plus a diagnosis by the us defence secretary and scrutiny over his absence. hello, i'm carl nasman. there have been some extraordinary developments in ecuador, which is currently under a 60—day state of emergency. on tuesday, a group of armed men broke into a television studio and threatened staff. this is footage that was recorded during a live broadcast. the country's police force says the staff were evacuated from the studio and several suspects were later arrested. it comes just days after a convicted gang leader vanished from his prison cell sunday. it is not clear if the storming of the television station is linked to that disappearance, but with security rapidly

deteriorating in the country. president daniel noboa signed an executive order declaring what he called an "internal armed conflict." our south america correspondent ione wells has more. a moment of utter horror broadcast live on television. armed men with balaclavas over theirface broke into the set of this public television channel in ecuador while it was live on air, brandishing guns and what appears to be explosives. it comes a day after the country's new president daniel noboa declared a state of emergency yesterday. ecuador has been rocked by a series of attacks after the apparent escape of a powerful gang leader, jose adolfo macias from prison. police and military were ordered to intervene in controlling prisons in attempts to control violence but the violence has exploded further since then. explosions in the streets, police officers carrying out stop—and—search,

some reportedly being abducted. for ordinary people in ecuador, terror on the streets. translation: i hope this state of emergency yields results, - positive results for the population, not for the criminals. translation: we live | in constant fear because on a day—to—day basis when we go to work we don't know if we will return or come back home in one piece. suspects tonight have been detained but with ecuador still on high alert, fear for citizens there remain. ione wells, bbc news sao paulo. there are certainly strong words coming from the president this evening, ordering police and military to do everything they can to try to stop the spate of violence at ecuador has seen in the last couple of days. but the picture is wider than this too. ecuador has seen

rising violence over the last few years, since a covert pandemic in 2020 two gangs operating out of prisons took advantage of the states been weaker at the time. drug cartels gaining influence in ecuador have also fuelled rising violence as has... this is now the number one issue the country faces and certainly tonight there is still fear on the streets, particularly in guayaquil, which has seen the country's highest rate of homicide in the last year too. ione wells reporting there. the us now says it's �*extremely concerned' by the violence in ecuador. a state department spokesperson says the united states is monitoring the situation closely, adding that: "we condemn these brazen attacks. "we are coordinating closely with president noboa "and the ecuadorian government and stand ready "to provide assistance." let's go live to pascal fletcher with bbc monitoring. thank you for being here. it sounds like an extraordinary situation. what more do we know

about the outbreak of violence right now in ecuador and who might be behind it? certainly, most peeple _ might be behind it? certainly, most people related - might be behind it? certainly, most people related to - might be behind it? certainly, most people related to what l might be behind it? certainly, | most people related to what is the source of most violence in the source of most violence in the area, which is drug cartels. suppliers in colombia and peru to the north and south have linked up with local gangs and they have become increasingly brazen and bold. they also have their headquarters. they operate from the country's jails and it is these outbreaks of violence in these outbreaks of violence in the jail studies rooted back if you like, the wider outbreaks of violence. these are posing a direct challenge to the authority of what is a very new president. ecuador�*s youngest president, daniel noboa, who has been in the role barely one and a half months. he has responded quite strongly with the state of emergency and declaring an... basically bringing the police and

military out onto the street. the obvious question would be, how much confidence to citizens in ecuador having their young and relatively inexperienced president? gelagotis a bequest in. certainly in ecuador and medium they have been questioning whether the state of emergency is enough. over the last four years where we have seen this escalation of violence, there is not so gradual descent, surges and outbreaks of violence, there has been numerous states of emergency dashed 60 days, 30 days and none of them have gotten to the root of the problem. a lot of the citizens will be looking to the new president to get a grip on there. there will be suggestions perhaps of a so—called book hayley solution, recalling the president of el salvador, who has had a crackdown on these criminal gangs. really rough, detaining and human rights angle. some people will be pushing for this

and i think there will be ice on the new president to see whether he goes down that route and how he gets to the groups of this very serious gang and drug related problems. just remind us, has ecuador it always struggled with gangs and drug trafficking? we heard they are in the peace dose some of the roots stretch back to 2020 and the covid pandemic. if you look back further it is a little new for ecuador. ecuador was always seen as a fairly tranquil country. certainly, an interesting country to visit for torres. interesting country to visit fortorres. quito interesting country to visit for torres. quito particularly. it has to period over the past years since covid and the outbreak of violence. many people fearing it will go the same way as countries like mexico, which is a very serious drug violence problem. colombia of course and other country. i think there are a lot of fears they really need to get a grip on this gang situation and there would be a lot of

