and as 2023 is declared the warmest year on record, scientists warn this year could be even more intense. hello. i'm carl nasman. police in ecuador have ordered the evacuation of the nation's government compound over security concerns. recent violence has reportedly left at least ten people dead, as the country remains 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 was recorded during a live broadcast that the armed men interrupted. 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 yet if the storming of the television station is linked to the prison escape, but with security

rapidly deteroriating in the country. president daniel noboa signed an executive order declaring 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 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 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. the president daniel noboa has also announced in either the country is now in estate will be internal armed conflict. certainly strong words from the president this evening, ordering police and military to do all they can to try and stop

the spate of violence that ecuador has seen in the last couple of days. the picture is wider than this as well because that will have seen rising while in over the last few years since the covid pandemic in 2020, gangs operating out of prisons took advantage of the state being weaker at the time, drug cartels get influenced and that has fuelled rising violence as has high unemployment. this is now the number one issue that the country faces and certainly tonight there is still fear on the street particularly in this area, which is in the country's highest homicide. ione wells that. for more on the developing situation inside ecuador, i spoke 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 people relate it to what is

the source of most violence in latin america, which is drug cartels. this mexican carterls and 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 the jailjails which has 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. it isa it is a direct challenge to the authority and state. he has responded quite strongly with the state of emergency and declaring an internal armed conflict and 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?

that's the big question. certainly in ecuadorian media they have been questioning whether the state of emergency is enough. over the last few years where we have seen this escalation of violence, there is not so gradual descent, or not so gradual 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 this. there will be suggestions perhaps of a so—called book solution, recalling the president of el salvador, who has had a really tough crackdown on these criminal gangs. building newjails for 40,000. really rough, criticised from the human rights angle. some people will be pushing for this and i think there will be eyes on the new president to see

whether he goes down that route and how he gets to a grip of this very serious gang and drug related problems. just remind us, has ecuador always struggled with gangs and drug trafficking? we heard they are in the peace — some of the roots stretch back to 2020 and the covid pandemic. it is true. but 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 tourists. quito particularly popular, quiet. it has deterioriated 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 countries. 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. pascal fletcher with the latest. from bbc monitoring,

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 it 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 aid into the territory. we know that facing an enemy that embeds itself among civilians, who it 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. first of all, something blinken said which echoed words in bbc today programme interview morning by the saudi ambassador in london, he 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 7 really wanted, in return for concrete progress towards a palestinian state. the problem with that is the current israeli government is resolutely opposed to a palestinian state, and 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 help 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. mr blinken said that no—one, including israel, wants the conflict to escalate in the region. but israel and hezbollah, a lebanon—based organisation designated a terrorist group by the us, continue to exchange fire across the lebanon—israel border. hezbollah attacked an israeli army base with explosive drones on tuesday, in response to recent suspected israeli assassinations of top hamas and hezbollah commanders. that same day, israel said it killed the southern lebanon commander of hezbollah�*s aerial unit in an air raid. hezbollah denied the killing occurred. our middle east correspondent, hugo bachega, has the latest from beirut. has, and the israeli military

have continued carrying out cross—border attacks a day after a senior hezbollah commander was killed by an estate that is really attack and that was a significant development that has renewed fears of major confrontation between hezbollah, the powerful iranian fact review, and the israeli military. on tuesday crowds gathered in a village in southern lebanon for the funeral of the senior hezbollah commander, the group's top enforcer, and crowdsjoined in the procession, many carry the hezbollah flag. hezbollah�*s number two says the group's actions against israel would continue also said that israel's targeted killings were only making the situation worse. israeli authorities have warned hezbollah against escalation and say it is

imperative to restore security in communities in israel that have been evacuated because of this constant attacks that have been carried out by hezbollah, they say they want to reach a diplomatic solution to this crisis that would see hezbollah fighters being removed from areas near the border, but they also say that if diplomacy fails, the country's military is ready for a major offensive against hezbollah. france's president emanuel macron has named a new prime minister, promoting the current education minister, gabriel attal, to france's number two position. at just 3a years old, mr attal becomes the youngest prime minister in modern french history. our correspondent, hugh schofield, has more. obviously the most boastful thing about the new minister gabriel taylor as his supreme youth are just 3a which makes him the youngest ever prime minister in the country's history and if you combine his agent with that of the president, president macron,

