wrongfully convicted of fraud because of a faulty computer accounting system. polls close in bangladesh's election. early indications suggest a low turnout of voters, and the current prime minister is expected to win a fourth consecutive term. and hollywood rolls out the red carpet for one of its biggest nights — the golden globe awards. hello. i'm lauren taylor. jordan's king abdullah has warned the us secretary of state antony blinken of �*catastrophic repercussions�* of the continuation of israel's military campaign in gaza. mr blinken is on a tour of the middle east as the us tried to prevent the conflict in gaza from spreading. earlier he met thejordanian foreign minister. king abdullah also urged blinken to put pressure on israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire.

the secretary of state will now head to qatar for talks with the emir. meanwhile, at a cabinet meeting, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu pledged to continue the war in gaza until all of their goals are achieved we are not stopping until victory. the war must not be stopped until we achieve all of its goals. the elimination of hamas, the return of all of our hostages and ensuring gaza no longer poses a threat to israel. a sadist about our enemies and friends, this is our responsibility and this is our commitment. every other consideration must be set aside and we will continue until total victory. i say this to our enemies and friends. live now to our correspondent injerusalem, wyre davies. strong message as antony blinken tries to tone down the conflict. yes, interesting points in the statement by benjamin netanyahu, a message to enemies and friends, a

clear message to the americans and european governments would like israel to show more restraint in its bombing campaign in gaza and to even call for a ceasefire but that simply isn't going to happen. israel has two goals in the war which has been going on for more than three months and that is to completely crush hamas and to secure the return of all of israel's hostages. with that first point, completely crushing hamas, the bombing campaign continues and there have been some horrific scenes from gaza in the last 2a hours and one attack on a house, building in northern gaza in which around 70 people were killed and the images are appalling coming out of there. people's body is blown to bits, children, women, other civilians and similar scenes in the south where 63 people are said to have been killed in israeli air strikes on the number of dead in gazais

strikes on the number of dead in gaza is now almost 23,000 according to the hamas run health ministry in gaza since the war began on the 7th of october, so it's clearly a devastating picture and is really showing no signs of restraint at all and that's because it says the goals are simply not yet met. what and that's because it says the goals are simply not yet met. what about any pressure _ are simply not yet met. what about any pressure within _ are simply not yet met. what about any pressure within israel— are simply not yet met. what about any pressure within israel on - any pressure within israel on benjamin netanyahu? some reports of cracks appearing in the coalition government. it’s cracks appearing in the coalition government-— cracks appearing in the coalition covernment. �* , . , ., government. it's an interesting one. ben'amin government. it's an interesting one. benjamin netanyahu _ government. it's an interesting one. benjamin netanyahu himself- government. it's an interesting one. benjamin netanyahu himself is- benjamin netanyahu himself is unpopularfor many benjamin netanyahu himself is unpopular for many reasons, first of all people blame him for intelligence failures leading to the initial attack by hamas, armed hamas gunmen on october the 7th and some people don't think he is showing enough emphasis on releasing hostages and first of all there are many people in israel, particularly the families of hostages, who believe the priority for the israeli government should be securing the release of hostages first and then pursuing the military goals because those can come after according to

the families where there was a big protest against benjamin netanyahu last night but his war aims are largely supported in israel because most israelis agree with him that they cannot live alongside a hostile hamas run gaza. no one is really talking too much about what happens the day after because as the army spokesman said yesterday and benjamin netanyahu has reiterated this morning that this war is probably going to carry on for some time and israel might be achieving some of its military targets in northern gaza but there is still a lot to do according to the army in central and southern parts, so that will inevitably lead to more casualties, more civilian casualties on the death toll will climb over 23,000 but israel is coming under increasing international pressure. antony blinken will be coming here at the start of the week on tuesday after his whistle—stop tour of the middle east and there is great concern that what is happening here,

as things get worse in gaza, it could expand into a bigger regional conflict and that is one thing where people in the region are fearful. you mention the hostages there and antony blinken is in qatar which is one of the countries that helped release some of the hostages and a humanitarian truce early on in the conflict. is there any sense of those negotiations are continuing? i think things have got work on the hostage run for one reason, and that is the assassination, presumably by israel of the number two in hamas in the lebanese capital beirut at the start of the week on tuesday and according to sources from antony blinken who have been mediating between hamas israel and egypt, the chances of hostages being released after what happened in beirut have significantly diminished and that will of course, is bad news for the

families because they know and fear that every day their loved ones remain in captivity, every day israel continues to bomb places where the hostages might be being held, the chances of coming back line are diminished. figs held, the chances of coming back line are diminished.— line are diminished. as the diplomacy _ line are diminished. as the diplomacy continues - line are diminished. as the diplomacy continues and i line are diminished. as the | diplomacy continues and so line are diminished. as the - diplomacy continues and so does the fighting. at least 70 people were reportedly killed injabaliya in northern gaza. the israeli army says it has "completed the dismantling" of hamas's command structure in the northern gaza strip. among those killed in southern gaza is hamza al dahdouh, an aljazeera journalist and cameraman who was reported to have been hit by an israeli drone strike. hamza had been working alongside his father, who is the aljazeera correspondent in gaza. this is waeed, pictured at his son's funeral, along with other members of his family. dozens ofjournalists have been killed in gaza since fighting began three months ago. for more on this, i'm now joined byjodie ginsberg from the committee to protect journalists. thanks for being with us. do you