attention on just how they do it. thank you so much. us secretary of state antony blinken says the cost of the war on civilians in gaza is "far too high". he made the remarks in tel aviv after meeting israeli leaders on tuesday. he is on his fourth trip to the country since the war began. blinken said regional leaders shared the us�*s concerns about the "dire humanitarian situation" in gaza. he also said israel needed to allow essential aid into the territory. no that facing an enemy that embeds itself among civilians, who hides in and fires from schools, from hospitals, makes this incredibly challenging. but the daily toll on civilians in gaza, particularly on children, is far too high. mr blinken also delivered a message to israel from its arab neighbours to normalise relations

and create a path to a palestinian state. our international editor jeremy bowen has more. he must be getting pretty exasperated because that message, that one about israel take care, is something he has repeated and repeated and it still is not happening to america's satisfaction. a few things have come out of the day, i think. things have come out of the day, ithink. first things have come out of the day, i think. first of all, something blink anne said which echoed words in bbc today programme interview this morning by the ambassador in london, they said essentially there is a regional path out of this crisis potentially, in other words the saudis could offer recognition to israel which before october seven was where it was really wanted, in return for concrete progress towards a palestinian state. the problem with that is the current israeli government is resolutely opposed to palestinian state, a lot of arabs are resolutely opposed to offering israel anything after all the events in gaza. there

is something going back to that sense of exasperation i mentioned that there is a lack of us leverage over israel. it is clear, despite enormous military aid, diplomatic health at the un, blocking ceasefire resolutions, this message that the americans keep giving to them, which is you are killing too many civilians, you are destroying too many houses in gaza, israelis continue to do it. jeremy bowen there. two united nations human rights officials have urged full accountability for alleged crimes against civilians during the october 7 attacks in israel. the experts say armed palestinian groups may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. they say thousands of people, most of them civilians, were subjected to "targeted and brutal attacks". and the "growing evidence about reported sexual violence "is particularly harrowing." first responders gave testimonies in the wake of the attacks, and continue to live with the trauma. yossi landau is with zaka,

an israeli volunteer civilian emergency service organiaation. he spoke with me earlier. thank you so much for being here to speak with us on bbc news. your one of the first humanitarian workers to witness the atrocities in the aftermath of the october seven attacks, months of past now. how are you coping with the impact of what you saw? it coping with the impact of what ou saw? , ., ., _ you saw? it is not easy, especially _ you saw? it is not easy, especially when - you saw? it is not easy, especially when we - you saw? it is not easy, | especially when we have you saw? it is not easy, - especially when we have the hostages still not home and we meet the families almost on an everyday basis and we talk to them, and we feel the pain, because we were there, we were there in the pain when it happened and we saw everything and we felt it. there is still unidentified victims, that is what we do in our organisation, to make sure that everybody should be identified and

honoured and respected the remains and the families and to give them the full dignity. and uibo to it up. i give them the full dignity. and uibo to it um— uibo to it up. i know you're actually — uibo to it up. i know you're actually right _ uibo to it up. i know you're actually right now - uibo to it up. i know you're actually right now in - uibo to it up. i know you're actually right now in the i actually right now in the united states meeting with us lawmakers. given how difficult this must be, why is it so important to you that you continue to speak out about what you saw in your experiences? fill what you saw in your experiences? what you saw in your exeriences? �* , , ., experiences? al message is that we reaped. _ experiences? al message is that we reaped. we _ experiences? al message is that we reaped. we try _ experiences? al message is that we respect, we try to _ experiences? al message is that we respect, we try to respect, . we respect, we try to respect, each and every god creation and this is my message, that we have nothing against arabs, muslims, or christians. we have in our organisation that is fully volunteered, we have all kind dashed was limbs, arabs, jewish people, bedouins that we have everybody in our organisation but hamas, what they did, and like isis, were condemned by the world same thing as a mass make must be

condemned by the world. we will finish thejob, that condemned by the world. we will finish the job, that means we will try, or make sure that everybody that lost their life should get the proper burial and they should be honoured and the family should be respected. you have been working in your role with succour for more than three decades now. you responded to several different terror attack. obviously the attacks on october seven as well. what needs to happen to at least reduce the need for yourjob?— at least reduce the need for our “ob? ., , , , , your “ob? for sure, yes, first of yourjob? for sure, yes, first of all i want _ yourjob? for sure, yes, first of all i want to _ yourjob? for sure, yes, first of all i want to respond, - yourjob? for sure, yes, first of all i want to respond, yes | of all i want to respond, yes we were all over the world for natural disasters, terror attack. openly 7.5 attacks two months ago i came back from turkey after an earthquake and

