hello. i'm sumi somaskanda. a multilateral coalition led by the us and uk launched strikes on houthi targets in yemen just hours ago. it's in retaliation to the group's attacks on commercial vessels in the red sea. the houthis are an iran—backed rebel group that control a large part of yemen. dozens of strikes have been reported on houthis positions, including in the capital, sanaa, and on hodeidah, the houthi red sea port stronghold. houthi positions in saada and dhamar have also been hit. both the us and uk have released statements confirming the strikes. president biden said in a statement:

in the last few hours, uk prime minister rishi sunak also released a statement, saying: the houthi's leadership has already responded, warning that the us and uk will "pay a heavy price" for this "blatant aggression". for more on the situation, joining me live is the bbc�*s tom bateman. good to see you. firstly, tell us your thoughts on the statements that we saw coming up statements that we saw coming up from both the united states and the uk and allies? the statements _ and the uk and allies? the statements is _ and the uk and allies? the statements is meant - and the uk and allies? the statements is meant to - and the uk and allies? lie: statements is meant to do and the uk and allies? tue: statements is meant to do two things. firstly they are show resolve and that is what we got in the statement from president biden which spoke about the

unity of the coalition and, basically that it was a message to the houthis two says stop these attacks in the red sea and if not there will be further consequences and that is an important part of the message. significantly and i think we've seen this in the us and uk statements, they are very focused because what they talk at length about our international shipping and how they see attacks by the houthis have effectively created a chokehold around this very important maritime corridor and thatis important maritime corridor and that is what they are trying to free up. it does not go into any further or larger issues about the war in gaza or about the risk of regional escalation. this is about focusing the issue on what they say is protecting maritime movement in that corridor and the reason for that is that the

americans and the british here have to tread a very careful path. what they are trying to do is to deter the houthis from further attacks but at the same time try to stop this turning into the very regional escalation the secretary of state antony blinken has just spent a week touring the region trying to prevent.— trying to prevent. what about the significance _ trying to prevent. what about the significance of— trying to prevent. what about the significance of this - trying to prevent. what about the significance of this beingl the significance of this being a multi nation coalition was that we saw in the president's statement he mentioned australia, bahrain canada and the netherlands as well. m50 the netherlands as well. also ”ointin the netherlands as well. also pointing out _ the netherlands as well. also pointing out the _ the netherlands as well. also pointing out the fact - the netherlands as well. also pointing out the fact that - pointing out the fact that there was a un security council resolution this week condemning the attacks as well so they are trying to show that there is a multilateral effort. the reason for that is twofold. to try and isolate the houthis and their iranians backers. we know that senior american administration officials are pointing out that they believe the iranian intelligence was behind this series of attacks in the red

sea but they are also trying to use that to disconnect this from the situation in israel and gaza and that is because the houthis have said repeatedly that what they are trying to do is attack ships connected to israel. the americans think that that is basically false and inaccurate because they have said the attacks have been against a wide range of ships flagged with all sorts of different international flags and international flags and international owners so they are trying to disk connect and say that this is about maritime freedom of trade and not about them specifically protecting israel although administration officials are pointing out that evenif officials are pointing out that even if it was just about ships to israel it would still deserve protection. they are trying to use this to use a multilateral front again to try and create deterrence and try to stop thing slipping further

out of control.— to stop thing slipping further out of control. tom, could you take us through _ out of control. tom, could you take us through the _ out of control. tom, could you take us through the reaction i take us through the reaction you have seen here in the united states?— you have seen here in the united states? what is coming across is that _ united states? what is coming across is that this _ united states? what is coming across is that this is _ united states? what is coming across is that this is a - across is that this is a significant attack and one official using that word to describe it tonight. we have seen cruise missiles being used, british warplanes, royal air force warplanes and significant maritime power being used by the us so it is clear that what is taking place is on scale but we do not yet know the impact and that is what we have to wait and see exactly in this situation on the ground in yemen and then we will get further response. but then there will be a concern about it escalating that the us has in trying to prevent this week. . ~ , ., ., ., week. thank you for that analysis, tom. _ for more on the diplomatic