have any more information about how it happened?— it happened? what we believe is that hamza was in — it happened? what we believe is that hamza was in a _ it happened? what we believe is that hamza was in a car _ it happened? what we believe is that hamza was in a car with _ it happened? what we believe is that hamza was in a car with a _ it happened? what we believe is that hamza was in a car with a freelance l hamza was in a car with a freelance journalist and another member of al jazeera staff and they were on a road when their car was hit by a drone strike. we understand they were en route to an area designated as a humanitarian zone to report on bombing in the area where the car was hit. 50 bombing in the area where the car was hit. ., v bombing in the area where the car was hit, ., �*, , bombing in the area where the car was hit. ., �*, , ., ., , was hit. so far it's been a deadly conflict to _ was hit. so far it's been a deadly conflict to report _ was hit. so far it's been a deadly conflict to report on _ was hit. so far it's been a deadly conflict to report on and - was hit. so far it's been a deadly l conflict to report on and casualties who live there but tell us about the way that they manage the risks. spin the most fatal— way that they manage the risks. s? “i the most fatal conflict and we've been doing these work for more than three decades and we've had 75 gemma steel six 0ctober three decades and we've had 75 gemma steel six october the 7th and it is extremely difficult and it's really only gaza and journalists who are able to document the war because

they have had little access and they are the only ones doing the work, so they are travelling to places like refugee camps to report on the effects of the war that those places are also under attack so there's is nowhere safe orjournalist to operate. nowhere safe or “ournalist to o erate. , nowhere safe or “ournalist to oerate. , ., ., operate. tell us about the reaction from al jazeera _ operate. tell us about the reaction from al jazeera and _ operate. tell us about the reaction from al jazeera and whether - operate. tell us about the reaction from al jazeera and whether there | from aljazeera and whether there will be proper accountability as to what happened here.— will be proper accountability as to what happened here. they've accused israel is to targeting _ what happened here. they've accused israel is to targeting -- _ what happened here. they've accused israel is to targeting -- targeting - israel is to targeting —— targeting the journalists and we continue to demand independent investigation into these deaths and we've seen a number of cases where journalists are wearing press insignia and it was known they were operating and had been killed and it was really important we saw investigations and that those responsible are held accountable and they must never be targeted in a war.— targeted in a war. thank you very much indeed _

targeted in a war. thank you very much indeed for _ targeted in a war. thank you very much indeed forjoining _ targeted in a war. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. - here in the uk, the prime minister confirmed a review of the post office — after the it scandal which saw hundreds of post masters and mistresses "wrongfully treated". including several who were convicted. rishi sunak called the post office scandal an appalling miscarriage ofjustice" and said he hoped to make this right. with more on this we can get the analysis with our business correspondent marc ashdown what do we think he will do to make it right? the what do we think he will do to make it riuht? , , . what do we think he will do to make itriuht? , , .., ~, what do we think he will do to make itriuht? , , ~, what do we think he will do to make itriuht? ,, ~, .,_ it right? the public outcry has only crown in it right? the public outcry has only grown in the _ it right? the public outcry has only grown in the past _ it right? the public outcry has only grown in the past week _ it right? the public outcry has only grown in the past week or - it right? the public outcry has only grown in the past week or so - it right? the public outcry has only grown in the past week or so after| grown in the past week or so after this dramatisation of these events on itv from new year's day and it centres on post office branch managers and the new it system was installed from 1999 called horizon and it threw up they were as a

consequence 700 of them to date, they have been convicted of false accounting fraud and it's ramped up in the past few weeks because of the documentary and now the focus and it's accepted that the vast majority are innocent and they've been fighting for years to clear their name and rishi sunak was on the airwaves today and the justice department is looking at ways that they can speed up the process and each and every one of those people has to appeal directly to the post office and it handles the appeals and just 90 or so have been overturned and they've been traumatised, terrorised for years and years and chased through the courts and there has been a body set up, a compensation committee to oversee the process and to make sure it works properly and i've been

talking to one of those members, lord james arbuthnot he's been working with one of his constituents who were convicted in 2009 and he outlined part of the problem for me. for them to have to come forward is itself— for them to have to come forward is itself an— for them to have to come forward is itself an affront, because they have to come _ itself an affront, because they have to come forward and they have to apply— to come forward and they have to apply for— to come forward and they have to apply for their conviction to be overturned and they then have to current _ overturned and they then have to current rules have the burden of proof _ current rules have the burden of proof of — current rules have the burden of proof of showing that their conviction is unsafe and that's all wrong _ conviction is unsafe and that's all wrong and — conviction is unsafe and that's all wrong and given the way the post office _ wrong and given the way the post office has— wrong and given the way the post office has behaved over so many years _ office has behaved over so many years it _ office has behaved over so many years it ought not to be for the sub—postmaster is to prove they were badly treated. we know they were badly _ badly treated. we know they were badly treated. we know they were badly treated. it ought to be something that is done en masse so we can— something that is done en masse so we can put— something that is done en masse so we can put it behind us so the post

