ministers in the uk under pressure to address the miscarriage ofjustice suffered by hundreds of sub postmasters — public anger over the post office scandal continues. hello, i'm marc ashdown. we start this morning in ecuador where police have ordered the evacuation of the government compound over security concerns. it's after a group of gunmen stormed a live television studio which happened a day after the president declared a nationwide state of emergency. the men, wearing balaclavas, burst into the studio of a public television station in the port city of guayaquil, taking severaljournalists and staff members hostage. the police say the attack

will be treated as an "act of terrorism". the president has said that ecuador is in a state of �*internal armed conflict�*. ione wells reports from sao paulo. 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 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. the president, daniel noboa has announced tonight that the state is in a state of internal armed conflict. he has ordered police and military to do everything they can to try and stop this spate of violence seen by ecuador in the last few

days. the picture is wider than this. ecuador has seen rising violence over the last few years and since the covid pandemic in 2020, gangs operating out of presence took advantage of the state being weak at the time. drug cartels gained influence in ecuador and have fuelled a rising violence violence has has high unemployment as well. this is now the number one issue faced by the country and tonight, certainly, there is fear on the streets particularly in guayaquil which has seen the highest rate of homicide in the last year in the country. pascal fletcher is from bbc monitoring. earlier he told us what more we've learned about the violence in ecuador and who might be behind it. it sounds like an extraordinary situation. certainly, most people relate it to what is the source of much violence in latin america, which is drug trafficking in the sense that the cartels have been penetrating ecuador, the mexican cartels and suppliers in colombia and peru to the north and south have linked up with local gangs

and these local gangs 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 jails 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 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 live now to journalist, carolina loza leon, who's in ecuador and has been following the developments. thank you forjoining us. as we heard, the president declared an internal armed conflict and he has only been in the role for a short space of time. it

is the mood out there, i would imagine tense. it is the mood out there, i would imagine tense.— imagine tense. it is quite tense but _ imagine tense. it is quite tense but people - imagine tense. it is quite tense but people are - imagine tense. it is quite - tense but people are desperate and angry for a solution, a swift solution. this is one of the main campaign promises that he made that got him into office. and now everybody is waiting for his response after the last administration who was perceived as being too weak on crime and it definitely has been a swift response so far. declaring an internal armed conflict which many people are worried about. and providing the use of lethal force for the armed forces to whichever of the 22 criminal gangs have been labelled terrorist groups. and now that we have an ongoing curfew everyone is wondering what will happen tonight and when the manhunt for the leader

of the criminal gangs, fito, is going to run. of the criminal gangs, fito, is going to run-— of the criminal gangs, fito, is going to run— of the criminal gangs, fito, is going to run. you mentioned 22 ans. going to run. you mentioned 22 ”ans. is going to run. you mentioned 22 gangs- is there _ going to run. you mentioned 22 gangs. is there any _ going to run. you mentioned 22 gangs. is there any idea - going to run. you mentioned 22 gangs. is there any idea yet - going to run. you mentioned 22 gangs. is there any idea yet as| gangs. is there any idea yet as to who is behind this incident was to mark not in the clear yet. was to mark not in the clear et. ., ,., , was to mark not in the clear et. , was to mark not in the clear et. yet. nobody has taken any responsibility _ yet. nobody has taken any responsibility for - yet. nobody has taken any responsibility for the - yet. nobody has taken any i responsibility for the looting and the violence that took place today. it is a co—ordinated response but there is not a clear response of who was or whether it was one of several criminal gangs working together. they are always in a constant evolution of alliances forming and breaking up and this is when we see the violence in prisons. it is uncertain and this is part of the uncertainty that drives ecuadorians to a state of panic, not knowing who it was behind this, having a blurry enemy of the state but not knowing who is behind it. it is people who live in very poor

neighbourhoods who are targeted by a different group but it is different groups fighting for territory who control the area so there is a lot of uncertainty on the streets as to who is behind, who is the government targeting. thank you so much for your time.— so much for your time. karolina is a journalist _ joining us live from ecuador for an update on the situation. the us secretary of state continues his visit in the middle east. on tuesday evening, antony blinken told a news conference in tel aviv that the death toll on civilians in gaza, especially children, is too high. he said gazans must be allowed to return to their homes, while also reasserting us support for israel. mr blinken met leaders including israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the pair discussed efforts to secure the release of all remaining hostages and get humanitarian aid into gaza. it comes as the hamas—run health ministry says 57 deaths

