the norris green area. no one was harmed. a 49—year—old man has been arrested. it's been the second of six days of strike action byjunior doctors, with one of england's largest hospitals saying a call for some staff to come back into work because of extreme pressures

was rejected by the bma union. nhs leaders in nottinghamshire have declared a critical incident, which means there's concern they may not be able to provide critical services. the islamic state group says it carried out yesterday's attack in iran which killed 84 people. the blasts targeted a memorial event for the revolutionary guards general, qasem soleimani, four years after he was killed by the us. thejihadist sunni group named the two suicide bombers, and accused general soleimani of being involved in dozens of massacres. thousands of mourners have attended the funeral of the deputy leader of hamas in beirut. the body of saleh al—arouri, who was assassinated on tuesday, was carried through the streets before being buried in the palestinian refugee camp of shatila. hamas is designated a terrorist group by the uk government. millions of young people in china are struggling to find jobs,

as the country's economic slowdown causes historically high youth unemployment. latest official figures show china's overall unemployment rate at over 5%. but among 16 to 2li—year—olds in urban areas, it rises to more than 20%. that's one in five young people out of work. the authorities have now stopped releasing official figures for youth unemployment. 0ur china correspondent, laura bicker, has sent us this report. joy is the first person in herfamily to get a university degree. 0nly around one third of her class have found full—time jobs. she is taking a job in sales, not her dream career, but she is determined to make the most of every opportunity. do you think it is more difficult now than when your parents were growing up to get a job? translation: yes. the fact is that there are lots ofjobs. the trouble is whether you are willing to lower your expectations.

these jobs don't have good prospects for your future. they offer low salaries and you are easily replaceable. that is why most people would rather stay at home than choose one of thesejobs. some disillusioned graduates posted photos on social media suggesting their degrees were worthless. 0thers lay on the ground, lying flat it is called, a term used by young people opting out of the competition of modern life. as the number of young, unemployed people continued to rise, the chinese leader, president xi, came up with an idea. for decades, young people have left rural areas such as this, they have gone to big cities to study and find a job. he wants them to come back, get employment here and revitalise rural economies. the problem is young people are finding it is not that easy. manyjobs in the country are lower paid and require fewer skills.

even in the city, at this job fair in beijing, there is a skills gap. most of the openings don't need a masters degree. mr xi wants the next generation to eat bitterness. a way of saying, "just suck it up." but after enduring years of strict covid lockdowns, many young people don't want a hard life. this woman has a marketing degree from a city a few hours' drive from beijing. after a few months of searching she has taken a job in customer service, for now. both she and her boyfriend want to work, but the pandemic also changed their outlook on life. translation: my parents are less educated. - the things they encountered, the places they visited, are few and limited. they have never left their home province. they just want a stable life. but we want to see more things, see the outside world and think

about what we really dream of. studying hard no longer guarantees a glittering career in china. the post—covid generation is adjusting its expectations and finding its own way through an ailing job market. leaders will hope to get a grip on this crisis in the next year in case it festers into a more troublesome generational discontent. laura bicker, bbc news. a 13—year old boy from oklahoma is thought to have become the first person to complete nintendo's classic electronic puzzle game, tetris. willis gibson managed to arrange the falling blocks into horizontal lines at increasing speeds, reaching level 157, causing the game to crash. no—one has ever done so well since tetris was released more than three decades ago.

oh, my god! the teenager, who goes by the name of blue scuti on youtube, has been playing tetris since he was 11. he took 38 minutes to complete the game. elvis presley, who passed away in 1977, is be bought elvis presley, who passed away in 1977, is to be brought back to life, virtually. a life—sized digital elvis will be created from thousands of his personal photos and home—videos, all part of a new immersive concert experience. the show is due to open in london in november. david sillito has the story. # the warden threw a party at the countyjail...# - elvis never played the uk while he was alive, but 46 years after his death, plans have been announced for a show in london. with what the organisers say will be a convincing 3d computer—generated elvis. an ai elvis. i mean, is this entirely created by computers then? the way of thinking about it is