office _ we can put it behind us so the post office have — we can put it behind us so the post office have apologised time and again— office have apologised time and again and lord arbuthnot pointed out there was— again and lord arbuthnot pointed out there was good people working there now trying _ there was good people working there now trying to sort this out but it will take — now trying to sort this out but it will take time and there is a public inquiry— will take time and there is a public inquiry going on at the moment and the posi— inquiry going on at the moment and the post office did tell us that they— the post office did tell us that they are — the post office did tell us that they are behind the inquiry and want to get— they are behind the inquiry and want to get accountability for what went wrong _ to get accountability for what went wrong and a few ideas have been mooted — wrong and a few ideas have been mooted and certainly what the garment — mooted and certainly what the garment is looking at is whether the post office _ garment is looking at is whether the post office could be removed from the appeal system and whether the cps could _ the appeal system and whether the cps could take over but no matter who takes — cps could take over but no matter who takes over it could take years and years — who takes over it could take years and years to work through hundreds of cases_ and years to work through hundreds of cases to — and years to work through hundreds of cases to get people having their cases_ of cases to get people having their cases overturned so another idea floated _ cases overturned so another idea floated is — cases overturned so another idea floated is a state intervention to exonerate — floated is a state intervention to exonerate them en masse and it would require _ exonerate them en masse and it would require an _ exonerate them en masse and it would require an act of parliament and

this is— require an act of parliament and this is something they're looking at doing _ this is something they're looking at doing and _ this is something they're looking at doing and there is a mounting case and many— doing and there is a mounting case and many of them have been trying to clear their— and many of them have been trying to clear their names for two decades or so. rafael nadal has pulled out of the australian open which starts in a week's time. he made his comeback at the brisbane international after nearly a year out with a hip injury and he felt discomfort in the same area during his quarter—final defeat to jordan thompson. a scan has revealed a very small muscle tear... nadal sez it's not the same issue that required surgery injune but he's not ready to compete at the highest level in five—set matches and he's returning to spain for treatment and rest. that tournament in brisbane was won by grigor dimitrov.

it's the bulgarian's first atp title in more than six yea rs. dimitrov beat holger rune, a player in the world's top five and 12 years his junior to win the final in straight sets. it was tighter than the scoreline suggests... the first set went to a tie—break and there was just one break of serve in the second. an emotional dimitrov said as he lifted the trophy "it's been a while since i held one of these" meanwhile elena rybakina reversed the result of last year's australian open final beating aryna sabalenka convincingly to take the title in the women's event in brisbane. the former wimbledon champion ended sabalenka's15—match winning streak on australian soil, only losing three games in the final. rybakina will move up to third in the world rankings. for sure, it gives confidence, but, as i said, it's always tough battles against her and this week is just the beginning for all of the players and ifeel like maybe not everyone has caught their best form and i am playing well now and hopefully the

plan is to go to adelaide. coco gauff has shown why she's one of the favourites to win the australian open. the us open champion still only 19, came from a set down to beat elina svitolina and retain her auckland classic title. seven of sunday's eight fa cup third round ties are into the second half. and most are following pregame expectations. the pick of the games is at the emirates where arsenal take on liverpool. last time they faced each other was just before christmas in a one all draw in the premier league and both managers are expecting another close battle. it is special for me and i have so many memories of playing against them and that is because they are a top side, so it requires a big preparation and a lot of detail in everything that we have to do. that was proven again a week ago when we played them

at anfield, for both teams. we want to win these games, we want to go to the final, but we want to go to the next round as well, but it's probably the trickiest draw you can get and, yeah, it will be a tough one, but the game here was a good one and let's hope we can show a good performance there as well. golden state warriors forward draymond green has been reinstated following his suspension for striking phoenix suns center jusuf nurkic last month. green has missed 12 games and, according to the nba, has taken steps that demonstrate his "commitment to conforming his conduct to the standard expected" of players. golden state host the toronto raptors on sunday. while green is eligible to play, he's expected to need time to work his way back

into game shape. more on the website including the latest from the football, but back to you, lauren. the polls have now closed in bangladesh's general election — voting took place amid tight security after violence on the eve of the poll. at least ia polling stations were set on fire. on friday, a busy commuter train was allegedly set on fire, killing four passengers. prime minister sheikh hasina is trying to gain a fourth straight term in office. bangladesh's chief election comissioner has described the violence as an attempt to sabotage the vote. the main opposition bangladesh nationalist party has asked people to shun the poll. international observers including the un have said the poll is taking place in a repressive environment. live now to the capital, dhaka, and our south asia correspondent samira hussain. initial indications seem to suggest a low turnout.— initial indications seem to suggest a low turnout. exactly. half an hour before the polls _ a low turnout. exactly. half an hour before the polls closed _ a low turnout. exactly. half an hour before the polls closed we - a low turnout. exactly. half an hour before the polls closed we heard i before the polls closed we heard from the election commission that

about 27% of the electorate had come out to cast their ballot and since then the electoral commission has updated the numbers and reports that 40% have come out to vote meaning an additional i3% of voters came out in the last half hour and there are some questions about that and what we heard from the election observers here is that they did not witness any election tampering or reason to worry about the legitimacy of the elections and you have to recognise the context in which the elections are taking place. the main opposition party, the bangladesh national party have boycotted the elections saying they did not believe they would be free and fair. and according to human rights groups there's been a massive crackdown on freedom of expression in the country

