to impeach the top official in charge of migration policies at the country's southern border. i'm sumi somaskanda. ecuador�*s president announced that foreign prisoners in his country are to be deported. president daniel noboa made the announcement wednesday — one day after masked gunmen stormed a public tv studio during a live broadcast in the city of guayaquil. president noboa hopes to cut down on ecuador�*s prison population as more than 120 prison guards are still being held hostage by inmates across the country. nationwide unrest began a few days earlier on sunday when a notorious gang boss escaped from a maximum—security facility. it's unclear whether the attack on the tv studio was related to the disappearance of adolfo macias villamar, or fito, as he is better known. after the escape, but before the tv studio attack,

a 60—day state of emergency was issued in ecuador on monday. will grant reports from guayaquil. viewers in ecuador watched in disbelief as masked and armed gang members entered a state tv channel and held staff hostage — all of it televised live. translation: they shot one of our cameramen in the leg. | broke the arm of another one. they were shooting bullets inside the studio. the police were called and came in minutes. the gang was soon arrested and the hostages released, but the tv station ambush was just part of the descent into chaos. panic as gunmen stormed guayaquil university, explosions around the country, schools and businesses shut down and widespread rioting inside ecuador�*s prisons. in response, president daniel noboa called a state of emergency and imposed a curfew.

by decree, he designated 22 gangs terrorist organisations and ordered the military to, as he put it, neutralise them. translation: we are practically living - in a state of war against terrorism. these are not organised crime groups, they are terrorists who are financed by drug trafficking, trafficking in people, organs and arms. president noboa says that ecuador is now engaged in an internal armed conflict. but while this explosion of gang violence may have caught the nation off guard, in truth, the storm which has turned ecuadorfrom one of the safest nations in latin america to one of the most violent has been brewing for years. specifically this man. adolfo macias villamar, alias fito, is part of the reason ecuadorfinds itself on the brink of an internal war. he's the leader of a gang called los choneros and escaped his prison cell shortly before his transfer to a higher security wing.

two prison guards have been arrested for allegedly helping him flee. the gangs are largely controlled from the prisons. even behind bars, macias ran his organisation without interference from the authorities. translation: people are scared. they're closing all the stores. there is no security. they're afraid gangsters will come and loot everything. an iron fist on crime has been used here before, but it did little to break the gangs stranglehold on the andean nation or slow its slide towards bloodshed. will grant, bbc news, guayaquil. earlier i spoke to todd chapman, former us ambassador to ecuador and now a non—resident fellow at the centre for strategic and international studies. ambassador, i want to ask you first of all, when we saw ecuador�*s president noboa in talking about the crisis, he said his government is fighting against terrorist

groups and he said, "they want me to call them groups "of organised crime because it is easier "than when they are terrorists, "and when we live in a state of war other laws apply." what you think that means? what will that allow him and his government do? it is a pleasure to be with you and talk about this very serious matter. ecuador has been threatened by narco—terrorists for many years, regrettably, as its only two land borders are with peru and with columbia. and that brings all sorts of nefarious actors who wish to use ecuador for transiting cocaine to markets in the united states and europe. but in recent days, these narco—terrorists have gone to further extremes to create havoc in the prisons, to bring chaos to the streets and to take over a television station while it is projecting life,

all to advance its message that they wish to have control of the state. so president naboa, who has only been in office something like — i believe this is day 48 — has taken bold steps that will try and galvanise society and mobilise his internal security forces to address this threat. you said yourself, armed gangs, this type of violence, it is not new to ecuador. why do you think we are seeing things spiralling out of control in the last days? the last few days is the culmination of the last few years. these groups have become more aggressive, more thirsty within the country to bring about its terror, and, like any new president, they get tested and these narco—terrorists are bringing new challenges to the new government to see what this president is made of. and i must say president noboa is showing tremendous courage and leadership by first executing this executive order that is supported

by 95% of ecuadoreans to seek to bring greater control and order to the streets of ecuador and especially in guayaquil. these are foreign—controlled groups that are using ecuador, and really it is just — enough is enough. the ecuadorian people are rising up together, united, to confront this terrorist challenge. you say the vast majority of people in ecuador do support these measures. how does this look in the region because we know in el salvador we have seen the president there take a very controversial approach in his crackdown on criminal gangs there. do you think we're going to see something similar in ecuador, and are you at all worried about what the repercussions might be for everyday citizens? i think what we will see is, firstly, a greater involvement of the armed services. just like in the us and other countries, generally, an army, navy and the military is not deployed for internal necessary

