the us secretary of state, antony blinken is back in the middle east to try and prevent the israel—gaza conflict from widening. police in london confirm they're investigating potential fraud offences in relation to the wrongful prosecution of postal staff. and emergency teams rescue those trapped by the floods in england — 200 warnings are still in place. hello and welcome. in the last hour, us aviation officials have ordered the temporary grounding of certain boeing 737 max 9 aeroplanes. it follows an emergency where a panel blew out on an alaskan airlines flight to california. the order impacts 171 airplanes worldwide. the air alaska plane had to make an emergency landing with a gap in the fuselage.

no—one was injured. but passengers have spoken about how close those aboard came to being sucked out. simonjones reports. relief for all 177 passengers and crew on board to be back on the tarmac after a mid—air emergency. the plane forced to land with a hole in its side and a window missing. the pilot recorded earlier outlining to air traffic control the severity of the situation. yes, we are emergency. we are de—pressurised, but we do need to return back. we have 177 passengers. it happened as the plane was 35 minutes into its flight to california. i look up, and the oxygen masks were hanging from the ceiling. and then i looked to my left and there's this huge chunk, part of the air plane, just, like missing. there was a kid in that row who had his shirt sucked off, and his mother was holding onto him, to make sure he did not go with it. alaska airlines has temporarily grounded all 65 of its 737 max 9

aircraft to conduct inspections. the company's ceo said... "we are working with boeing and regulators to understand what occurred. my heart goes out to those who were on this flight. i'm so sorry for what you experienced." boeing said a technical team was ready to support the investigation. the cruising altitude was about 16,000 feet, roughly half what an airliner would be cruising it during a flight but nonetheless they had to get the plane down safely which fortunately was done with all lives protected. the boeing 737 max was grounded in march 2019 for a year—and—a—half after two of the type crashed killing 346 people due to a problem with the flight control systems. the uk's civil aviation authority says it is monitoring this latest incident very closely. simon jones, bbc news. in the last few minutes, boeing has issued this statement: "safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has

had on our customers and their passengers. we agree with and fully support the faa's decision to require immediate inspections of 737—9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane. live now to our correspondent shingai nyoka. good to see you. bring is up—to—date on this unfolding situation. fitter on this unfolding situation. after the faa announcement - on this unfolding situation. after the faa announcement to - on this unfolding situation. till? the faa announcement to grounding about 171 planes, united airlines hasjoined about 171 planes, united airlines has joined alaskan airlines in grounding its aircraft that are similar in terms of configuration. in a statement it said that it has about 79 of those planes and that travel will be disrupted. about 60 flights will be disrupted today, so

we are starting to see the wider implications of this announcement to ground those flights. find implications of this announcement to ground those flights.— ground those flights. and what more can ou tell ground those flights. and what more can you tell us _ ground those flights. and what more can you tell us about _ ground those flights. and what more can you tell us about how— ground those flights. and what more can you tell us about how events - can you tell us about how events unfolded in the sky? the can you tell us about how events unfolded in the sky?— can you tell us about how events unfolded in the sky? the details we have had from _ unfolded in the sky? the details we have had from the _ unfolded in the sky? the details we have had from the faa _ unfolded in the sky? the details we have had from the faa suggests i unfolded in the sky? the details we. have had from the faa suggests that about 5pm on friday evening, it was just a routine flight from portland, oregon to california, and there was a p°ppin9 oregon to california, and there was a popping sound that passengers report hearing and the oxygen masks dropped and there was a gaping hole on the left side of the plane. it is not clear what caused it and those investigations are still ongoing. the national transport safety board has confirmed it will conduct investigations. the faa say it will support those investigations and so well boeing. find support those investigations and so well boeing-— well boeing. and as it cleared at the moment _ well boeing. and as it cleared at the momentjust _ well boeing. and as it cleared at the moment just what _ well boeing. and as it cleared at the moment just what kind - well boeing. and as it cleared at the momentjust what kind of. the momentjust what kind of knock—on effect the grounding of