and protest, so the bnp, much of the leadership is actually imprisoned and they could not contest in this election if they wanted to and human rights watch estimates up to 10,000 leaders have been put in prison since october of last year. tell us about what _ since october of last year. tell us about what is _ since october of last year. tell us about what is at _ since october of last year. tell us about what is at stake. _ since october of last year. tell us about what is at stake. how - since october of last year. tell us about what is at stake. how is - since october of last year. tell us| about what is at stake. how is the bangladesh colony doing. what are people worried about the context of the election?— people worried about the context of the election? ., ,., , ., , the election? there are some serious concerns about _ the election? there are some serious concerns about the _ the election? there are some serious concerns about the economy - the election? there are some serious concerns about the economy and - the election? there are some serious concerns about the economy and the | concerns about the economy and the inflationary pressures you are seeing in a lot of countries are having an impact here, even the middle class feeling the impact of high food prices. that's because of the war in ukraine, like in other countries, the high price as a direct impact on what is happening here and although the government has been able to make some infrastructure changes, that is widely recognised, there are

concerns about the levels of foreign reserves of the country, so the economy is very much in focus for many people but in terms of the election there have been caused by the international community for the government to hold free and fair elections. given that there was really no opposition party and she is expected to win her fourth consecutive term in office there are some questions being raised about the legitimacy of the elections and whether or not it will truly represent the will of the people. if she carries on as you suggest in power and there is the questions from the international community, what sort of means does the international community have to put them under pressure to do anything differently? the them under pressure to do anything differentl ? ,, ., , differently? the united states, the uk and other— differently? the united states, the uk and other countries _ differently? the united states, the uk and other countries have - differently? the united states, the uk and other countries have urged | uk and other countries have urged bangladesh to have free elections and he saw that the us had imposed

visa restrictions or limits on the number of visas allowed for people from bangladesh and that some of the kinds of pressure it can implement, but really, a lot of it is international community led, international community led, international rights groups pushing the pressure on her and she does want to be able to present herself in a way on the international stage that this is a country that upholds democratic values are here on the ground, it's a bit harderfor that message to really be dull, especially to the thousands of members of the opposition party in prison. a devastating fire has also raced through a refugee camp in bangladesh 5 southern coastal district of cox 5 bazar. the fire ravaged through one of the 33 camps in cox 5 bazar. so far, there have been no casualties reported yet as a result of the fire.

cox's bazar is the largest refugee camp in the world. shari nijman, is the communication officer for the un's refugee agency — and unhcr communication officer. she gave this update. it is estimated that over 800 shelters have been destroyed, a500 people displaced. thankfully no casualties on the ground but obviously with this many people displaced in the camp it is getting cold and people need assistance and this is the situation on the ground. let 5 get some of the day 5 other news now (tx 00v), three more people have been arrested in connection with the january—the—6th assault on the us capitol building, on the third anniversary of the attack by donald trump supporters. nearly 1300 people have so far been charged in relation to the riot. a us federal appeals court has reinstated a ruling that bars california from enforcing a new gun law prohibiting the carrying of guns in most public places.

the ban came into force on january 1st after an earlier ruling, but is now on hold. the president of the european council, charles michel, has said he intends to stand in european parliamentary elections in june. he says he'll step down from his post if elected, triggering a scramble to find a replacement. mr michel said his announcement gave the eu plenty of time to find a successor. hollywood's award season gets under way in earnest on sunday — with the golden globes. barbie and oppenheimer are tipped for success — as emma vardy reports. hi, barbie. hi, ken. it was neverjust about a plastic doll. barbie, a satire on a female's role in society, became a sensation last summer... hi, barbie. ..as audiences dressed in pink and headed to the cinema, making director greta gerwig the first female to make a $1 billion movie. i got us both ice cream.

cool i don't know if we can be trusted. for best drama, oppenheimer, the three—hour epic about the american physicist who developed the atomic bomb, is battling it out against martin scorsese's killers of the flower moon. leonardo dicaprio is up for best actor, but it's his co—star, lily gladstone, who may become the first native american to win best actress. i didn't realise this was a race. he's on the floor, tom. explain to me what he's doing. and succession, the drama about a media dynasty is predicted to be the big winner in the tv categories. studios are hoping for a boost from the awards, as the globes are the first major event since actors and writers strikes saw hollywood productions grind to a halt, costing the industry dearly. so there's a lot at stake. but the globes are also known as the biggest party in town. throughout the night, the champagne will be flowing, because this event has something of a reputation for being one of the most raucous of awards season. getting ahead is popular here because winning a golden globe can help influence the oscars

in two months' time. emma vardy, bbc news, beverly hills. we are getting reaction to the news from gaza where a journalist from al jazeera has been killed. find from gaza where a journalist from al jazeera has been killed.— jazeera has been killed. and also anotherjournalist _ jazeera has been killed. and also anotherjournalist today - jazeera has been killed. and also anotherjournalist today and - jazeera has been killed. and also anotherjournalist today and we | jazeera has been killed. and also i anotherjournalist today and we are another journalist today and we are getting reaction from the israeli army who say they regret the death of every civilian and think civilian casualties are a tragic and horrific consequence of every war. this is after aljazeera condemned the after al jazeera condemned the killing after aljazeera condemned the killing and said israel had been targeting journalists in particular. we will bring you rest on that story on the rest of the days news. stay with us. hello.