means to control whatever is going on in your country. but this is different. this is an internal armed conflict. that is what president noboa has called it, and indeed that is what it is because these groups are heavily armed. they were waving hand grenades in front of television cameras when they invaded the television station. these are ruthless killers, and so the military working with the very capable police force, which the united states has been involved with in terms of providing training over the years, and we are very pleased with that, they are going to take action. a quick last question. we have about 30 seconds left. what you think the us and the international community can do to support ecuador in this? i think that the international community has a great role to play, and especially the united states. number one — greatly increased training and technology that is provided to the government of ecuador. that we can do right away. number two — just like 20

years ago, more than 20 years ago in columbia — we established a columbia to do exactly what is needed in ecuador to control internally armed groups and repress the use of cocaine, cocaine to corrupt society. we need to do it in ecuador. we need to set a plan, ecuador. number three — it is important we provide the means to a great economic renewal in ecuador. the idea act, which is a bipartisan act in congress right now, which is the innovation and development act in ecuador, as bipartisan support. the biden administration can get that passed immediately to provide expanded trade and investment opportunities for the ecuadorian people. we will have to leave it there. thank you so much forjoining us. great to be with you. the head of the world health organization is calling on israel to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to gaza.

tedros adhanom ghebreyesus accused israel of repeatedly barring access. he said it was impossible to reach those in need. israel maintains that it is doing what it can to allow aid into the strip. meanwhile, us secretary of state antony blinken continues his diplomatic tour in the region. he met with palestinian president mahmoud abbas to discuss the palestinian authority's role while on a visit to the occupied west bank. mr abbas assured america's top diplomat that israel's security concerns would be addressed, but that gaza and the west bank must remain united. mr blinken�*s trip comes amid fears that the war will spread to a wider regional conflict as the iran—backed houthis continue attacking ships in the red sea. speaking from bahrain, the top diplomat said iran must reel in the houthis or else. as we made clear and many other countries made clear, there will be consequences for the houthis�* actions. we have also repeatedly tried to make clear to iran, as other countries have as well, that the support that they are providing to the houthis, including for these

actions, needs to stop. it is not in their interest to see the conflict escalated, and we are not the only ones who sent that message to iran. the bbc�*s hugo bachega has more on the developments from blinken�*s trip. he also had talks with the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. in the west bank they were familiar topics being discussed. he reaffirmed the us position in support of the creation of a palestinian state alongside israel. something that has been opposed by the current israeli administration and the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. mr blinken also talked about the need for also talked about the need for a reformed palestinian authority. the biden administration said the pa playing a role in gaza after the role is over. it is not clear how

this would work and there have been some concerns among some palestinian authorities who do not want to be seen as been driven into gaza on the back of an israeli tank, as they put it. in gaza, the israeli military has continued to attack central and southern areas of the territory despite repeated pleas by american officials to move to a more targeted approach in its war against hamas in gaza and reduce the number of civilian casualties. while antony blinken tries diplomacy against the houthis, the us and uk militaries are using force. on tuesday, the houthis fired 20 projectiles at ships in the red sea in their largest attack yet, but the us—led task force shot down all but two of them. on wednesday, uk defence secretary grant shapps called the attacks unacceptable, and said: "we will take the action needed to protect innocent lives and the global economy. " meanwhile, the un security council has adopted a resolution calling for a halt to houthi attacks in the red sea. earlier, the bbc spoke to retired marine corps general frank mckenzie about the potential for escalation in the region. he was head of the us

central command from 2019 to 2022. first of all, i think we should be careful about the use of escalation. it should not actually be our highest priority. if we want to prevent escalation we should go home, withdraw from the region. in fact, we're not doing that. there are objectives that are higher than preventing escalation and i would say the assured passage of congress is more important than avoiding escalation. having said that, it is my belief from years of study and experience if we strike back at the houthis able will not necessarily escalate beyond that region. i don't believe that iran will necessarily take action against israel or us if we strike back at the houthis in yemen at those sites where they are attacking maritime shipping. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

now to some other headlines. train drivers in germany have started a three—day strike, forcing the national rail operator to cancel services used by thousands of people. only one in five long distance deutsche bahn services ran on wednesday, while regional trains were severely reduced. the walkout was called by the gdl train drivers�* union over pay and working hours and follows nationwide protests by farmers. a powerful winter storm in the us has knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and grounded flights from north carolina to maine. in hampton beach, new hampshire, officials declared an emergency and ordered evacuations as flooding threatened homes and businesses. elsewhere, heavy snow has blanketed the midwest, and blizzard conditions threatened communities in the west. us transportation secretary pete buttigieg says boeing 737 max 9 aircraft that were grounded nationwide won't return to service "until it is safe". the announcement came after alaska airlines grounded all of its max 9 planes due to one plane losing a door plug in flight. the federal aviation authority is not committing to when the planes will be

