us presidentjoe biden marks the anniversary of january 6th on the campaign trial with a speech about democracy. weather with a speech about democracy. democracy�*s amei sacred weather democracy�*s america's sacred because it is one of the pressing issues of all time. and it's with the toys are up for election is all about. —— what the 2024 election is all about. hello, i'm caitriona perry. you're very welcome. the united nations humanitarian chief, martin griffis, said the israeli bombardment of gaza has

rendered the territory uninhabitable. he says in a statement that... to talk more about the situation on the ground, i spoke earlier to mara kronenfeld, executive director for unrwa usa. thanks forjoining us again. can you tell us more about the current situation they're in gaza, you and your colleagues are seeing? what's it like at the moment?— are seeing? what's it like at the moment? gaza is a place, i have to say. — the moment? gaza is a place, i have to say. at _ the moment? gaza is a place, i have to say, at the _ the moment? gaza is a place, i have to say, at the moment of| have to say, at the moment of desperation and despair. there tends of thousands of women and children, mostly who have been killed or injured, mostly at 70% of those killed or injured have been women and children. families are sleeping in the streets in increasingly colder temperatures, we've seen the rain and the floods there. areas where civilians have been told to relocate our coming under bombardment. the medical

facilities in the strip are under relentless attack unfortunately, and we know that of the 36 hospitals there in gaza, only 13 or operational — most of those are in the south, and those hospitals in the south are seeing three times the number of patients that they are meant to see. and frankly there isn't enough medicine or equipment to even serve those patients who are coming into the hospitals in the south, and we know that only six of our health centres are operable right now, in addition to the full population of 2.2 million people in gaza facing famine as we speak. i5 facing famine as we speak. is there anywhere that your colleagues can tell people to go that is safe?— go that is safe? no, unfortunately - go that is safe? no, unfortunately as - go that is safe? no, unfortunately as the go that is safe? no, - unfortunately as the israeli military has told the population to go south, unfortunately where they've been told to go has been

bombarded. there frankly is no safe place in gaza, even unwra, un intallations flying the blue flag are not safe. there's been some 217 incidences of unwra premises being bombed or bombarded, and 62 of those are direct hits — each of them are violations of international humanitarian law. we even have 22 instances of the israeli military using unwra installations for military operations. and we've had some 319 internationally displaced people, local palestinians who have been killed while in un installations. unfortunately even in the south, where some i—i.25 million palestinians have fled, even there it's not safe. and again, there's simply no safe place for civilians in gaza right now. we've seen an escalation

in the west bank recently, west bank, as well, you have operations there — what have you seen? we've seen significant death and injuries in the west bank, as well. my colleagues have said that the west bank is at a boiling point, and we have seen unlawful detentions, and we are very concerned on the behalf of settlers, as well. —— aggression on behalf of the settlers that's been reported, as well. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is back in the region this week. what are you hoping forfrom his visit? we at unwra, my colleagues in unwra, are calling for an immediate humanitarian cease—fire. that means we need full throated humanitarian access into gaza. i know there was a un resolution to this event, but we've seen very little change on the ground. the border that allows trucks into it has opened, but it is still very difficult, if not sometimes impossible for unwra to get those

resources which come in, which are not enough by any means, but even to get those meagre resources to those in need. that's because within the border, those areas have been bombed. our own staff at unwra has come underfire, we have lost many of our own staff members, as i've said, and the road leading out from rafah have been damaged. some of unwra's trucks have been stuck and we've not got access to them. so we not only need more medical supplies and goods, mind you there are 50,000 pregnant women in gaza right now, 180 giving birth a day. we just don't have enough supplies to help this population in the way that any single human being on earth deserves. thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. thank you.