helping and saving my team, our team saved 19 muslims, i9 team saved 19 muslims, 19 people, and, yes, they are muslims and we save their lives. now, they are against us. yes, as to why, i have no idea. i am us. yes, as to why, i have no idea. iam not us. yes, as to why, i have no idea. i am not a us. yes, as to why, i have no idea. iam not a politician, i'm not in politics, ijust know we have to respect every god creation and in order to reduce ourjob, yes, we have peace, we need peace. we need dashed we need to get rid of the bad people and there is most of the muslim countries, yes we have peace with them, and we can live with them, we go visit them, they come and visit us. but there is the

radicals, like hamas, jihad is lami, we need to make sure to condemn them and demolish them and then i see that we will have peace but we hope and pray we should be jobless or terror attacks. we should be 'obless or terror attacks. ., ., ., ., ., attacks. head of operation for the southern _ attacks. head of operation for the southern command - attacks. head of operation for the southern command of- attacks. head of operation for i the southern command of psycho which specialises in recovering victims bodies after mass casualty event. we thank you for taking the time to speak with us. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at another story making news. last year was the hottest year ever recorded for the world. that's according to a report by european union climate monitors. the average global temperature was almost 15 degrees celsius, or about 59 fahrenheit. that's dramatically higher than the last record, set in 2016. bbc analysis shows that almost every day sincejuly has seen a new global air temperature

high for the time of year. here's our climate editor, justin rowlatt. now, the grey lines on this chart show temperatures for each year since 1940. the red line, you can see it coming on their commissions last year's temperatures, and you can see it started off pretty unexceptional, in terms of global temperatures, but from around july onwards, the world began a remarkable, and look at that, almost unbroken streak of daily air temperature records. bbc analysis of the copernicus climate change service data shows that more than 200 days saw a new daily global temperature record in 2023. scientists say the change has been driven by man—made climate change, along with the natural el nino weather phenomenon. you're live with bbc news. us secretary of defense lloyd austin is battling prostate cancer. his prognosis is good, but he underwent a surgery to remove cancer, and suffered painful complications that left him hospitalised

on new year's day, where he is still recovering. the cancer was discovered in early december, but the white house and president biden were left in the dark for about a month. they were only notified on tuesday. the pentagon is now facing questions over the timeline and the lack of transparency. in response, the pentagon says they could have done a better job, and that secretary austin is not planning to resign. the white house says the president still has confidence in his defense secretary, but acknolwedged the situation was not ideal. it is not optimal. for a situation like this to go as long as it did without the commander—in—chief knowing about it or the national security adviser knowing about it, orfrankly other security adviser knowing about it, or frankly other leaders at the department of defence. that's not the way this is supposed to happen. some us lawmakers are now demanding answers. for more, i spoke with barbara starr, former pentagon correspondent who's now

senior fellow at university of southern california. barbara, it's great to see you. thank you for being here. what do you make of the criticism right now of secretary austin, especially from republican lawmakers? how secure do you think hisjob is right now? the think his 'ob is right now? the white think his job is right now? the white house _ think hisjob is right now? tue: white house has think hisjob is right now? he white house has said think hisjob is right now? ttl: white house has said throughout the last couple of days and earlier today that the president has confidence in secretary austin, and that there are absolutely no plans to replace him. so we take him at their word as of today, there is no indication he is going to be replaced. i think there's a couple of things on there's a couple of things on the table and first and foremost his own personal health. this apparently is much more serious than had initially been indicated to anybody. will he be able to fully recover from the infection and complications and fluid build—up that he experience that led him to be taken back to the hospital after his

initial procedure by ambulance, initial procedure by ambulance, in what the statement calls intense pain? you know, he is a 70—year—old man, and he's had quite a knock, so there will be that. will he be able to recover and do the job, that. will he be able to recover and do thejob, and will he be able to recover from any political fallout. there are now reviews of all of their space from the republicans on capitol hill, reviews at the pentagon that people may not have a lot of confidence in and out the white house, and the white house today said the one thing it does want is for cabinet secretaries to tell the white house when they are incapacitated, not able to carry out their duties. that apparently is just a starting point of what didn't happen here. t point of what didn't happen here. :, :, :, here. i want to read you some ofthe here. i want to read you some of the criticism _ here. i want to read you some of the criticism from - of the criticism from lawmakers, this coming from a republican congressman from florida, he says on x, formerly twitter...