allowed to fly again. you're live with bbc news. two republicans vying to represent their party in this year's us presidential election are in their final debate before the iowa caucus. florida governor ron desantis is facing former un ambassador nikki haley. both are lagging behind frontrunner donald trump. joining me live is the bbc�*s bernd debusman. really good to see you. what has turned out to you in this debate? —— stood out. has turned out to you in this debate? -- stood out.- debate? -- stood out. what stood out — debate? -- stood out. what stood out as _ debate? -- stood out. what stood out as how _ debate? -- stood out. what stood out as how fiery - debate? -- stood out. what stood out as how fiery it - debate? -- stood out. what| stood out as how fiery it was right from the outset within minutes of the opening statement, ron desantis statement, ron desa ntis referred statement, ron desantis referred to nikki haley as mealymouthed. she repeatedly called him a liar. it was really quite tense in the room. i think that is a sign that despite the commanding lead

former president trump has come at this debate doesn't matter to both candidates as they go forward. they really need a strong showing in iowa and this is their last chance to show the case. is their last chance to show the case-— the case. and we saw chris christie announcing - the case. and we saw chris christie announcing that i the case. and we saw chrisj christie announcing that he the case. and we saw chris i christie announcing that he is dropping out. what impact does that have? ., dropping out. what impact does that have?— dropping out. what impact does thathave? ., ., , that have? some of those voters will no to that have? some of those voters will go to nikki _ that have? some of those voters will go to nikki haley _ that have? some of those voters will go to nikki haley or- that have? some of those voters will go to nikki haley or ron - will go to nikki haley or ron desantis but here in iowa and generally nationally he was far behind and pulling into single digits members, there were not many boats to go around. in the long—term it have much of a serious material difference going forward. these are relatively small number of voters that will have to find an alternative and i think it makes a tremendous difference going forward. we the former president donald trump so far ahead, what are they looking to achieve in iowa next week? one

thing i heard quite a few times as this is a race for second place. donald trump has a significant lead over the other candidates but their campaign thanks a strong showing next week will put them in good place to go into new hampshire and breathe life into the campaign. a poor showing might be a deathknell. what they want to do his mega lastgasp effort those undecided voters that are perhaps between them orformer president trump and see where that takes them.— that takes them. really quickly. _ that takes them. really quickly. the _ that takes them. really quickly, the former - that takes them. really - quickly, the former president holding a rival event on fox news, a town hall event. what has come out of that? we have seen a lot _ has come out of that? we have seen a lot of— has come out of that? we have seen a lot of the _ has come out of that? we have seen a lot of the same - has come out of that? we have seen a lot of the same talking l seen a lot of the same talking points. 0ne seen a lot of the same talking points. one thing i thought was interesting was that he was asked by a ron desantis

supporter about the campaign and he again took credit for his rise in politics. we will be hearing a lot more of that from the president in the next few days. as i have been sitting here watching the candidates, my inbox is full of trump campaign e—mails criticising both of them in really strong and colourful pointed language. his campaign is paying attention and taking the candidates seriously despite the 30 plus point lead. we will let you get back. thank you so much for the update. us house republicans have held their first impeachment hearing of homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas. the inquiry comes as record numbers of migrants attempt to cross the us—mexico border. the republican lawmaker leading the hearing, representative mark green, accused secretary mayorkas of intentionally encouraging illegal immigration by failing to enforce laws. if we take a look at those record numbers, the year 2023 saw almost 2.5 million people

apprehended at the us—mexico border. compare that to just a few years earlier — in 2019, just over 850,000 people were apprehended. in december of 2023 — us officials said up to 10,000 people were crossing the border every day. if republicans are successful in impeaching secretary mayorkas, he would be the first us cabinet secretary to be impeached in nearly 150 years. the move would however be largely symbolic, as he would almost certainly be acquitted in a trial in the democrat—controlled senate. to discuss this i was joined in the last hour by representative jasmine crockett, a democrat from texas. republicans say the homeland security secretary may not have committed a crime but is responsible for gross incompetence for not importing walls at the us border. what is your response to that? my response _ your response to that? my response is _ your response to that? m response is they can your response to that? mg response is they can call him incompetent, do a lot of things but impeachment is completely improper under the