we put those claims mara made there about israeli strikes on un installations, and what she described as 62 breaches of international humanitarian law to asaf zamir, former israeli tourism minister and former consul general of israel in new york. asaf zamir, thanks indeed for being with us. the united nations humanitarian chief has today said that gaza has simply become uninhabitable. do you think israel will agree to a cease—fire, either temporary or permanent, to allow civilians in gaza to receive the aid and assistance that they need? first of all, we've already allowed for temporary cease—fire at the beginning of the war. it was in the hostage deal, we held our fire for a few days, and will we do it again? i'm sure — if we knew for a fact that the humanitarian aid would go through, and that it could also go through to our hostages. but we've been doing anything and everything humanitarian possible for us

since the beginning of this war, so they always have time to leave their homes. we gave out maps that show the areas which are safe zones, which they can move to make sure they're safe. and on our hand, we've proven that we are willing to do everything possible to save innocent lives as long as we can still complete the target of this war, which is eliminating hamas. the un agency for refugees in gaza, unwra, feel there is no safe place in gaza for civilians to go, and they say there's actually been 62 direct hits on unwra installations, which it says each of those is a breach of international humanitarian law. so if an ngo for an international organisation is saying there is no safe place, how can israel be saying that there are safe places? well, i do think after so many days of war, it would've been

fair if we were to disregard what unwra says as exact realities, because we have found their infrastructure hidden inside unwra centres. we've revealed this to the world, they have brought in gas which was stolen by hamas the day after, they've hidden hamas operatives inside their schools, and we've found double walls where they hid ammunition. so at this point, what they say is not, or should not be regarded as factual, and what we say should be. so we are doing everything we possibly could to try and abide by these rules — maybe we are not always succeeding. firstly, we are in no position to verify the claims you're making about unwra, we have no way of independently verifying that. and in any event, you're not at war with the civilians there in gaza, those civilian people have rights to

safety, food and water, to basic human rights. the death toll is put at this point by the hamas lead health ministry in excess of 22,000 people, we see the images coming from there of utter devastation — what can israel do to protect these people more? that plea has been made to israel from the us, we see the secretary of state, antony blinken, travelling there this week. what do you hope to see come from that meeting with the prime minister? i can tell you that antony blinken, between him and us, there is no daylight about the goals of this war and the importance to continue it until hamas is eliminated. if hamas laid down their weapons tomorrow, there wouldn't be a humanitarian crisis. if they stop their aggressions — they are still harbouring 128 israeli hostages, they are still launching rockets at israel almost daily. they're not doing anything in their to try to minimise...

i'm sorry, but we are having some difficulties with the signal there to you, sojust tojump in — you're just freezing slightly on us, sojust tojump in there as you mentioned the hostages there, and you are obviously a member of the blue and white party, formed in opposition to benjamin netanyahu's party, you were briefly in a power—sharing operation with him — but what is your assessment of how he has handled this war, and in particularly the pursuit to try and find those hostages? there has been some criticism of him. my opinion is that i was a minister under the unity government, and i resigned because of neta nyahu. i was consul general of israel in new york, and i resigned when netanyahu was reelected. and i'm in great opposition to some of his policies and israel. and still to this date, we are all united in israel

against our shared enemy. we are all frightened together after what happened on october 7th, and the war cabinet is still a united war cabinet. and after the war, we can look back and say things i agreed with, the things i didn't — but what i think should happen politically in israel, right now we are in the middle of the war, my brother—in—law is literally in gaza fighting as a reserves officer, and i support him and everything the idf is doing fully because we've reached a point where we have no choice. i want to remind you, i was on the opposition side of this government forever, so i supported the disengagement of gaza in 2005. instead of using those years to build a thriving economy and an education system, they used that funding to create a terrorist state.

not a two state solution, not living alongside me that we have talked about them for years. and just on that briefly, the israeli defence minister has outlined some proposals for the future governance of gaza — if you've had a chance to look at those proposals, what do you make of them? look, there are many opinions right now in israel, and that is verging into the politics of it. everyone agrees right now in israel that we have to make sure it is safe for the people evicted from their homes to go back and live in their homes. hamas fighters stormed into the supernova music it was one of the most shocking moments of the october 7th attack on israel. hamas fighters stormed into the supernova music

festival, killing more than 360 people, and taking 40 hostages back into gaza. now, almost three months on, some of the families of those hostages have visited the site. 0ur correspondent wyre davies joined them, as they confronted the place where their loved ones were taken. there is little left now at the site of the nova music festival, apart from hundreds of photographs planted in the desert earth, mainly young people who were killed or abducted on october 7th. among them, this woman, a wife and mother of an infant son, a boy who will never see his mother again. we told him that his mother won't come back and that his father is missing, we are looking for him. but i tried to keep my eyes on my mission, to bring him back and bring the rest of them back. three months ago this weekend, thousands of heavily armed hamas fighters burst through the gaza offence. among their targets, the nova festival. pa rtygoers fled for their lives. more than 360 were killed. dozens were abducted to gaza.