these planes and possibly more could have on travel worldwide to? it is not clear at _ have on travel worldwide to? it is not clear at this _ have on travel worldwide to? it 3 not clear at this moment. alaska airlines issued a statement saying that whilst it had earlier grounded 65 of its 737 max planes that it had already conducted inspections on more than a quarter of those by this morning and those had already returned to service. united airlines says it has already completed some of those inspections and so it doesn't seem to be a major process to look into these, or to inspect these aeroplanes. it seems at least for a moment that some of those flights are resuming but as i said earlier united airlines are reporting that it does have a few disruptions today. do reporting that it does have a few disruptions today.— reporting that it does have a few disruptions today. do we know, this order to ground _ disruptions today. do we know, this order to ground 171 _ disruptions today. do we know, this order to ground 171 aeroplanes, - disruptions today. do we know, thisj order to ground 171 aeroplanes, how many are actually operating within the united states? that

many are actually operating within the united states?— many are actually operating within the united states? that is not clear but if we do — the united states? that is not clear but if we do simple _ the united states? that is not clear but if we do simple maths, - the united states? that is not clear but if we do simple maths, about . the united states? that is not clear. but if we do simple maths, about 130 so far between united airlines and alaska airlines. the israeli army says it's completed what it claims is the "dismantling" of hamas's command structure in the northern gaza strip. a spokesman said hamas fighters could operate only �*sporadically�* in the area. it comes as the lebanese group, hezbollah, says it's launched a barrage of rockets at northern israel, in response to an explosion in beirut that killed a top hamas official earlier this week. a hezbollah statement said they hit an air traffic control base in meron with 62 rockets. the israeli military said it had identified about a0 launches from lebanon. its thought to be the biggest launch of rockets into northern israel so far. preventing the gaza conflict from spreading is a key objective of the us secretary of state, antony blinken who is beginning a fresh round of diplomacy in the middle east. he's been meeting turkey's president erdogan in istanbul. he's also been in crete talking to the greek prime minister kyriakos mitsotakis, before heading tojordan. washington's priorities

are to prevent the war from becoming a wider regional confrontation, and to secure an increase in humanitarian aid to palestinian civilians. before mr blinken left greece forjordan, he said this. as we have said from day one, we have an intense focus on preventing this conflict from spreading. a big part of the conversations we will have over the coming days with all of our allies and partners is looking at the steps they can take using the influence and ties that they have to do just that, to make sure that this conflict does not spread. second, we will look at what we can do to maximise the protection of civilians, maximise humanitarian assistance getting in to them and also to get hostages out of gaza. i spoke to dr lisel hintz — assistant professor of international relations atjohns hopkins university ? about the significance

of mr blinken�*s visit to turkey. secretary blinken has been carrying out a number of these campaign trips in order to try to quell tensions in the region to prevent the conflict spreading, to secure the release of hostages, to try to get turkey's corporation, to get turkey on board with securing hostages, with humanitarian assistance, potentially with post—conflict reconstruction efforts. there is also a number of bilateral issues on the table between turkey and the united states that were in the discussion today. but i think secretary blinken began this trip in turkey moving then on to greece, jordan and a number of other countries as a way of signalling to turkey the importance that the us places on trying again to get turkey on board. initially, turkey had taken a very measured response to the attacks in terms of the language that the president was using and not necessarily taking a very condemnatory tone. however, that's changed quite a bit

and i think the us is very much trying to secure turkey's corporation as a key player in the region. how influential do you think he is? we will hear from him shortly. how important is turkey's relationship with the us and how much influence does antony blinken have there? it is a very tense relationship, there is a number of issues that have caused quite a lot of conflict between the us and turkey, including the us's support of the ypg, the syrian militants that the us has armed in the war against isis, and of course, and very pertinent to this discussion, turkey's ties with the akp, the ruling justice and development party's ties with hamas. and so trying to get turkey to reduce those ties, to use any influence it might be able to have in order to again secure the release of hostages, to prevent the conflict from spreading, that's very much what i think secretary blinken is trying to achieve. now of course there is also this

issue of the accession of sweden to nato that turkey has been blocking, so that was certainly an issue that the secretary was looking to push today, and of course turkey wanting something in exchange for that, is looking for the us government to approve the sale of f—16 fighter jets to turkey and president erdogan has explicitly linked those issues together. here in the uk — the chancellor, jeremy hunt, has said the government will do all it can to speed up compensation for post office branch managers who were wrongly convicted for false accounting. more than 700 post office branch managers were accused of wrongdoing after faulty software made it appear money was missing. the metropolitan police says it's investigating "potential fraud offences" arising from the wrongful prosecutions. here's our business correspondent, marc ashdown. we will look into each individual case and fight our corner.