were reported in one central gaza hospital alone. the situation at israel's northern border with lebanon remains volatile, with locations on either side targeted by the idf and hezbollah. this is what the secretary of state told the press. 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. our correspondent anthony zurcher was listening to that statement. this is his assessment. the us secretary of state told reporters at a press conference here in tel aviv on tuesday night that he had a powerful new message to deliver to the israelis after meetings with arab leaders over the last three days. that was they are

open to integration, to normalisation of relations with the state of israel. he said of course that this would require hard choices on the part of the israelis and that includes accepting a clear pathway to the realisation of palestinian political rights and palestinian statehood. he added that he was not going to speak for benjamin netanyahu or the rest of the israeli cabinet on whether they were open to this. one area of agreement between the united states and israel announced on tuesday night was the creation of a special assessment mission headed by the united nations to go into northern gaza and determine when it would be safe palestinian civilians to return to their homes. even this, he said, would not happen overnight. on wednesday secretary blink and is going to travel to the west bank where he will meet with the president of the palestinian authority. the group who the united states insists should be put in charge of a unified west bank gaza

critical authority once the war in gaza ands. with me is mohamed taha from bbc arabic. just to go into some more detail, thank you forjoining us. military operations and fighting has intensified in the last 2a hours. israeli strikes in north, middle and southern gaza in the late 48 hours, more than 300 people died in one incident and than 60 people died and 70 injured as reported in another hospital and on the other side the israelis announced on the last 48 hours that more than 20 personnel died. they also took from hamas that they destroyed more than ten armoured tanks. we cannot verify this report as we are

investigating at the moment at the bbc how strong this missile and the ability to destroy an armoured tank.— and the ability to destroy an armoured tank. you mention the residents of _ armoured tank. you mention the residents of gaza, _ armoured tank. you mention the residents of gaza, especially - residents of gaza, especially in the north.— in the north. what is the situation _ in the north. what is the situation there? - in the north. what is the situation there? the - in the north. what is the - situation there? the situation there now that antony blinken and was keen to convince the israeli leaders that people from northern gaza should be allowed to return back as they are now partially occupying northern gaza but, you know, benjamin netanyahu is now between listening to his right wing investors who want the palestinians completely out of gaza rather than only the north and listening to antony blinken and listening to antony blinken and who is keen for northern gaza to return gradually. what has been the _ gaza to return gradually. what has been the impact _

gaza to return gradually. what has been the impact overall. gaza to return gradually. what has been the impact overall and telus about the situation with egypt as well. hat telus about the situation with egypt as well-— telus about the situation with e: -t as well. ., . egypt as well. not much impact, to be honest. — egypt as well. not much impact, to be honest, at _ egypt as well. not much impact, to be honest, at the _ egypt as well. not much impact, to be honest, at the moment. i l to be honest, at the moment. i think antony blinken and was trying to find a solution to gaza after the war but now, as you know, as everybody knows, america is against the ceasefire so the united states is supporting israel in this towards eliminating hamas. this is a joint target, if i could say that, and they are trying to discuss what is going to happen afterwards. this is a big question why antony blinken and is not going to visit egypt in this wide tour. egypt is important to gaza, it orders

gaza and plays a role in whether the americans suspect that egypt is playing a role in giving, in providing hamas with arms or that they are against having more palestinians come and live in egypt.— and live in egypt. thank you so much for _ and live in egypt. thank you so much for your— and live in egypt. thank you so much for your time. _ and live in egypt. thank you so much for your time. i - and live in egypt. thank you so much for your time. i know - and live in egypt. thank you so| much for your time. i know you and the team are following developments constantly. two un human rights officials say there needs to be "full accountability for alleged crimes against civilians" — during the original attacks in israel on october 7th. the experts say armed palestinian groups may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. first responders gave testimonies in the wake of the attacks and continue to live with the trauma. yossi landau is head of operations for the southern command of zaka, an international rescue unit. he spoke to my colleague karl nasman earlier and told him how he's been coping with the impact of what he 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 we will keep it up. i know you're 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? our message is that 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 kinds, muslims, 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 hamas must be condemned by the world. we will finish thejob, that means we will try, around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. vmcsovsk: bbc news, - bringing you different stories from across the uk. i'm very much a car person. i like the looks of cars, like the engines of cars. ijust find them really fascinating. i don't want to stop them enjoying themselves, - but this is not a racetrack. the a47 around barwell is one of four racing hot spots identified by leicestershire police.