some survivors made an emotional return to the nova site today. the safe return of their friends, the only goal. the world's attention is still very much focused on the ongoing warjust over in gaza, where more than 22,000 people have been killed, most of them civilians — but israel doesn't want the world to forget what happened in places like this on october the 7th. everything is gone from where the festival site was, but what happened here has not been forgotten. virtually everything from the festival site has been brought to this installation in tel aviv. the stage, the sound systems, and the music. it's an emotional project but with a positive message. as a community, we look forward. we have this passport of we will dance again. we mean it, we want to dance again, we want to dance

for the memory of my friends, my friends will be happy to see me dance again. with thousands of personal possessions that will never be claimed, the burned—out cars in which fleeing people were killed, this is also a difficult reminder of one of the darkest days in israel's history. wyre davies, bbc news. the leader of hezbollah has once again threatened to retaliate against israel for its suspected role in the assassination of a hamas leader based in lebanon. hezbollah is a poweful political and military group backed by iran. and in his second speech this week, its leader, hassan nasrallah, said that a response to the killing of saleh al arouri was "inevitable." his comments came as lebanon issued a formal complaint to the un security council over the attack in beirut on tuesday. it said israel used six missiles in the strike on a hezbollah strong hold. israel has not confirmed whether it was behind the killing. us presidentjoe biden gave the first speech of his 2024 re—election campaign.

it was centred entirely around democracy, and the threat that he says former president donald trump poses to america's most sacred cause. speaking in pennsylvania, mr biden hammered mr trump repeatedly by name, giving no mention to trump's republican challengers. he called mr trump's recent inflammatory language akin to that of nazi germany, and said the former president's campaign was all about "revenge and retribution." with tomorrow marking three years since the january 6th insurrection, mr biden criticised mr trump's inaction that day — where trump reportedly watched on television as his allies pleaded for him to do something, his supporters violently storming the us capitol, with chants of hanging the former vice president and the speaker of the house. mr biden said american democracy was pushed to the brink, and survived. he accused the former president of rewriting the history of something millions of people around the world saw with their own eyes. and he said former president mr trump was willing

to sacrifice democracy for his own cause. donald trump accused him of fear mongering. trump's mob wasn't peaceful protest, it was a violent assault. they were insurrectionists, not patriots. they were there to destroy the constitution. trump won't do what an american president must do. he refuses to denounce political violence. as we begin this election year, we must be clear — democracy is on the ballot. your freedom is on the ballot. applause the us supreme court is allowing idaho to enforce the us supreme court has decided whether donald trump will be kept on the decided whether donald trump will be kept on— will be kept on the ballot or removed — will be kept on the ballot or removed in _ will be kept on the ballot or removed in other _ will be kept on the ballot or removed in other states. i will be kept on the ballot or. removed in other states. the colorado supreme court removed donald trump from the primary

ballot, citing the constitution's 14th ballot, citing the constitution's14th amendment, claiming he can't run because of his role in the january 6th insurrection. thejustices of his role in the january 6th insurrection. the justices at the supreme court scheduled oral arguments for the 8th of february and the case will be fast tracked. the colorado republican primary is set up be held on the 5th of march. the trump team says they have confidence the supreme court will rule to keep mr trump on the ballot. the us supreme court is allowing idaho to enforce its strict abortion ban ahead of the justices hearing the case this spring. it can penalise doctors who performed the procedure in emergency situations. the court granted emergency requests filed by idaho state officials, putting on hold a federaljudge ruling that barred the state from forcing concerns that have violated us law on emergency care.

the law makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. justices say they expect to hear oral arguments in the case in april and issue a ruling by the end ofjune. protests continued on friday in somalia's capital in response to a recent deal between nearby ethiopia and somaliland. the map grants ethiopia at 20 km, 12 miles, of access to somaliland's coast. somalia says the deal has no legal force and called it a violation of its national sovereignty. somaliland declared its independence from somalia in 1991 and has long sought international recognition. at the new deal with landlocked ethiopia risks undermining 2018 agreement it has with somalia and eritrea. that 2018joint declaration states that each country territorial integrity is to be respected in the