you get to number 80 which is less than the age of the united states and shows how youth, vigor, dynamism other watchwords of the current administration in france, pushed by the youthful president macron. in fact there are people who say rather unkindly that gabriel attal is a many, many for the president. only young, handsome cogent and extremely voluble and powerful and extremely ambitious as well. so that is what president macron has said, a popular figure as well, gabriel attal, who is education minister and acted with quite firm determination over the last six months and we point various crisis that were popular in the country but now he confronts the same difficulties his predecessor, outgoing elisabeth borne confronted but above all thatis borne confronted but above all that is the lack of a majority in parliament. the factors are the last election president

macron a majority in parliament. the fact is that the last election president macron lost his majority in parliament which means every legislation has to be fought over bitterly against opposition and a strong opposition and a strong opposition represented above all now, the other key point, by the hard right nationalists right, marine le pen, national rally party, and her lieutenant, the also very young and upcoming jordan brodie miller, the two of them the ones to watch and years ahead in french politics. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a military tribunal in niger has provisionally released the son of the country's ousted president afterfive months in detention. salem bazoum was freed on monday by coup leaders who deposed his father mohamed bazoum injuly. his parents remain in detention at the presidential palace in niamey. the west african bloc ecowas has demanded that mohamed bazoum be reinstated. bosnian serbs celebrated their autonomous region's statehood day

on tuesday in defiance of a bosnian court ban. special forces paraded through banja luka, the de facto capital of republika srpska. january 9 marks the date in 1992 when bosnian serbs declared independence, hastening the break—up of then—yugoslavia. more than 100,000 people were killed in an ensuing war. south korea's main opposition party leader, lee jae—myung, has been discharged from a hospital in seoul days after being attacked at a public event. a man stabbed him in the neck after asking him for an autograph. police on monday arrested a second man linked to the attack. after leaving hospital, lee called for "an end to hate". you're live with bbc news. the european union's earth observation programme copernicus says 2023 was the hottest year recorded ever. millions more people worldwide saw the severe consequences of climate change, from intense heatwaves and wildfires to devastating floods. the average global temperature

in 2023 was nearly 59 degrees fahrenheit or nearly 15 degrees celsius, shattering the previous high set in 2016. our climate editor justin rowlatt has more on the record—breaking numbers. world experienced extraordinary temperatures last year. the average temperature was one point 48 degrees celsius above preindustrial level beating 2016 by a margin of more .17 celsius. that may not sound much but it is a huge margin for a global average say climate scientists. take a look at this. 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. 210 days set new daily global temperature records according to bbc analysis of the data from the eu organisation, copernicus. for more on what scientists are saying about the record hot year, i spoke to laurie goering, climate change editor at the thomson reuters foundation. thank you for being here. this is obviously a record people would prefer not to have been broken but here we are 2023 the hottest year on record, what many scientists are shocked by was not the record by how much this record really surpasses some of the other higher temperatures we have seen for previous years. that is the shocking thing about this temperature for 2023 normally these temperatures increases are really small, and hundreds of a degree or tenths of a degree at a bigley but the

previous high temperature was in 2016 was 1.25 of the preindustrial times and this one was 1.48, which is both scarily close to that one .5 limits it is the more ambitious part of the paris agreement. but also way above what we had seen previously which says to something different is happening. we are not seeing a slow, linear change but we are seeing something that is a bit more aggressive now.- seeing something that is a bit more aggressive now. there has been some _ more aggressive now. there has been some debate _ more aggressive now. there has been some debate among - been some debate among scientists about why that is, why this appears at least to be potentially accelerating. what do you think about that? does it seem like global warming is speeding up? it seem like global warming is speeding up?— speeding up? yes, quite a lot of scientists _ speeding up? yes, quite a lot of scientists are _ speeding up? yes, quite a lot of scientists are worried - speeding up? yes, quite a lot| of scientists are worried about that. they have been wanting for some time now about what they call tipping points we instead of change coming in a gradual and predictable way,

you can cross thresholds where it suddenly leaps, and it is very, very hard to pass back beyond those tipping points, thatis beyond those tipping points, that is the definition of them, changes and it stays for a long time. they are worried about those around a whole range of things, the melting of the greenland ice sheet is one of the ones they think may be past 1.5, there are a few people that think we have already passed that we may already have triggered long—term melting of the greenland ice sheet which would raise sea levels around the world by seven metres, or 23 feet which has massive implications for urban cities on the coast and anybody living near the coast.— near the coast. speaking of our waters 2023 — near the coast. speaking of our waters 2023 very _ near the coast. speaking of our waters 2023 very hot _ near the coast. speaking of our waters 2023 very hot on - near the coast. speaking of our waters 2023 very hot on land . waters 2023 very hot on land but also in the ocean, saw record temperatures and many of our seas, record temperatures and many of ourseas, didn't record temperatures and many of our seas, didn't we? the record temperatures and many of our seas, didn't we?— our seas, didn't we? the oceans absorb a lot _ our seas, didn't we? the oceans absorb a lot of _ our seas, didn't we? the oceans absorb a lot of the _ our seas, didn't we? the oceans absorb a lot of the carbon - absorb a lot of the carbon