response strikes, let's bring in former ambassador to malta and president of the middle east policy council gina abercrombie—winstanley. good to have you on bbc news tonight. i want to start with that statement that we were just mentioning in narrow lead worded, no mention of israel or gaza. is that the us trying to avoid further escalation? absolutely. the secretary of state has been very clear on the president has been very clear of our desire to not have conflict grow. this is an opportunity to show that this is indeed an international effort, that 47 countries being involved with the effort to secure shipping through that lane, the fact that four continents were represented in the countries that helped carry out this strike. so this is a place where in fact the united states is very much in lockstep

with partners and allies in the region and beyond. in a very different way than it is with our position and support of israel's campaign in the gaza strip. israel's campaign in the gaza stri -. �* , israel's campaign in the gaza stri.�* , ~ ., strip. and yet, ambassador, these are — strip. and yet, ambassador, these are strikes _ strip. and yet, ambassador, these are strikes on - strip. and yet, ambassador, these are strikes on yemen, j strip. and yet, ambassador, i these are strikes on yemen, on houthi targets there and the houthi targets there and the houthi leader said there will be a response. this is a group thatis be a response. this is a group that is a proxy for iran. are you concerned about what this may lead to?— may lead to? the need for concern — may lead to? the need for concern is _ may lead to? the need for concern is real— may lead to? the need for concern is real and - may lead to? the need for concern is real and there l may lead to? the need for| concern is real and there is may lead to? the need for i concern is real and there is a much more direct tie with iran from the houthis than there was between iran and the attack that haas carried out against israel. keeping in mind that for the last two years the united states has been working assiduously with partners in the region to bring peace to yemen, to bring it out of —— to bring conciliation to the internal conflict and we've been supporting them to

ameliorate the crisis and that is happening in yemen. and so to be put in a position to have to be put in a position to have to strike the very port that we had been working to get supplies into four yemen is a difficult position for the united states to be in. and one that the united states administration is trying to balance between securing free shipping and ensuring that we can play a positive role in bringing greater peace and security to yemen and. ambassador, what about in the region? we saw the foreign ministry of saudi arabia expressing concern over these strikes. what you make of that? well, the saudis have been an active party to the conflict in yemen. we have had to work with them, prisoner exchanges and to try to bring reconciliation as they support the government of yemen against the houthi revels. so —— rebels. so they

are seeing frustrations that they have been dealing with at this dealing within this conflict and flagging that they must taken seriously. impeding shipping, 15% of seaborne trade goes through this seaway, a percent of global grain and 12% of oil so this is something that has an impact on the entire international community. the united states is not alone in trying to bring this to closure and the yemenis must make a decision if they want to get back to the table to bring peace and stability to their own country or to continue to engage in perhaps in support of israel but they really need to find a different way of doing that, not to keep their own country in desperate circumstances. a; country in desperate circumstances. a difficult attempt _ circumstances. a difficult attempt at _ circumstances. a difficult attempt at the _ circumstances. a difficult attempt at the moment. | circumstances. a difficult - attempt at the moment. warring factions in yemen that i want

to ask you about the secretary of state, antony blinken who wrapped up a weeklong visit in the region to try and prevent an escalation. with these strikes, where do you think this leaves those efforts by the secretary of state? it will have to be handled in a very, very delicate fashion. as we have seen whether it is the northern border of israel, strikes in iran and syria —— in iraq and syria against us targets and the iraqi government asked the us to leave you rock so there is an option of removing us targets from iraq at least. nonetheless, making sure that the tit—for—tat that is going on is not suddenly let out of control again with mistakes made and miscalculations. so we will continue to try and control it. the entire international community support this in the work will be done to try and do something. great