it started as a lone voice, became a chorus and eventually exposed a national scandal. more than 700 post office branch managers have spent two decades fighting to clear their names. as this week's itv drama showed, some were even wrongly sent to prison. the man who brought the first appeal welcomed the met police's decision to widen its investigation into how the prosecutions were conducted. i think the big thing here isjustice, yes, but the truth. it's like when we first brought the court cases. we wanted to establish the truth about everything and if the met investigation exposes more of the truth and what went on there, great. this all centres on the horizon it system, which the post office started using in 1999. it led to accusations of theft and false accounting. eventually, it emerged the system was faulty, but not before hundreds of people were prosecuted. expert witnesses from some of the trials were already under investigation for possible perjury.

now, the met will consider whether fraud offences were also committed. the government said £150 million has already been paid out in compensation to more than 3,000 people, even though a public inquiry is still ongoing. what we have decided as a government is we're not going to wait until that inquiry concludes before paying out compensation. we want it...so we can do everything we can to get the compensation out quickly to the families who have been terribly wronged. in the midst of this renewed publicity, that list is growing. in the past week alone, more than 50 new potential victims have come forward. the post office said it shares the aims of the public inquiry to establish accountability and get to the truth of what went wrong. i haven't got that money and i don't know where it's gone! _ hundreds of innocent people were jailed or financially ruined by the scandal. at least four took their own lives. those still fighting say they hope the public outcry in recent days will help to finally bring them closure and justice. marc ashdown, bbc news.

at least 11 people, including five children, have been killed in a russian missile strike in eastern ukraine, according to local officials. around six houses were destroyed in the city of pokrovsk, which sits around 80 km from the front line. in his evening address, president zelensky said russia should always feel consequences for these kinds of attacks. 0ur correspondent in kyivjames waterhouse has more. this eastern town of pokrovsk, it's not a big place. before the full scale invasion, around 60,000 people lived there, but gradually people have been returning to their homes, despite officials are saying, look, it's not safe because of the constant shelling and missile attack that it is at risk of. we were there a few months ago and you certainly get a sense of how close you are to the fighting. it is where civilians and soldiers rub shoulders. nevertheless, we have this reported attack now where the russians are accused of using the types

of missiles used in air defence systems, where they are launched from the ground, on pokrovsk and the surrounding area. several houses have been destroyed, we are told, and we are seeing rescue teams sifting through the rubble. it is a very prevalent threat for pokrovsk. last august there was a bombardment which saw nine people killed around the town's main hotel and restaurant, and i think this is the reality now for settlements close to the front line. so rescue teams are going to continue trying to find anyone who may have survived. president zelensky in his evening address has said, look, russia needs to know that these attacks will be met with consequences. this week we have seen ukraine launch drone attacks across the border into russia, in response to moscow's biggest aerial bombardment of ukraine, so he is appearing more confident in wanting to respond to the constant missile attacks that russia launches against ukraine.

documents seen by the bbc suggest that the british prime minister, rishi sunak, had serious doubts about the uk government's policy of sending failed asylum seeker to rwanda. the papers, written in march 2022, indicate that his view then was that the policy would not deter migrants from crossing the english channel from france. a source close to rishi sunak told the bbc, "the prime minister was always fully behind the principle of the scheme." the scheme to send some asylum seekers to rwanda for processing and potentially resettlement in order to deter people from crossing the channel in small boats was first announced by then—prime minister borisjohnson in april 2022. we have had a busy few hours, 19 third—round ties in the fa cup, no

major shocks in the season's competition. no premier league side has been knocked out by lower league opposition. matty cash with the games only goal, a deflected strike inside the last 5 minutes at the riverside stadium. it's the first time in eight years that villa have reached the 11th round. we were keeping in our mind our game plan, untilthe we were keeping in our mind our game plan, until the last minute as well, even at 0—0, we were trying always to be positive in our area and then the wee one and it was fantastic today how we managed in 90 minutes, everything happened. it was goalless at half—time at stamford bridge between the 2018 winners chelsea and championship side preston but the prmier league side ran away with it in the second half, raheem sterling's free kick the pick