barbara, you have covered the pentagon for a long time, can you put this incidence and some of those details they are into perspective. how unprecedented is this kind of lack of transparency, notjust in terms of the government, but also when it comes to the military chain of command?— when it comes to the military chain of command? well, the secretary _ chain of command? well, the secretary of _ chain of command? well, the secretary of course _ chain of command? well, the secretary of course is - chain of command? well, the secretary of course is a - secretary of course is a civilian right now, even though he spent decades on active duty, and the important thing is he knows, he knows exactly what procedures are and what needs to be done to keep the flow of information, the flow of decision—making all authorities in place. the pentagon insists things were never interrupted within a day or so, never interrupted within a day orso, but never interrupted within a day or so, but a day or so he had delegated some authorities to his deputy, but it was days before they told the white house just how ill he was and that he was out of the picture,

and you know it was not until today that the white house was even told he had suffered from prostate cancer. so this is not an insignificant issue, because the bottom—line in washington is there are two things a cabinet secretary never wants to do, they never want to surprise the president of the united states, and they never want to cause the president a political problem. secretary austin is a very private man but now he has done just both those things. he has surprised the president, he has caused the president, he has caused the white house a political problem, and we will have to see and think where this goes. i do think a lot of it will depend on his health. barring an kind depend on his health. barring any kind of— depend on his health. barring any kind of health _ depend on his health. barring any kind of health issues, - depend on his health. barring any kind of health issues, but politically if president biden did decide to replace secretary austin, what do you think the fallout would be? also in terms of the two major global conflicts that are currently going on?— conflicts that are currently going on? conflicts that are currently iioin on? ~ ~ :, ~ going on? well, you know, think

of this first- _ going on? well, you know, think of this first. it _ going on? well, you know, think of this first. it is _ going on? well, you know, think of this first. it is going _ going on? well, you know, think of this first. it is going to - of this first. it is going to be tough to replace him, this late in the first administration, whether biden wins or not. we are now coming to an election, we are coming to an election, we are coming to the tail end of this administration, and you have a pretty strong republican position in the us senate that would have to confirm a new secretary of defence. so is he going to just want to have the acting secretary there, kathleen hicks? very competent, but not perhaps ideal not to have a confirmed senate secretary of defence on the world stage, exactly as you say, carl, with two conflicts going on. it may be that the white house sees benefit in keeping austin, but it is washington, when the political price gets too high, in most cases that is when you begin to see a change. how to say if we are there yet. see a change. how to say if we are there yet-— are there yet. will see how this plays _ are there yet. will see how this plays out. _ are there yet. will see how this plays out. barbara - are there yet. will see how. this plays out. barbara starr, great to see you, thank you for joining us.

let's turn to some important news around the world. french president emmanuel macron has named gabriel attal as the country's new prime minister. at just 34 years old, mr attal becomes the youngest person to hold the post in modern french history. he's also the first person to be openly gay. a macron loyalist, attal caused controversy last year when he announced a ban on the abaya, a covering worn by muslim girls and women, in schools. a coroner has confirmed that irish musician sinead o'connor died of natural causes last year. the dublin singer was found unresponsive at her south london home in july. she was 56. o'connor was best known for her 1990 number one hit, nothing compares 2u. former us president donald trump was back in court in washington, dc on tuesday. he appeared before a three—judge panel, who heard his legal team's argument that trump is immune from criminal prosecution for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election.

trump is testing the limits of what's known as presidential immunity, a legal defense that a us president cannot be prosecuted for most actions taken while occupying the oval office. here's our sarah smith with more on what trump's argument means for his legal future and the 2024 race. donald trump is arguing that the us constitution gives presidents complete immunity from prosecution, notjust when they are in office but forever afterwards, so he says he cannot be tried for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election result. his lawyer in court even suggested that, hypothetically, a president could order the murder of a political rival and still escape a criminal trial. and then on the other side prosecutors are arguing that acts that they want to try donald trump for, election interference, were not official presidential actions and therefore not covered by any kind of immunity. donald trump himself of course has always insisted this is a purely political prosecution that it