people living here say it's a fatality waiting to happen. i've been down here . when those laybys have been full and then another ten, 20 cars up and down, _ racing, at excessive speeds. never seen a speed camera, i've never seen police - sat in the layby. i'm just asking the police — what is being done? - we have issued a number of warnings and a number of antisocial behaviour notices have gone out to individuals. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. ministers in the uk are under pressure to address the miscarriage ofjustice suffered by hundreds of sub postmasters, as public anger over the scandal continues. yesterday, former post office boss paula vennells gave up her cbe after a petition attracted more thani million

signatures as our political correspondent peter saull reports. it was an announcement that added insult to injury.- added insult to in'ury. paula venneush added insult to in'ury. paula vennells has _ added insult to in'ury. paula vennells has the h added insult to injury. paula vennells has the cbe. - added insult to injury. paula vennells has the cbe. you l added insult to injury. paula l vennells has the cbe. you are 'okina. vennells has the cbe. you are joking- itut — vennells has the cbe. you are joking. but now— vennells has the cbe. you are joking. but now the _ vennells has the cbe. you are joking. but now the former . vennells has the cbe. you are l joking. but now the former boss ofthe joking. but now the former boss of the post _ joking. but now the former boss of the post office _ joking. but now the former boss of the post office has _ joking. but now the former boss of the post office has agreed - of the post office has agreed to hand macro honour, saying she was truly sorry for the devastation caused. downing street said it was the right decision. another seniorfigure and project who ran were made between 2003 and 2010 has expressed his heartfelt sympathies. mineral ministries are working on a plenty speed up are working on a plenty speed up the process of exonerating the victims amid calls for legislation that would quash their conditions. irate legislation that would quash their conditions.— their conditions. we can do something _ their conditions. we can do something good _ their conditions. we can do something good together l their conditions. we can doj something good together if their conditions. we can do - something good together if the justice sector would bring a simple bill to quash all 800

immediately.— simple bill to quash all 800 immediately. simple bill to quash all 800 immediatel . , , ., , immediately. the suggestions he made as receiving _ immediately. the suggestions he made as receiving active - made as receiving active consideration, i expect to be able — consideration, i expect to be able to— consideration, i expect to be able to make further announcements shortly. the government _ announcements shortly. the government to _ announcements shortly. the government to that - announcements shortly. tie: government to that exactly what a pleasant too. there is worth about parliament interfering. we have to get this sorted. we also have to be very capital this is notjust reactive, knee—jerk legislation as we know from other examples does not always work. find know from other examples does not always work.— not always work. and there are questions _ not always work. and there are questions about _ not always work. and there are questions about fujitsu - not always work. and there are questions about fujitsu which l questions about fujitsu which made the faulty horizon accounting software. company bosses have been summoned to appear before a committee of mps next week. should it be blocked from getting new government contracts? it is due to amazing hearing evidence, and we will surely have a far bigger audience than before. peter saull bbc news.

doctors say us secretary of defence lloyd austin is being treated for prostate cancer and that his prognosis is excellent. but the white house says they didn't know about his diagnosis until today. they also say they did not know he was under general anaesthesia during his surgery in december. it's also emerged that the pentagon didn't notify the white house or austin's deputy until three days after he had been hospitalized. the delays and apparent secrecy over his healthcare treatment has sparked a political row in recent days. this is what the pentagon's press secretary had to say on the issue. we are going to try and provide you with the most information we have as quickly as we have it. recognising that as i say that, we could have done a betterjob last that, we could have done a better job last week. that, we could have done a betterjob last week. again, we have this information out from these medical professionals and i think it will go a long way in terms of helping to understand the situation and what needs to be done going forward. live now to