to try and do something. great to have your — to try and do something. great to have your perspective - to try and do something. great to have your perspective on - to try and do something. great| to have your perspective on the story tonight. thank you for joining us. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at a major story making news in the uk now. a post office fraud investigator who was involved in criminal inquiries into sub postmasters has come face—to—face with some of the subpostmasters he investigated. at the public inquiry — stephen bradshaw denied claims that he and others "behaved like mafia gangsters" when looking into losses at branches. our business correspondent, emma simpson, was listening to his evidence. stephen bradshaw admitted to signing a court statement that horizon was robust but he never wrote it. this from a man who said he was not technically minded. the enquiry also heard he was sent a memo about a court case how a guilty plea to a lesser charge of fraud may be acceptable as long as the defendant said it was nothing to do with horizon. hundreds of subpostmasters were wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after being falsely accused of stealing money.

some of them were at the inquiry today to witness his testimony, including janet skinner. she said it was disappointing not to receive an apology from mr bradshaw for the damage he caused. the inquiry continues on friday. you're live with bbc news. taiwan will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on saturday. the results are expected to have major implications for the island's relationship with china.under president xijinping, china has vowed to bring taiwan under its rule, and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve this goal. taiwan has accused china of intimidating its citizens in an attempt to influence saturday's elections. the us — a top ally to taiwan — says it opposes any outside influence. joining me now is steve lai in taipei. what exactly is at stake in this election?

good to speak to you. china hangs heavy over the selection which takes place tomorrow across taiwan. it is worth noting that depending on who wins the selection it could impact the trajectory of the relationship that taiwan has with notjust china but the us as well because of it is worth noting that china accounts for 20% of taiwan's exports, it is its largest trading partner, and all the three parties contesting in the selection all want the same thing. they all want the same thing. they all want taiwan to remain in control of its own destiny and that puts it at odds with china but also more in line with the us and its democratic values so how these parties approach or walk this line between the us and between china and where they differ on how they proceed is where, is the different point of this election. what they tell us more about the parties facing off against each

other. if we start off with the incumbent party, the democratic progressive party, the dpp, they came in power eight years ago and served two terms under president tsai ing—wen. she cannot run again due to term limits to her vice president william lai, he is stepping up at the topjob. william lai, he is stepping up at the top job. it is thought that a vote for him will mean more of the same. more of the fractious relationship with china stop you might recall it peaked about 18 months ago when nancy pelosi, the former house speaker, visited taiwan and resulted in numerous military exercises from china in the taiwan strait, really ramping up taiwan strait, really ramping up tensions in region and if a vote for him is seen as a continuation vote in that regard of if you talk about the other two parties, for one, thatis other two parties, for one, that is the oldest party here in taiwan and they have been in power in the past as well. they are trying to get back into power now that their platform is more based along the dialogue with china. they want to have a closer relationship

with china to ratchet down the tensions that is going on at the moment. the third party, the moment. the third party, the newest party, they formed about three or four years ago, the taiwan people's party, they are trying to walk that line between the two other parties that they want dialogue with china but they want to also increase their spending when it comes to defence and also the other two parties to have more autonomy for taiwan going forward so there are subtleties but there are things that the electorate is also weighing up with the election coming up tomorrow. with the election coming up tomorrow— tomorrow. what issues are votinu tomorrow. what issues are voting -- _ tomorrow. what issues are voting -- make _ tomorrow. what issues are voting -- make voters - tomorrow. what issues are - voting -- make voters concerned voting —— make voters concerned about? voting -- make voters concerned about? ~ ., voting -- make voters concerned about? ~ . , ., ., about? we have been here for a few da s about? we have been here for a few days will. _ about? we have been here for a few days will. we _ about? we have been here for a few days will. we have - about? we have been here for a few days will. we have been - few days will. we have been attending some of the rallies and speaking to people on the streets and the key thing that keeps coming back to from what we have found is that domestic issues are actually playing quite a significant part of it is notjust the big geopolitical concern that make decisions and considerations that coming to people's minds when it comes to voting on what