circumstances. they said the quiet part out loud. i feel as if we need to take my colleagues on the other side of the aisle back to basic civics 101 and educate them on what it looks like twin peaks someone. i have to commit high crimes of misdemeanours. it is not good enough you disagree with their policies or feel as if they are failing at theirjob. it has to be high crimes or misdemeanours. they know they don't have that i want to push forward anyway. d0 don't have that i want to push forward anyway.— don't have that i want to push forward anyway. do you think he is failin: forward anyway. do you think he is failing at _ forward anyway. do you think he is failing at his _ forward anyway. do you think he is failing at his job? _ forward anyway. do you think he is failing at his job? i _ forward anyway. do you think he is failing at his job? i am - forward anyway. do you think he is failing at his job? i am not - is failing at his “ob? i am not sa in: is failing at his “ob? i am not saying that. _ is failing at his job? i am not saying that. i'm _ is failing at his job? i am not saying that. i'm saying - is failing at his job? i am not saying that. i'm saying even| is failing at his job? i am not. saying that. i'm saying even if you accept their argument, it is still not enough, that is the only point i am trying to make. , ., ., the only point i am trying to make-_ i - the only point i am trying to make._ i will. the only point i am trying to | make._ i will tell make. understood. i will tell ou this make. understood. i will tell you this about _ make. understood. i will tell you this about failure - make. understood. i will tell you this about failure and - you this about failure and jobs, i will tell you congress is failing because any secretary we have can only do what the law allows them to do. as far as immigration reforms, something we needed in this country for quite some time,

something the democrats have a number of bills the republicans failed to bring up, they have to propose the policies. building a wall is not a policy, fyi. building a wall is not a policy. fyi-— building a wall is not a policy, fyi. building a wall is not a oli , fyi. . , , ., building a wall is not a oli , fyi. ., , , ., , policy, fyi. that seems to be something — policy, fyi. that seems to be something both _ policy, fyi. that seems to be something both parties - policy, fyi. that seems to bej something both parties agree on, there needs to be some form of reform. if you would want the white house is done after title 42, if i did administration admitted new policies. there was poster discouraged unlawful migration. you know your district is not directly on the border but in texas, why do you think these policies have not worked? think about it like _ policies have not worked? think about it like this, _ policies have not worked? think about it like this, number- policies have not worked? think about it like this, number one, | about it like this, number one, we have to have resources to carry out any policy. we used to say do not give us an unfunded mandate. that is what we used to talk about when i was in the statehouse. you can see everything you want to say but you don't actually give the people on the ground the tools they need, whether it is money or technology, they need, whether it is money ortechnology, it they need, whether it is money or technology, it is often not. it is not going anywhere. while

the administration has tried to do something, you see this is the most unproductive congress we have had in modern—day history. therefore we do not have the funding. 0ur speaker went to the border and said they do not want the funding, thatis they do not want the funding, that is not true in the conversations i have had and i know when people show up to work, they want to be paid. i know of these types of numbers of crossings, that means you need more staff. these are common sense fixes the republicans don't even understand the very basics about that we need to get to. what about how the american people see all of this? there was a news poll believed that about 63% of americans want stricter border policies, 45% say there is a crisis at the border. the republicans make is a central issue today campaigning. with the iowa caucus around the corner, do you worry voters are going to turn away from democrats over immigration? l turn away from democrats over immigration?— immigration? i don't. i do realise it _ immigration? i don't. i do

realise it is _ immigration? i don't. i do realise it is a _ immigration? i don't. i do realise it is a very - immigration? i don't. i do realise it is a very real- realise it is a very real problem and that is not to say americans do not want us to address it. we know republicans are not going to address it because they do want to campaign on an as you mentioned, you said it was a centre issue, it is the only they have. therefore the last thing they want to do is fix it because then what do they campaigning? we heard people like chip roy from texas that we don't have anything to campaign on. all they are looking for a something to campaign on. while democrats are fighting for democracy. democrats are fighting for freedom. democrats are trying to save this country from gun violence. try to make sure we don't have property, trying to make sure we are feeding america. ll make sure we are feeding america-— make sure we are feeding america. if i could “ump in quickly, * america. if i could “ump in quickly. do fl america. ifi could “ump in quickly, do you h america. if i could jump in quickly, do you think - america. if i couldjump in - quickly, do you think democrats need to do a betterjob of communicating on immigration? absolutely. i won't disagree with you on that. one thing the republicans do is they are going to get out there and see the same thing over and over.