is designed simply to stop him being re—elected to the white house later this year. t being re-elected to the white house later this year.- house later this year. i think they feel _ house later this year. i think they feel this _ house later this year. i think they feel this is _ house later this year. i think they feel this is the - house later this year. i think they feel this is the way - they feel this is the way they're _ they feel this is the way they're going to try and win, and — they're going to try and win, and thrat's— they're going to try and win, and that's not the way it goes. it and that's not the way it goes. it will— and that's not the way it goes. it will he — and that's not the way it goes. it will be bedlam in the country. it is very bad thing, it is— country. it is very bad thing, it is very— country. it is very bad thing, it is very bad precedent, as we said, _ it is very bad precedent, as we said. it — it is very bad precedent, as we said. it is _ it is very bad precedent, as we said, it is the opening of a prandoms— said, it is the opening of a pandora's box, you know, it's a very— pandora's box, you know, it's a very sad — pandora's box, you know, it's a very sad thing that's happened with this — very sad thing that's happened with this whole situation. that was donald — with this whole situation. that was donald trump _ with this whole situation. t'ngt was donald trump speaking here in washington. he didn't have to come here to attend this court hearing. he chose to do that, and he did that because he has made his efforts to fight his various criminal indictments a very central part of his political campaign. that is a strategy that has been very successful thus far, and we are now waiting for the court to rule on this case, but whatever decision they come up with it is almost certainly to be appealed to the supreme court who will then have to make a definitive ruling on whether or not donald trump does have immunity from prosecution. and before we go we have

an update for you on a story we've been following for the past few days, the head of boeing has said that his company must acknowledge its mistakes, after a number of its planes have been found to have loose parts. investigations began after the cabin panel of a 737 max nine jet blew off during an alaska airlines flight last week. addressing employees at a 737 factory in washington state, dave calhoun said boeing would approach the issue with complete transparency. nearly 200 max nine planes have been grounded following the incident. thank you for watching. i'm carl nasman. we'll be back in 30 minutes with more. stay with us here on bbc news. hello, there. this time last week, low pressure dominated the weather story, and it was all about relentless, flooding rain. this week, high pressure controls the story, and a quiet, colder theme, but also a sunnier one. in fact, the western isles had the lion's share of the sunshine on tuesday. still plenty of sunshine around today, as high pressure dominates.

clear skies across central and southern england, that's where we will have the best of the sunshine, but it will be another cold start, with temperatures below freezing. not as widespread, the cold, as we had this time yesterday, and there's certainly more cloud. now, the cloud is thick enough across eastern scotland and northern england for the odd spot of light drizzle. there could be some icy stretches, first thing. south of that, we will see more club pushing into north wales, where we will keep some sunshine, and we will also have some sunshine once again in the far north—west of scotland. now, temperatures around five to seven degrees, it might be a degree or so warmer underneath the cloud, but it perhaps won't feel like that, because you've lost the sunshine. now, we keep that cloud, as we go through wednesday night, and once again, it could be thick enough for a little bit of drizzle, particularly on exposed north sea coasts. the best of the clearer skies further south of that, that is where we are likely to see patchy frost and fog forming, as temperatures again dip below freezing. so, as we move into thursday, it will be a similar story. we will have some clearer skies into sheltered western scotland, and also some sunshine across central and southern england, but cloud will tend to come

and go into northern ireland, northern england, for a time, and some of that cloud may well just push that little bit further south, as the wind changes to more of a subtle, north—easterly by the course of thursday. once again, temperatures between five and eight degrees, our overall high. now, as we move into friday and the start of the weekend, we keep this quiet theme. it is still going to be on the chilly side, but again there will be a lot of dry weather around. but as we go into next week, there are signs of the weather story changing. the wind direction coming to more of a northerly, we could see some wintry showers, even at lower levels, in scotland, and look at this — towards the middle part of next week, there will be a frontal system, as it bumps into that cold air that has been sitting with us now for over a week, there is the potential, on the leading edge, to see some snow. a lot of uncertainty about that at the moment, but it is an early heads—up, something to look out for.

the x account of the us securities and exchange commission gets compromised and puts out market moving fake news. plus, trying something a bit different.

how in workaholicjapan some countries are introducing mandatory power naps to boost productivity. welcome to asia business report. we begin with bitcoin this morning and how a fake post by the official social media account of the us securities and exchange commission sent the crypto currency�*s price for a bit of a ride. it was posted on the sec x account, claiming the commission had approved an eagerly awaited financial product. that was followed moments later by another tweet that said the account had been compromised and the news was fake. the sec says it will work with law enforcement investigators regarding the unauthorised access. here's more from our business correspondent erin delmore. if you're in the crypto world

or curious about getting into it, then spot bitcoin etf has been on your radar.