in some areas the fog's not clear today, and following wet weather to start january, we still have numerous flood warnings. for most of next week, we have a lot of dry weather for the next four or five days. we have a lot of dry weather but we have a lot of dry weather it will continue to feel with but it will continue to feel colder. with strong winds in the south it will accentuate the chill. ice and fog are real issues through the night time and for the rest of the night time and for the rest of the day a few showers across north—east england and northern scotland are one or two through parts of east anglia, kent and essex and that fog that we mentioned earlier making it feel colder, so temperatures a bit below par at the moment and they will stay that way the next couple of days and overnight tonight to the fog will thicken up and return more widely and ice will develop where we have a lot of standing water and spray and

particularly so where we see the shower is up through the night, so it's going to be widely frosty, even where temperatures stay a degree above freezing, the ground will still freeze, so still icy and slick because we have showers falling onto the cold ground and potentially washing off the salt, so fog and ice are hazards overnight tonight and there a met office one of the south and east because that is where we have the feed of north—easterly winds strengthening further and pushing the showers in, so it looks as though we will see a centimetre or two of snow in parts of east anglia, south—east england and through the day tomorrow they will drag their way west on the breeze and you can see for the downs, to a three centimetres and that will add to the risk of ice of it being quite slippery and elsewhere if you are showers across northern scotland and eastern england are monitoring for northern ireland and if you pushing across other southern parts of england and the channel islands and with the wind it will feel colder

still than today, so really quite a raw day or two to come across the southern half of the uk in particular because of the wind and the stubborn fog problems further north but importantly the dry weather stays with us.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the us secretary of state antony blinken is holding more talks

with middle eastern leaders. jordan's king abdullah has warned of the "catastrophic repercussions" of israel's campaign in gaza, and said washington had the ability to put pressure on israel to negotiate to a ceasefire. rishi sunak confirms that the government is looking at legal options to exonerate sub—postmasters who've been wrongfully convicted of fraud because of a faulty computer accounting system. the now—discredited horizon software was used by the post office between 1999 and 2015. polls close in bangladesh elections, which are expected to be a landslide for the current prime minister. most opposition parties boycotted the election. stars in the entertainment world are preparing for the golden globes awards ceremony in los angeles. barbie and oppenheimer lead the nominations — they have nine and eight respectively. tv show succession is also predicted to be a big winner.

the aftermath of storm henk is being felt here in the uk and the environment agency is warning more properties could flood as river levels rise. more than 1800 have flooded after intense rainfall. there are nearly 350 warnings in place in england and five in wales. we have the latest from collingham in nottinghamshire. collingham is in between nottingham and lincoln, and it's quite a large village and as you can see, it is one of the villages that's been affected. it's notjust here, though. there are several of the smaller villages in this area which have been totally cut off over the last few days. and some residents have had to be evacuated because the floodwaters have just covered the roads going in and out. and that's because levels in the river trent have reached record highs over the last few days. i'm told that here it is a slightly improving picture, though. the road sign that you can see over my shoulder there — yesterday, that was covered by water and now you can read what it says. so it's hoped that the water levels

are starting to drop. there's a family, though, that live in a house about half a mile up the road there, and they have been totally cut off for days. and this morning, the fire brigade have had to send out boats filled with bottles of water and tins of food just to make sure that they've got enough provisions for the next few days. and simonjones reports now on the situation elsewhere as well as along the river trent. the rain may have stopped, but the worry hasn't. here in lincolnshire, families are saving what they can from the advances of the river trent. people living alongside the river lambourn in berkshire have been up all night monitoring the situation with some properties already flooded. we thought we had peaked on all of the water levels by friday. however, over the last 12 and 2a hours, although we've had a considerable period of dry weather and it was even sunny yesterday, water levels have continued to rise.

hundreds of flood alerts and warnings remain in place across england and wales. getting around isn't easy. dunham bridge connecting lincolnshire and nottinghamshire remains closed. even though we've got some dry weather in the forecast — thank goodness, we're really pleased about that — it's going to take a while for the peaks in the rivers to move down through to the sea and take the pressure off communities like like those we've seen in recent days. the prime minister meets the environment agency team in oxford. the government's been accused of being asleep at the wheel by labour in its response to the widespread flooding chaos. ministers say affected communities in england will be able to apply for funding to help them through these extremely challenging times. now it's set to get a lot chillier, too. a cold weather alert has been issued by the uk health security agency with the cold snap expected to last several days, bringing with it the threat of ice. simon jones, bbc news. the british prime minister,

rishi sunak, says he's determined to use the threat of deportations to rwanda as a deterrent to migrants coming to the uk illegally, refusing to admit he had hesitations over the scheme when he was chancellor of the exchequer. i absolutely believe in the value and importance of having deterrents, and albania and rwanda are linked because they are both returns agreements that allow you to create deterrents. now, in terms of the scheme, i was chancellor at the time. myjob is to make sure that we get value for money for taxpayers, to ask questions whenever anybody wants to spend taxpayers' money. i would expect the same thing of the chancellor now, so of course i would rigorously scrutinise any proposal that crossed my desk. but, ultimately, i agreed with the prime minister and refunded the proposal and so the proof is in my action. with more on this, i'm joined by bbc�*s damian grammaticas. what do you make of the prime minister's response about this issue? i minister's response about this issue? ., ., ,

minister's response about this issue? ~ . , ., . issue? i think ease in a tricky osition issue? i think ease in a tricky position because _ issue? i think ease in a tricky position because the - issue? i think ease in a tricky l position because the document issue? i think ease in a tricky - position because the document seen by the bbc had come from downing street when a was chancellor in downing street was drawing up this policy. what was interesting is that a didn't actually address the sort of key issue there which was that those documents said that the prime minister was trying to create this borisjohnson minister was trying to create this boris johnson policy and minister was trying to create this borisjohnson policy and rishi sunak as chancellor didn't think the deterrent would work. a focused today in his answers about the value for muggy, saying a was chancellor and a had to question things and deliver value for money —— he had to deliver value for money —— he had to deliver value for money. he says it is a key part of his plan now and he thinks it's an important deterrent. it is worth fact checking what your in his answer, the rewind agreement and albania agreement, the albania one is already up and running, are not both returns agreements, people being sent to rwanda are not being