interests of regional peace and security. ethiopia says the new agreement with somaliland is beneficial to both parties, but has been ambiguous on formally recognising the breakaway region as independent. meanwhile east africa's trade block is concerned over the ramifications of the deal. to discuss all this, i'm joined now by the former us special envoy for the region and atlantic council, distinguished fellow jay peter from. thanks for joining fellow jay peter from. thanks forjoining us on bbc news. there are lots of different angles to this, so if you want to go through them one by one, if we start by ethiopia, ethiopia's president has secured direct access to the scene for the landlocked country in exchange to become the first country to recognise somaliland. is that a deal for ethiopia? somaliland. is that a deal for ethioia? �* , somaliland. is that a deal for ethioia? v . somaliland. is that a deal for ethiopia?_ somaliland. is that a deal for ethioia? �*, ., ., ., ethiopia? it's a wonderful deal for ethiopia. _ ethiopia? it's a wonderful deal for ethiopia. it _ ethiopia? it's a wonderful deal for ethiopia. it diversifies - for ethiopia. it diversifies its bottleneck in djibouti where everything has to come through at very high prices. so

it's good for the ethiopian people and good to have diversity. it also opens the deal for somaliland, diversity. it also opens the dealfor somaliland, as diversity. it also opens the deal for somaliland, as you mentioned earlier, of recognition. so it's a real win—win and it respects reality. that's the most important thing, not emotional theories. i5 important thing, not emotional theories. ., ., ., theories. is somaliland in a osition theories. is somaliland in a position to _ theories. is somaliland in a position to do _ theories. is somaliland in a position to do what - theories. is somaliland in a position to do what it's - theories. is somaliland in a i position to do what it's doing to giving a way that c access to giving a way that c access to ethiopia and get a stake in ethiopian airlines in exchange, as well? , �* , ethiopian airlines in exchange, aswell? , �*, as well? yes, it's based in law. as well? yes, it's based in lava going _ as well? yes, it's based in law. going back— as well? yes, it's based in law. going back to - as well? yes, it's based in law. going back to 1970, l as well? yes, it's based in - law. going back to 1970, smile and gained its independence before the italian trust territory did, and was recognised by numerous countries as an independent country —— somaliland gained. then there was the union of the two territories, which ironically a somali court ruled invalid years ago. moving up to the present, the reality is the

majority of the people living in somaliland have never lived in somaliland have never lived in somalia. there is no way anyone has any idea of how to get them tojoin. anyone has any idea of how to get them to join. why not? they have direct elections, the last election in somalia was before you or i was born, so why do these people want to be back in a field state? it'll never happen. a field state? it'll never happen-— a field state? it'll never ha en, . . , , a field state? it'll never ha en. ., ., , , ., happen. somalia views this as a breach of their _ happen. somalia views this as a breach of their territorial - breach of their territorial sovereignty.— breach of their territorial sovereignty. breach of their territorial sovereiun . �* ., sovereignty. but aside from the le . al sovereignty. but aside from the legal claims. — sovereignty. but aside from the legal claims, which _ sovereignty. but aside from the legal claims, which i _ sovereignty. but aside from the legal claims, which i think- sovereignty. but aside from the legal claims, which i think a - legal claims, which i think a very tenuous, the fact is they have no means of enforcing. it's been more than three decades since somalia has recognised any authority whatsoever in somaliland. and others have invested — in fact the british international investment has invested close to $1 billion over several years in the second phase, which will be the port where this trade coming through to ethiopia will go through. so in

partnership with dubai ports world, the international community is moving slowly to recognising this reality. but there are — recognising this reality. but there are concerns that this deal could destabilise the region — do you share that view? i region - do you share that view? ., �* , , region - do you share that view? , , view? i don't because i don't think it could _ view? i don't because i don't think it could be _ view? i don't because i don't think it could be more - think it could be more destabilised. we have in mogadishu a failed state, with members, including a minister in the cabinet was a former wanted person in the us with a $5 million bounty on his head. what's happening in mogadishu is absent and elections, they are using this as a tool to what with pup support for a lack of achievement. just today in mogadishu, a respected elder was actually arrested and disappeared by the secret police for stating that he thought this was a good deal that one should look at. we've seen disruption _ that one should look at. we've seen disruption in _ that one should look at. we've seen disruption in the - that one should look at. we've seen disruption in the red - that one should look at. we've seen disruption in the red seaj seen disruption in the red sea shipping corridor was recently with attacks by the houthi