we've found is that sex —— stagnant wages over the last two decades and are very aggressive housing market that makes it harder for people of taiwan to own property, those are some of the main considerations that voters have on their minds going forward. they've experienced both administrations of the dpp and the kmt over the last two decades, so some of them may be thinking perhaps a change is in order although the newest party has yet to have the opportunity to present its credentials in that regard. to present its credentials in that regard-_ that regard. really interesting, - that regard. really interesting, steve. that regard. really - interesting, steve. we will that regard. really _ interesting, steve. we will be watching your reporting over the next two days. thank you very much. lawyers for the south african government outlined their case in the hague, alleging israel's military of carrying out genocide in gaza. it was the first of two days of hearings before the united nations top court. lawyers from south africa demanded that the international court ofjustice order an emergency suspension of israel's military campaign in palestinian territory. speaking to the court — tembeka ngcukaitobi,

advocate of the high court of south africa, said, "the intent to destroy gaza has been nurtured at the highest level of state. " he went to to directly call israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, among other israeli leaders a "genocidal inciter" and said genocide was "evident from the way in which israel's military attack is being conducted." israel will present its case tomorrow, rejecting the accusations of genocide as false and baseless. israel argues its acting in self—defence against hamas after the attacks in southern israel on october 7th. in response, prime minister netanyahu said "it is precisely the idf, the most moral army in the world, which does everything possible to avoid harming non—involved civilians, that is accused by representatives of the monsters of "genocide." he accused south africa of hypocrisy, and said, "where was south africa when millions of people were murdered and displaced in syria and yemen, and by whom? by hamas' partners. " meanwhile, the us is standing by israel, saying they see no basis for south africa's

allegations of genocide by israel — that's according to white house spokesman john kirby. here's anna holligan with the latest from the hague. this is the peace palace, home to the international court ofjustice — the un's highestjudicial body based in the hague. today we have been hearing from south africa accusing israel of having genocidal intent, committing genocide against palestinians in gaza. evidence presented in court, they referred to the military bombardment which has led to the deaths of approximately 23,000 people according to the hamas—run health ministry but also the forced displacement of much of the population, the deliberate attempt to impede medical supplies — a slow death, according to south africa, due to starvation and dehydration and lack of access to medical supplies, but also statements from senior israeli officials which south africa says are evidence of genocidal intent. in terms of what happens next,

israel will have a chance to present its defence on friday for three hours and then the judges here could issue a ruling on these interim measures — an emergency injunction requested by south africa within weeks. its important, to be clear though, this court doesn't have the power to stop the war itself but any decision against israel could have a considerable political impact. earlier, we spoke to alanna 0'malley, a professor of united nations studies in peace and justice at leiden university. alanna was at the international court ofjustice earlier to hear south africa's case and explained why a ruling against israel could could put pressure on israel and its key ally, the united states. the icj is the highest legal court of the land so an icj judgement is the highest legal and moral

condemnation of any action. the second precedent setting part of this case is that the south africans have taken the case under the genocide convention and the genocide convention of course came from the persecution of the jewish people during the second world war, was agreed in 19118, and so the scale of the accusations and the gravity of this case really couldn't be higher. so the kind of level at which the stakes of which we are talking about, and that is reflected very much in the arguments before by south africa today, really couldn't be higher. they've talked about how the sanctity and the prestige of the un system as a whole if international law's ability to respond to violations, grave violations of international law, is really what's at stake here. so we hope that an order by the icj

would have the gravity to effect change. as south africa outlined its arguments in the hague — the israeli military continued its bombardment of the southern gaza strip. the heaviest strikes were around the city of khan younis and rafah. the hamas—run health ministry says more than 60 people were killed. the united nations says nearly two million palestinians have now been displaced by the fighting. ecuador�*s president, daniel noboa, says the country is in a "state of war" against its gangs. he has deployed more than 22,000 soldiers to fight the gangs, and try to maintain peace. ecuador�*s gangs were emboldened this week after an infamous narcotics boss, known as fito, escaped a high—security prison. in recent days, gangs have set off explosive devices, burned vehicles, and kidnapped as many as 178 prison officials. authorities say at least 1a people have died in the fighting since sunday. just two days after masked gunmen stormed the tc television studio, live on the air, the station was up and running again on thursday. the presenter held back tears as she invited ecuadorians to unite, and to recover the country from the gangs.