returned having come from rwanda, they are people who have nothing to do with rwanda who have come here seeking asylum and will not have asylum claims heard here but will be referred to rwanda. he thinks it will have a similar deterrent effect is his point. that's impossible to judge at the minute because the rwanda scheme hasn't got off the ground, isn't up and running yet. rishi sunak has confirmed the uk government is looking at legal options to exonerate sub—postmasters who have wrongfully been convicted of fraud because of faulty computing system. what action can we expect to see here? we system. what action can we expect to see here? ~ , ., see here? we understand the government _ see here? we understand the government is _ see here? we understand the government is looking - see here? we understand the government is looking at - see here? we understand the government is looking at the | see here? we understand the - government is looking at the legal appeals process. there were more than 700 postmasters running district post offices around the country who were prosecuted on the basis of evidence from this faulty computing system from the post

office and at the minute, fewer than 100 have had their convictions overturned. there is apparently an issue here, that the post office was bringing those prosecutions itself. many people who were prosecuted are very nervous about coming back to bring an appeal to the post office. what the government is looking at is the question of whether the post office can be removed from that process and the whole process handled by the crown prosecution service so the government prosecutors instead. that's one key issue. the other as compensation because people can't actually get compensation until... orfinal compensation until... or final compensation until... orfinal compensation until... orfinal compensation until they are fully exonerated. they can get interim payments, as i understand it. the prime minister was asked about how many people should get payments. everyone has been shocked by watching what they have done over

the past few days and beyond, and it is an appalling miscarriage ofjustice. obviously it's something that happened a very long time ago in the '90s, but actually seeing it and hearing about it again just shows what an appalling miscarriage ofjustice it is for everyone affected, and it's important that those people now get the justice that they deserve. should they all be exonerated? and that's what the compensation schemes are about. the government has paid out about, i think, almost £150 million to thousands of people already. of course we want to get the money to the people as quickly as possible. that's why there are interim payments of, i think, up to £600,000 that can be made. there are three different schemes available. keir starmer has called on the prime minister to set to set an election date, is it likely he'll move it forward? i doubt it. rishi sunak has already quashed speculation... or tried to quashed speculation... or tried to quash speculation that it could be an earlier date by saying it was his working assumption that the election would be held later in the year. the

opposition parties have been talking up opposition parties have been talking up that prospect, saying it could be as early as may. rishi sunak, i think, trying to get himself out of a corner but sir keir starmer today in his interview on sunday talk shows was calling on the prime minister to get on with it because he said the country wanted an election. it's very hard to see how him continuing in government improves the lives of anybody in the country. i can't help feeling that all he really wants to do is get two years clocked up of his own premiership. that means he's putting vanity before country and so my challenge to him would be if you've got a plan, set the date. if you haven't got a plan, just get on with it as quickly as possible — of course, the power to call an election and choose the date rests solely with the prime minister. he

will do it at the time of his choosing. at the minute, we see the conservatives quite far behind in the polls, the polls giving labour a healthy lead. you think that means there's not really an incentive for rishi sunak to call that election now. in his interview today, the prime minister said he thought his plan was working, that he would stick to it, talking about trying to stabilise the economy, move towards tax cuts and show people he's delivering improvements. that's what he wants to do. that would suggest waiting and doing a little bit later, but i think what you can imagine is that the prime minister will be looking very carefully to see how the polls move and what might be the right time for an election. let's return to one of our top stories. us secretary of state antony blinken is on a tour of the middle east as the us tries to prevent the conflict in gaza from spreading in the region.

mr blinken has touched down in doha for talks with the qatari emir. earlier i spoke to mehran kamrava, professor of government at georgetown university in qatar. it also turns out, as we see that the united states itself doesn't have a lot of influence or has, in some ways, taken itself out of the war in relation to israel. so it doesn't seem as if countries likejordan, turkey, qatar can really influence the situation on the ground and exert meaningful influence on either the israelis or hamas, for that matter. and what about any influence these countries may have on perhaps iran to rein in their proxies? well, qatar maintains cordial, although superficial, diplomatic relations with iran.

but the iranians have sought de—escalation of the conflict, but at the same time, they've tried to maintain some sort of pressure on both israel and the united states through their proxies. i doubt if any of the nearby countries, regional states, would be able to pressure iran to either rein in its proxies or change course at this point. tell us a little bit about qatar, where you are. they had quite a big role in establishing the negotiations that led to a truce and some hostage releases. what state of play is there on negotiations at the moment, as far as you're aware? well, right now, qatar also doesn't have an awful lot of leverage over hamas because the course of the war has changed. "well, in return for the villa we've given you here and the agreement to maintain your political leadership, you need to release some hostages," but as of today, more than 20,000