evenif the same thing over and over. even if it is not true. i do think it is important we educate the general public about what effective immigration looks like. when people say we need stricter immigration laws, you can ask the average american what are the average american what are the immigration laws right now? the average one cannot tell you. it is because of the rhetoric we have from the republicans and they have honestly been very effective in seeping into the psyche of the american people. if they sit back and ask themselves what are the laws right now, what other rules, i can tell you most cannot tell you what it is they want to tighten up on. always good to have you on the show, thank you forjoining us today. show, thank you for “oining us toda . ., ~ show, thank you for “oining us toda . ., ,, researchers in canada say they've discovered that sperm whales live in human—like clans, with distinctive cultures, and even dialects. the scientists used underwater microphones and drones, to examine the sounds and behaviour of the animals. jon donnison, has that story.

low-pitched clicking the clicks and clacks of a sperm whale. and, as you might expect from the creature with the biggest brain on the planet, their chitchat has more to it than meets the ear. this latest research, published in the royal society 0pen science journal, found there are at least seven separate clans of sperm whales in the pacific ocean, each with its own distinct culture and vocal dialect. while the sperm whales sound very simple, their patterns of clicks is a bit like morse code. the two clans we discovered this on, one sounds click—click—click—click and the other sounds click—click—click. . . click. the study also showed the whales use their distinct dialects to communicate and make democratic consensual decisions about where to go. one example saw them take an hour and a half to decide whether or not to make a 90—degree turn,

in what the researchers called a slow and messy process. jon donnison, bbc news. that is our show at this hour. more for you on the republican presidential debate between nikki haley and ron desantis taking place in iowa. 0ur correspondent will have more on that at the top of the next hour. you can always go to our website for all the latest. good to have you. hello there. on wednesday, we were all in the same area of high pressure. but despite that, the amount of cloud we saw from place to place varied a lot. the cloud was at its thickest across eastern scotland and north—east england, where we saw drizzle move in from this sheet of cloud from the north sea. but there was some sunshine. western scotland did 0k, and for east anglia and southern england also there was quite a bit of sunshine around on wednesday, and what a difference the sunshine made to how the weather looked.

for example, here in cornwall, barely a cloud in the sky. now, we're going to have the same kind of weather picture with us for thursday, with the cloud varying a lot from place to place. still got a bit of drizzle falling from it, mind you, east scotland around these eastern coastal counties of england, otherwise dry start to thursday, still some frost slowly melting away for southern england and western scotland initially. but it is across these colder parts of the country where we will have the best of the early morning sunshine. and the cloud across the north sea, i think it's going to thin through the day, so i would expect any drizzle to die away, the afternoon looking dry for all of us. cloud will tend to encroach across the midlands east anglia into parts of south—east england, leaving the best of the sunshine probably across central southern england, south west england, southern wales and probably western scotland.

again, not doing too badly for some sunny spells. you might see a bit of sunshine as well in northern ireland. 0n into friday's forecast, that cloud comes further south again. so east anglia, southern england, a lot cloudier this time, probably more in the way of breaks generally across scotland, northern ireland and probably north—west parts of both england and wales. temperatures give or take around about six degrees, so it is still on the cold side for the time of year. and the weekend has more of the same, really. high pressure stilljust about clinging on. so some cold and frosty mornings, largely dry weather picture with some of you seeing some sunshine, others staying a little on the cloudy side, but it will remain on the cold side. now, beyond that, next week, we get northerly winds diving southwards. they will bring some snow to scotland, i'm sure about that. we could see a weather system move into the cold air, which could bring some snowfall on its northern edge as well across parts of england and wales. but there's still a little bit more uncertainty about that.

however, there is plenty of potential to see some disruptive weather with cold, icy and maybe snowy conditions next week.

the us makes the long—awaited decision to allow bitcoin to be part of mainstream investing funds. plus, how artificial intelligence and machine learning are fuelling

a revolution that is transforming india's farms. welcome to asia business report. we begin in the united states where the securities and exchange commission has approved the first exchange traded funds that are directly tied to bitcoin. the long—awaited decision was accompanied by a stern warning about risks associated with the asset. erin delmore has more from new york. this decision by the sec was years in the making, and now it will allow people and institutions to invest in bitcoin almost as easily as they buy stocks. the move could increase demand for bitcoin and legitimacy for the crypto currency industry, which has weathered scandal and scepticism. the sec chair did not shy away from that in a statement, saying "while we approve the listing and trading "of certain spot bitcoin etp

shares today, we did not "approve or endorse bitcoin."