of their goals as they won 4—0. the lowest ranked team left in the competition, maidstone united, are into the fourth round for the first time in their history. the side from the sixth tier of english football beat league one stevenage, 69 places and three divisions above them, 1—0. you can find all the cup results on the bbc sport website or app. it's a weekend of cup football in spain too, with both madrid clubs up against lower league opposition in the cope del rey. atletico beat third tier lugo 3—1. memphis depay sealing it with two second half goals. getafe and girona are through. real play arandina from the fourth tier in the next 15 minutes. barcelona also take on a fourth tier side barbastro on sunday. this is the round of 32. four games in italy's serie a. inter milan are five points clear at the top of the table, davide frattesi scored an injury time winner at the san siro as they beat hellas verona 2—1. monza beat frosinona.

lecce and cagliari drew. sassuolo lead fiorentina1—0. brazilian football legend mario zagallo, who won four world cups as a player and coach, has died at the age of 92. fifa president gianni infantino says the story of the world cup couldn't be told without zagallo. zagallo had been the last surviving member of the side that lifted the trophy in 1958, which was his country's first title. he won it again four years later, before then going on to manage what is widely regarded as the greatest international team of all time, the pele—inspired side that won the world cup in 1970. i certainly think you could make a case for the argument that zagallo is every bit as important as purley

in those years that brazil established itself as the country of football. but what zagallo symbolised was the balance between attack and defence, an absolute force of nature and football has today lost one of its true greats. in tennis�* united cup, germany beat hosts australia 2—1 to set up a final with poland. alexander zverev and laura siegmund won the deciding mixed doubles match, after zverev had been beaten by alex de minaur in the singles. that cancelled out angelique kerber�*s earlier victory over ajla tomljanovic. it was gone 2am in the morning by the time germany won. so many emotions, so many match points going back and forth. and happy to get there in the end. what can i say? we are in the final, we are happy about that. there are a little happier being in bed for the last few hours but we are happier being in the final.

and that's all the sport for now. parts of england are still dealing with significant flooding. more than 200 flood warnings remain in place in central and southern england — and the environment agency says river and groundwater levels remain high. let's just take a moment to share some of the images from the today's flooding. here in essex, a family had to be rescued from their car by inflatable boat, after the vehicle became stuck in the water. this drone footage filmed near newark in nottinghamshire gives an idea of how widely spread the flooding is. the local mp, robertjenrick, said the scene was �*biblical�* in extent — and the flooding was the worst the area had experienced for more than two decades. and this was the damage caused when the river trent reached its highest level on record — at the torksey lock caravan park, near lincoln. electricity and drainage have been cut — and almost half of the caravans on the site have been affected. it was all right one day and then it just zoomed up, it covered everything. i think we got about an inch to go

before it comes into our caravan, and we are three rows back from the very bottom ones. so when high tide comes again, i reckon we are going to get swamped. earlier i spoke tojoe cuthbertson — he's a flood and coastal risk manager at the environment agency. he gave me his reaction. i would like to send my... my heart goes out to those affected by flooding, it is a really devastating thing to happen and sadly that's been the case for some properties. we think around 1,800 properties so far have been affected by the flooding. at the same time, around 115,000 properties and businesses have been protected by flood defences, so looking at the whole picture there has been a lot of work which we in the environment agency and our partners have done that has made a real difference and allowed people to sleep soundly through this event. in terms of the forward look, we now have no further significant rainfall in the coming

days which is good news, but as you have said the river levels remain very high, particularly the larger, slower responding rivers throughout the country, so thinking of the trent, the thames in particular, some of the places where we have seen impacts, it takes a long time for water to work its way down through the system. that's what we will expect to see over the coming days and we could see some further flooding impacts through the coming days, but fortunately the worst of the rainfall is now over. you talk about the work that the environment agency has done protecting people and making sure that not as many have been impacted as perhaps could have been, but many will inevitably be asking the question, are our flood defences resilient enough? i think in answer to that question, we do a huge amount of work within the environment agency and across many of our partners to build and maintain flood defences. we are currently in a period of record levels of investment in flood defences with the current £5.2 billion capital flood investment