our north america correspondent david willis. this is all rather intriguing. it is indeed. i can tell you what we do know and that is lloyd austin was diagnosed with cancer a month ago and twice treated in hospital in an attempt to basically remedy that situation. instead of importing the details of his hospitalisation and his diagnosis to his boss, president biden and the commander—in—chief, lloyd austin for some reason decided to keep those details to himself. indeed the white house was only informed of his hospitalisation last thursday, some four days after lloyd austin was readmitted to the waterbury —— hospital. and his prostate cancer diagnosis today

only after a briefing from reporters. equally astonishing is the fact that the deputy of mr austin, is the fact that the deputy of mraustin, kathleen is the fact that the deputy of mr austin, kathleen hicks, had mraustin, kathleen hicks, had been delegated some of his tasks while he was readmitted to the hospital but even she did not know that he was in hospital at the time. none of this really would have been quite as extraordinary were not for the fact that lloyd austin, as the us defence secretary, is second only to the president in the us military chain of command. he is perhaps the person who holds the role and perhaps one of the most powerful members of the cabinet. and they of course have to be constantly available. particularly given the current conflict the united states is involved in in ukraine and the middle east. instead of being behind his desk at the pentagon, lloyd

austin was in hospital being treated for a condition that nobody in the white house anyway seemed to know that he had. republicans of course called for lloyd austin to be removed from his post. the white house has said it has complete confidence in him. because of the way all this was handled, it raised questions about transparency on the part of us defence officials and of course the competency of those at the pentagon. it is course the competency of those at the pentagon.— at the pentagon. it is a much. david willis — at the pentagon. it is a much. david willis live _ at the pentagon. it is a much. david willis live from - at the pentagon. it is a much. david willis live from los - david willis live from los angeles. —— thank you so much. at least three people have died and nearly half a million homes are without power after a series of powerful winter storms swept through parts of the eastern us and canada. over half of the us population, stretching from new mexico to maine, is under severe weather alerts. thousands of flights were cancelled or delayed as of tuesday evening, according to data from flig htawa re. officials have warned of more damage as the storms continue into the evening.

police in poland have arrested a former interior minister and his deputy, who had taken refuge in the presidential palace. local media say officers entered the building in warsaw to detain the two mps. they were sentenced to prison last month after being found guilty of abuse of power, but pardoned by president andrzej duda. with more on this i'm joined by our reporter bartosz kielak. this is legally complex and hotly contested but what we saw earlier was everything political theatre on display because of hundreds of people protesting, most of them supporters of the law and justice party to the two mps who belonged. the two men, the former minister of interior and his deputy, when they were in power in 2007 they used some of the special services that

were... that they were overseeing to orchestrate applications of evidence and spying on the political opponents. in 2015 they had been pardoned by the president before the legal conviction has been reached. which has been contested over the past couple of years. now the new government is in place and the two men have been legally convicted in prison. yesterday they sought shelter in the presidential palace and that is where the police arrested them. which is unprecedented in polish history. there is something that has never ever been witnessed in pollard. the president will socially defend his authority to pardon anyone. he is adamant that these events are upsetting the constitutional order of the country. it is pointed out that

it is the president that has violated the constitutional order in the first place. what the new government is saying is that everyone is equal before the law. what the opposition of the law. what the opposition of the former government was saying is that these two men are the first two political prisoners in donetsk era. the way things are panning out, we are bound to see more of this in the coming days and months. thank you so much. that is it from me. to stay with us. more on those stories coming up. you are watching 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.

live from london. this is bbc news. crypto in the spotlight. a social media hack sends the price of bitcoin on a rollercoaster as speculation mounts that the us regulator will approve exchange traded funds in the cryptocurrency. plane speaking. boeing's boss says the company must

acknowledge its mistake after a number of its aircraft have been found to have loose parts. and asleep on the job. we look at how some workplaces injapan are trying novel ways to boost productivity amongst overworked staff. good morning, i'm marc ashdown. we start in the us where it could be a big day for bitcoin. the price of the cryptocurrency has been on a bit of a rollercoaster after a false post on the official x account of the us securities and exchange commission. the post claimed the regulator had approved the first ever exchange traded funds — or etf�*s for spot trades in bitcoin. it's a move that has been eagerly awaited

by cryptocurrency enthusiasts. our business correspondent in new york, is erin delmore.