dioxide because as climate change they have done us a massive favour since the industrial area and absorbed a lot of the heat that is coming but there are questions about whether they might be reaching a point of saturation, which means they will not be able to absorb as much he and absorb it slowly, that happens we could see the released appearing much more in these temperature increases so that may be one of the things that is going on. we are not entirely sure yet what is causing all of this. fit are not entirely sure yet what is causing all of this.- is causing all of this. at cop 28 in dubai _ is causing all of this. at cop 28 in dubai last _ is causing all of this. at cop 28 in dubai last year - is causing all of this. at cop 28 in dubai last year will. is causing all of this. at cop 28 in dubai last year will be | 28 in dubai last year will be disagreeing for the first time in history to bring a transition away from bills, many countries saying it was enough there were some loopholes with that agreement. do you think what we saw in dubai is enough to at least start to bend the curb towards where we need to be with our climate goals? i where we need to be with our climate goals?— climate goals? i think it is really really _ climate goals? i think it is really really good - climate goals? i think it is really really good we - climate goals? i think it is really really good we got l climate goals? i think it is i really really good we got this agreement there but i think

that agreement has to be translated into reality and i do not think we are seeing a lot of science that is happening yet. if you look in the weeks after the cop 28 meeting we have seen new oil and gas licensing in brazilfor instance, we have seen some fairly strong signs in saudi arabia they are not intending to step away from fossil fuels any time soon, we are talking about oil and gas leases in the uk, so we're seeing the policies that would drive that forward yet. all countries in the world need to have their new climate change plans next year as part of the paris agreement, and i think if we are really going to need to see serious plans to step away from fossil fuels and funding to do that, that is one of the problems that is going on is that there are many countries in the world that might like to do this more aggressively but they do not actually have funding and most people think the funding for that should

come in part from the countries that cause most of the problem. and that is nowhere near happening yet. and that is nowhere near happening yet-— and that is nowhere near happening yet. and that is nowhere near hauenina et. , , happening yet. very briefly you do sa in happening yet. very briefly you do say in your— happening yet. very briefly you do say in your twitter - do say in your twitter biography you are an optimist can you give us a reason for optimism going forward? i think that when people _ optimism going forward? i think that when people are _ optimism going forward? i think that when people are really - optimism going forward? i think that when people are really up | that when people are really up against it, they can be very creative. and i have real hope a lot of smart people working on this problem and a lot of people that really care about this, that realised this thing is going to impact our lives, more extreme weather more crop failures, people are going to leave their homes and extreme heat waves, people themselves will put pressure on politicians and lobbyists and those who are helping create this problem sometimes, or at least not deal with it as swiftly. and ask for things to change. i have faith in people. laurie goering, climate change editor at the thomson reuters

foundation. thank you very much. thank you. us secretary of defense lloyd austin is battling prostate cancer. his prognosis is good, but he underwent surgery, and suffered painful complications that left him hospitalized 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 betterjob, and that secretary austin is not planning to resign. the white house says the president still has confidence in his defense secretary, but acknowledged 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 leaders at

the department of defence. that's not the way this is supposed to happen. former president donald trump was back in court in washington, dc on tuesday. he appeared before a threejudge 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 north america editor sarah smith. 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. i think they feel this is the way they're going to try and win, and that's not the way it goes. it will be bedlam in the country. it is very bad thing, it is very bad precedent, as we said, it is the opening of a pandora's box, you know, it's a very sad thing that's happened with this whole situation. that 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. plenty more on that story on the website. bc .com/ news or the website. bc .com/ news or the news at. . plenty more headlines coming up at the top of the hour. stay tuned 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's 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 today and how a fake post by the official social media account of the us securities and exchange commission sent the cryptocurrency�*s price for a bit of a ride. it was posted on the sec�*s x account, claiming the commission had approved an eagerly awaited financial product. that was followed moments later by another post 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 a spot bitcoin etf has been on your radar.