rebels — could this deal, those concerns about any kind of conflict impact that situation? i would flip that on its head. actually when all the years when there was piracy in somalia, they all came from somalia. no piracy came out of somaliland. without international recognition, somaliland kept its 500 mile coastline pirate free. in fact, destabilising to somaliland and not giving it a pathway to inclusion in the international community is the surest way to get a houthi like instability on the other side of the gulf. just briefly, do you expect that more countries will follow ethiopia's lead here and recognising officially somaliland? recognising officially somaliland ? i recognising officially somaliland?- recognising officially somaliland? ~ somaliland? i think the devil will be in _ somaliland? i think the devil will be in the _ somaliland? i think the devil will be in the details - somaliland? i think the devil will be in the details in - somaliland? i think the devil| will be in the details in terms of recognition and how it comes about. i do think there's been about. i do think there's been a long wait of which is the first country to recognise somaliland. i don't think

there'll be a scrum as to who will be the second. so it's reality and it will happen sooner rather than later. we will watch — sooner rather than later. we will watch to _ sooner rather than later. we will watch to see _ sooner rather than later. we will watch to see what happens next, but for now, thanks for coming in to talk to us about that former ambassador, peter fong, thank you.— that former ambassador, peter i fong, thank you._ the fong, thank you. thank you. the 19905 fong, thank you. thank you. the 1990s band _ fong, thank you. thank you. the 1990s band the _ fong, thank you. thank you. the 1990s band the spice _ fong, thank you. thank you. the 1990s band the spice girls - fong, thank you. thank you. the 1990s band the spice girls are i 1990s band the spice girls are being recognised with stamps in the uk. the collection of 15 stamps celebrates the group's 30th anniversary, the first time a complete set has been dedicated to an all woman pop group. the images include group shots and individual portraits, including jerry hallowell in that famous unionjack including jerry hallowell in that famous union jack flag dress. so spice up your life with some stamps. stay with us on bbc news, thanks for watching. take care. hello. after such a wet week, i can bring you some better

news in the weekend weather forecast — because, although it will be colder, it is also going to be drier. now, not completely dry — still a few showers around, a few bits and pieces of rain, particularly as we start saturday across northern and eastern areas where we have had a fair amount of cloud. but this slice of clear sky spilling in from the west — that's been allowing temperatures to drop, with some frost and fog, and ice to start saturday morning, with so much water around. where temperatures have dropped to freezing or below, we're likely to see some ice. some of the fog could be slow to clear across parts of northwest england and southwest scotland. some rain persisting across the northern isles into the afternoon, this band of cloud quite persistent, as well, across eastern counties of england with a few bits and pieces of showery rain. the odd shower out west, but some sunshine to you — highs of 5—9 celsius. during saturday night, this band of cloud in eastern england will roll, i think, a little bit further westwards back into the midlands, again, could bring the odd shower. but where we keep clear, starry skies overhead, it will get cold — a widely cold night,

temperatures around or below freezing, maybe down to —4—5, or perhaps even lower than that in some parts of scotland. and then, we head into sunday with a bit of cloud, and quite a brisk wind in the southeast corner — that will provide the odd shower. but elsewhere, mainly fine conditions, some spells of sunshine, but it will feel cold — 2—6 celsius, particularly cold, actually, if any morning fog lingers for any length of time. now, as we head into monday, this area of high pressure, if anything, will be strengthening, centred across the north of the uk. quite a few isobars down to the south, though — that means some quite strong winds, and those easterly winds, combined with some quite cold air, will make for a decidedly chilly feel. so, there's brisk winds down towards the south. further north, not as windy, but we could have some persistent fog, certainly some misty, murky conditions, some sunny spells, as well. but top temperatures maybe just 2—3 celsius in parts of scotland — northern ireland, england and wales, 3—6 celsius. but, when we factor

in the strength of the wind, look at these "feels like" temperatures — this includes the wind—chill — in some places, it will feel subzero. so very chilly on monday, perhaps turning a little bit less cold as the week wears on, but staying mostly dry.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. this week, is it a boat or is it a plane? i'm on board the ferry that can fly! why has nobody made an electric hydrofoil, flying ferry before? i think the main reason is that it's freaking hard! we're in india, where solar dryers are battling food waste. and an eye in the sky on energy use.

nice outfit by the way.