palestinians have died. and qatar is in no position right now to go to hamas and say, "why don't you release a few more israeli hostages, but at the same time, continue to get killed, have palestinians get killed?" so it doesn't appear as if qatar is also in a position to negotiate and change things on the ground. just to go back to the civilian casualties that you mentioned there, antony blinken has said far too many palestinians have been killed, especially children. is there any sign that israel might be starting to shift towards different tactics on the ground or not, in your view? well, over the last few days, we have heard reports that the israelis have pulled out some of their troops, largely because of israeli casualties and the casualties that the israeli army has suffered. so it appears as if israel needs to engage in a different set of tactics on the ground in order to be able to pursue its objectives. also, we need to keep in mind that

in the united states we're approaching an election season, and that is also bound to influence america's relations with israel as we move forward. tell us a little bit about the so—called day after for gaza. what's your assessment of the ideas that israel has floated so far and what kind of pushback there might be in some of these countries that blinken is touring at the moment? one of the positions that the united states and israel have been putting forward is for the palestinian authority to control gaza and to govern gaza. the problem with the palestinian authority is its own lack of legitimacy among palestinians, but it's also its resources and its inability to do so. so really, it doesn't appear as if there is a viable solution for the day after. that's a really good question, but one that continues to elude concrete answers.

alaska airlines says it's again halting flights by eighteen of its fleet of boeing 737 max 9 planes that had returned to the air following safety inspections. one of the carrier's planes had to make an emergency landing on friday after losing part of its fuselage midflight. a second american airline, united, says none of its max 9s will now resume flights. let's get the background from our reporter, leigh milner. this video footage was taken by a passenger on board flight 1282 shortly after take—off. look closely and you can see a hole in the side of the plane — a panel has been blown out. just 20 minutes after take—off, flight 1282 made an emergency landing back at portland international airport in oregon. luckily, no—one was injured.

we are very, very fortunate here that this didn't end up| in something more tragic. no—one was seated in 26a and b, where that door plug is. - these pictures show the full extent of the damage in what was a terrifying experience for those on board. there was a kid in that row, his shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane. his mother was holding onto him to make sure he didn't go with it. last night, the uk's civil aviation authority said it had written to all foreign owners of boeing 737 max 9 aircraft demanding that inspections are carried out before they can operate in uk air space. there are no uk—registered max 9s. and the us federal aviation administration has ordered the temporary grounding of 171 boeing 737 max 9s as investigators try to work out exactly what happened.

this is the latest incident involving boeing's best—selling model that was launched back in 2015. in october 2018, a 737 max operated by indonesian airline lion air crashed shortly after take—off, killing all 189 on board. five months later, in march 2018, an ethiopian airline 737 max was involved in a similar crash, killing all 157 passengers. that led to all boeing 737 maxs being grounded by the us regulator, the federal aviation administration, for the next 20 months. after this latest incident, alaska airlines grounded their 737 max 9 fleet. boeing has said it will cooperate with any investigation. the nhs dental care faces a lot of challenges in england — with warnings that the service is in its most perilous position, in its 75—year history. thousands more people could struggle

to secure an appointment, due to a withdrawal of proposed funding. our reporter michele paduano has more. martin heath got lucky. he's needed a filling for four months, but was quoted £120 for an appointment. and on universal credit, that wasn't an option. luckily, this practice in shard end only treats nhs patients. i've been looking for about four years to try and get into somewhere permanently. it's a nightmare to wait for somewhere, but it gives you hope when you find somewhere because i can't feel any pain in my teeth any more, which is a lot better for me, really. the dentist was told at the beginning of the year that he could do 10% extra work because there aren't enough nhs dentists and the budget was underspent, but last month, the midlands integrated care boards changed their minds. thank you guys. see you later. i'm not sure how i'm supposed to work for the last six weeks when there is no funding to treat our patients.

and the frustrating thing is it's those patients that need the service the most that won't get the service because they can't afford private dentistry. private fees are high. this practice in sparkhill will be spent up injanuary. the dentist will have to work elsewhere in the organisation. companies like riverdale health care, that run a number of practices, say the equivalent of treating 5,000 patients or two dentists' workload for a year. but they say it's worse than that — they have some areas where they can't recruit dentists and that money will be sent back, rather than being brought here where there's a desperate need and the staff to do the work. the nhs integrated care board said funding was discretionary and they had to try to break even across all nhs services. they recognise that this will be disappointing and that some practices might need support. michele paduano, bbc news. life pictures are coming into as of

antony blinken, the us secretary of state in doha, meeting the qatar emir. they were leading journalists into the room to see the meeting. antony blinken has been on a tour of the middle east. he's been in turkey and recently injordan, and hasjust arrived in doha to try to urge countries to use their influence over regional actors to ensure that the gaza conflict is contained and doesn't spread further. here in the uk, some parents believe the covid pandemic has shown that it's not essential for children to attend school every day, according to a new report. the centre for socialjustice says more support is needed to tackle school absences. our education editor branwen jeffreys has the story. bell rings it's part of the legacy of covid, a broken contract with school for some families. last year, almost twice as many children missed 10% of lessons.

mental health issues, the cost—of—living crisis aren't helping. this report suggests parents' attitudes have shifted. almost a third agreed the pandemic showed going every day was not essential. to repair the missing link between school and families, it suggests mental health support for every school, expanding the use of mentors forfamilies, creating a right to sport for secondary pupils, to have five hours of extra activities every week. also looking at how fines are working and investing in youth clubs. some of the solutions can be quite straightforward. it's not necessarily wholesale reform, so i think government needs to think about kind of the wider offer and schools need to be thinking about building a really constructive relationship because parents and schools both have the children's interest front of mind. the government has tried mentoring in a few areas and may extend it.