programme which runs through to 2027. and from an environment agency point of view, our role is to make the best use of the money that we can, so we apply it to the places with the greatest risk, we do it where it makes greatest sense and can help the greatest numbers of people and vulnerable locations. so really i would say that we are doing what we can. can we protect all homes and businesses from flooding? no, we don't expect to always be able to prevent all flooding but we make the best use of the money that we have to do the best we can. we understand the environment secretary is in close touch with the environment agency, there isn't, the bbc understands, any plans for an emergency meeting of the government over this. are you happy with the support you are getting from the government to deal with this immediate situation? i think the current flood needs to just be put in context of some of the floods we have seen in recent years.

it has been really devastating and i would not want to take away from all of those people who have sadly experienced flooding on this occasion. but looking back at recent years, we are seeing the investment that has gone into flood defences across the country, and also importantly in warning and informing and raising awareness in helping people to reduce their own risk of flooding, has made a real difference. we are seeing greater, more extreme flooding in frequency with climate change and we expect that to increase. but at the same time, the investment is making a real difference in helping to reduce that impact. ijust want i just want to show you some pictures of the russian orthodox christmas eve being celebrated that the church of christ the saviour in moscow.

these ceremonies are being repeated across russia but the city closest to ukraine has decided to cancel their celebrations because of the recent escalation of cross—border attacks. belgorod has been shelled on the near daily basis. india's first spacecraft sent to observe the sun, has reached its final destination in space. the aditya—l1, took off more than four months ago and has travelled nearly a million miles — to reach the spot where it will be able to continuously watch the sun. india's prime minister narendra modi has called it an "extraordinary feat." stay with us here on bbc news. hello. for many it has been a much

drier day with some sunshine but again there are still around 200 flood warnings in force because all the rain is making its way through the rain is making its way through the major river systems. there are numerous flood warnings in force, you can find more detail on the website. we will have some frost and lingering fog which will thicken up overnight. the high pressure is blocking these weather systems from wringing they are reining in of the atlantic. not altogether dry, quite a number of showers which will continue to diminish for most this evening and overnight although we may pick up more across east anglia and the south—east and it could fall as sleet and snow over the higher ground. certainly will be cold enough. widespread frost and because it has been so damp and wet there will be quite a few issues with ice. and certainly first thing on sunday morning, along with the fog, potentially freezing fog around.

still quite a breeze in the north of scotland, one or two wintry showers around but they should be easing, one or two showers to the west but fewer further west where we see the lengthy spells of sunshine but it will not help our temperature much feeling chilly wherever you are and obviously situated by that keen breeze that will be picking up, more across east anglia and the south—east but then a return to frost and fog through tomorrow night and into the start of monday. that cold air and and into the start of monday. that cold airand high and into the start of monday. that cold air and high pressure hangs on this week but the increasing wind across the southern half of the uk in particular preventing as many fog issues across the far south and east but making it feel colder still when the temperature dropping lower at night and are not rising as much by day and starting to get a bit blue with some fog around so we will see some lingering fog through the next few days. tuesday a similar set although by then the brisk wind may lift some cloud in the south so we

may see more sunshine on tuesday across southern and central areas, perhaps more clout coming and going further north. but it is drier across the board than the dry weather looks likely to last through much of the coming week, the temperature may recoverjust a little bit towards the end of the week but it is dry. goodbye.

this is bbc news, the headlines... following an in—air accident on an alaska airlines flight,

us officials demand the grounding of 170 similar crafts located worldwide. earlier, fuselage, including a window, had broken off mid—air, forcing an emergency landing. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is back in the middle east to try and quell the violence in gaza. police in london confirm they're investigating potential fraud offences in relation to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub—postmasters by the post office. emergency teams rescue those trapped by the floods in england. 200 warnings are still in place. over 1800 properties are understood to have flooded due to saturated ground. downing street files seen by the bbc suggest that prime minister rishi sunak had serious doubts about the uk government's rwanda migration policy in his earlier role as chancellor, now on bbc news, the travel show: uzbekistan: the heart of central asia.