the ai learns elvis's movements, elvis's face structure, all about elvis and generates a computer model, which then will enable us to produce a new performance of elvis. using hours of home video and performance footage, the ai programme is studying his look, his movements and his expressions, to recreate elvis. but this is far from the first holographic performance. # oh, i want to dance with somebody...# i this an early version of a digital whitney houston. we've also seen a ghostly buddy holly and roy orbison back on stage, but the real breakthrough was abba's show in london. i've been to visit the show twice, and it's very strange. the first time you see it you go, this is really, really weird. and then eventually it's almost

like you're thinking they are real. the technology that they have is astonishing, really. # you ain't nothin' but a hound dog...# and the attraction of holograms is obvious — many of the world's biggest acts are getting on a bit. the band kiss announced a farewell tour in the year 2000, and a few weeks ago, assured the world that this really was the end by introducing their replacements — avatar kiss. david sillito, bbc news. the british actress glynisjohns has died. she was 100. # and they will sing in chorus, sister suffragette. .. she was best known for starring oppositejulie andrews in mary poppins, and appeared in dozens of films during a career spanning more than 60 years. she also sang the hit send in the clowns in the original

broadway production of stephen sondheim's musical, a little night music. her manager tonight said... "glynis powered her way through life with intelligence, wit, and a love for performance, affecting millions of lives." the actress glynisjohns, who's died at the age of 100. we began tonight with flooding in parts of england. well, how do you protect against the worsening effects of climate change? 0n the river severn in worcester, one man's taken matters into his own hands. phil mackie has the story. they say an englishman's home is his castle, or should that be an island? 0n the floodplain in worcestershire, there's only one tiny bit of dry land left. this is how it would normally look. there was no chance there'd ever be flood defences for the isolated property where nick lupton lives with his wife annie and two cats, so they decided to build a wall. although the house has got some really good mitigations in place, like barriers on the doors and pumps

below the floor level, we finally decided to build ourselves a wall around the house. nick, who is a chartered mechanical engineer, decided, with the help of some experts, once builders had put in the foundations, he, annie and some friends did the labouring. it cost about the same as a small extension and required a remortgage to pay for it. it is between four and seven foot tall. a foot higher than the highest ever flood. they built it in the summer and it took four months and it was finished just in time for the first big flood of this season in october. a really important part of building the wall was to install these sumps, because the ground water is going to come up underneath them around the wall and these sumps will collect the ground water and pump it back outside the wall. it is impossible to reach the house safely as the water is too deep and the current is too fast but we were able to

talk on a video call. finished it in the middle of september, and we tested it middle of october. and it's worked? definitely worked, yeah. this is the second test. this flood's actually quite a high one. it's close to the record in 2020. it is a lot easier now with the wall, but also for the long—term benefits of the structure of the house itself. a flood is not going to do a house any good so holding the water away from the wall is going to be better in the long term for the house. i think the biggest danger is a little bit of cabin fever. as long as we've got enough shopping and red wine or whatever, we're all right, we're 0k. the luptons have stocked up and are sitting it out until the water drops — hopefully by the end of the weekend. phil mackie, bbc news, worcestershire. time for a look at the weather. here's ben. a chance for the water to drop, something drier on the way, but not just yet. some very heavy rain again

today, especially in the south of england, that was the scene in guildford, and we have had some bad flooding in and around southampton, no surprise because just north of that, one location has seen a0 millimetres of rain in 12 hours, and thatis millimetres of rain in 12 hours, and that is close to half the rainfall that is close to half the rainfall that would normally be expected in the whole month of january. in the space ofjust 12 hours. rain continues to fall, moving east through the night with the risk of further travel disruption and also really windy around the channel islands and some coast of south—east england. further north and west in which some showers around. temperatures generally above freezing, maybe dropping to freezing in a few locations, but things tomorrow will be slowly improving, some showers in northern and eastern scotland, a bit windy as well, but out to the west, something brighter, and still a few showers but some spells of sunshine and the temperatures will be beginning to drop as well. 6—9 covers