labour will set out its plans this week. school absence isn't simple. many reasons lie behind it. but everyone agrees parents play a key role. in the first week of 202a, several high profile restaurants across the uk have closed their doors due to falling visitor numbers and skyrocketing bills. after 30 years in the business, celebrity chef simon rimmer spoke of his sadness at the closure of his vegetarian restaurant in manchester and he's not alone. as jim wheble reports. for masterchef 2015 finalist tony rodd, his appearances on the show were moments to be immensely proud of. i massively want to lift the trophy. and it didn't take long for his tv success to turn to a different ambition. very much of how the business

started was with me cooking and becky talking about wine. but now it's empty. and that's because this week, the doors of copper and ink, the blackheath eatery he ran with wife becky, have shut for good. another victim of a cost—of—living crisis. and for them, it's still very raw. we've only really came to the conclusion that the restaurant had to close probably a week ago. and, yeah, it's definitely raw. yeah. it's left the couple walking a tightrope with debt after a very familiar story. all of our overheads have increased. our energy bills have gone up by about 250%, about £1,000 a week. food and drink inflation has meant that our cost of sales is increased by around 30% in some places. we've seen a huge decrease in our guests coming through the doors. we were doing sort of aoo—odd covers a week and now we've dropped down to 200. figures that came outjust before christmas from barclays bank showed that we were spending 12% less on eating out compared to the same time last year.

and even in a place which is pretty affluent, like blackheath, from some of the people we spoken to today, it appears they're doing the same thing as well. do you find that you're going out to restaurants less at the moment? yes, absolutely. yes, yes, we are. people rather enjoy a nice bottle of wine or something nice and tasty that you could make at home for a fraction of the price. people are just going out less. it's the hermit economy. - back at the restaurant, tears are welling up as a customer comes in to say goodbye. nobody wants to listen. and you ask yourself why. you know, if government are in power and they're saying that they're the government of small business, the government of growth, why aren't they stepping in and supporting small businesses? a government spokesperson told us that £a.3 billion of support for small businesses has been pledged, including business rates relief, freezing alcohol duty and reducing employer national insurance.

but for tony and becky, it wasn't enough to keep their doors from closing. you can catch up with all the stories we are reporting on by checking our website. there's also a page on the israel gaza war with analysis. israel has said it will press on with the war against hamas until all its objectives are achieved. that was the prime minister in a statement on sunday, he said that war must not be stopped until they achieve their goals, the elimination of her mass, the return of hostages and ensuring that gaza no longer poses a threat to israel —— elimination of her —— hamas. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. in some areas, the fog hasn't cleared today, notably in parts of northern

ireland, the central belt of scotland, northwest england and north wales. and following on from some very wet weather to start january, we still have numerous flood warnings in force. the details on the website there. with high pressure hanging notjust through this weekend but for most of next week, we do have a lot of dry weather now for the next four or five days, but it will continue to feel colder and with strong winds in the south, that will accentuate the chill. so, yes, it looks much drier, most definitely, but it will feel colder when you add on that wind in particular. and ice and fog are a real issue through the night—time period as well. so for the rest of the day, still a few showers across northeast england, northern scotland. still one or two through parts of east anglia, kent and essex. and that fog that we have, that i mentioned earlier, making it feel colder, so temperatures are a bit below par at the moment and they will stay that way for the next couple of days. in fact, overnight tonight, the fog will thicken up and return more widely.

ice will develop where we've got a lot of standing water and spray, and particularly where we see these showers pepping up through the night, so it is going to be widely frosty, even where temperatures stay a degree above freezing — of course, the ground will still freeze. still icy and slick, particularly because we've got those showers falling onto that cold ground, potentially washing off the salt. fog and ice hazards overnight tonight. there is a met office warning for the south and east. that's where we've got this feed of northeasterly winds starting to strengthen further and just pushing those showers in, so it looks as if we will see a centimetre or two of snow for parts of east anglia, south—eastern england and through the day tomorrow, they're going to drag their way westwards on that breeze. you can see they are down, we could see two or

three centimetres and that, of course, will add to the risk of ice, it being quite slippery. elsewhere, perhaps fewer showers across northern scotland and eastern england. one or two for northern ireland and, as icy, a few pushing across other southern parts of england and the channel islands. with that wind, it will feel colder still than today, so really quite a raw day or two to come across the southern half of the uk, in particular because of that wind and the stubborn fog problems further north.

live from london. this is bbc news jordan's king abdullah warns the us secretary of state of the "catastrophic repercussions" of israel's campaign in gaza. meanwhile at least 70 have been reportedly killed injabaliya.

rishi sunak confirms that the government is looking at legal options to exonerate sub—postmasters who've been wrongfully convicted of fraud because of a faulty computer accounting system. and hollywood rolls out the red carpet for one of its biggest nights the golden globe awards. hello. i'm lauren taylor. at least 70 people have been reportedly killed injabaliya in nothern gaza. the israeli army claims it has "completed the dismantling" of hamas' command structure in the northern gaza strip. meanwhilejordan's king abdullah has warned the us secretary of state antony blinken of 'catastrophic repercussions' of the continuation of israel's military campaign, during his tour of the middle east. earlier he met thejordanian foreign minister. king abdullah also urged blinken to put pressure on israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire.

the secretary of state is now in qatar