as the bbc�*s will grant reports, gangs have upended daily life across the country of almost 18 million people, but many are trying to get back to normal life. after the violence, the crackdown. hundreds of suspected gang members were rounded up by police and soldiers as the president's self—declared war gets under way. and this, says the government, is only the start. meanwhile, the worst affected city, guayaquil, is trying to reopen for business. it's been an emotional and expensive time for stallholders likejorge, forced to shut down for days. "i'm not scared, though," he tells me. "i just want to see peace back in my ecuador." these are the first faltering steps of a city trying to get back to some kind of normality. small businesses, doing their best in uniquely difficult times. people here are still recovering from the violent events of this week. they're just hoping they don't get

caught in the middle of the government's war with the gangs. yet it's far from business as usual for the families of 180 prison staff still held hostage inside the jails. andres's brother is one of them. he spent hours outside ambato prison waiting for news. translation: the only information we've heard is from the guards who managed to get out. they told us that our relatives were ok. but the police only say they're waiting for orders to enter the prison. we haven't seen any movement from them since tuesday. it feels like the authorities have forgotten about the guards. the most brazen part of the violence was when a public tv station was invaded live on air by armed men. the presenter, urging for calm with a gun to his head, described the ordeal. "they sent kids armed to the teeth to spread fear, anxiety and chaos," he says, "to send the message they can just walk in and take over one

of the biggest media outlets in the country." as the days pass, it may look like ecuador is returning. but it's actually falling away, towards an entrenched armed conflict and ever closer to becoming a full narco—state. will grant, bbc news, guayaquil. let's turn to some important news around the world. ajudge is now deciding what punishment donald trump will face in a civil fraud case after ruling that the former president fraudulently manipulated property values. new york's attorney general is seeking a penalty of nearly $370—million, and a lifetime ban on business dealings in new york. as lawyers wrapped their closing arguments — mr trump — the frontunner for the republican nomination for president — told the judge he did nothing wrong. jailed russian opposition leader alexei navalny has appeared before a supreme court judge to argue against prison rules. speaking via video link from an arctic penal colony on thursday, navalny asked for longer meal breaks and access to more books.

the judge rejected both requests. navalny is facing more than 30 years in prison for fraud and extremism. he says he is being persecuted for his opposition to president vladmir putin. —— vladimir. thanks for watching. i'm sumi somaskanda in washington. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. it was another day where some of us had sunshine, some of us had cloudy skies on thursday. the cloud, again, was coming in from the north sea, bringing with it some patches of drizzle for east scotland, eastern areas of england. but as the cloud came around the area of high pressure that's dominating to the northwest, it actually mixed in some slightly drier airjust above the cloud layer as those winds went across the mountains and that drier air evaporated the cloud.

and so, what a glorious day it was across parts of the highlands, with not a cloud in the sky. we're going to have a similar kind of weather prospects, really, over the next day or so. with these clear skies in place in scotland, it's a very cold night in places, temperatures getting down into minus double figures, —10, —12 degrees, something like that. whereas where we keep the cloud, that is across large parts of england, wales and northern ireland, it'll stay largely frost—free. and so, for friday morning, it's another day where cloud will vary quite a lot. the cloud thick enough across eastern areas of england to bring us a few patches of drizzle at times, particularly during the morning, the afternoon tending to become a little bit drier. the best of the sunshine — well, scotland, cloud might break in northern ireland, and the northwest of both england and wales could also see some breaks in the cloud. now, temperatures give or take around about six degrees, bit colder than that, though, in the sunshine in scotland. on into the weekend's weather prospects — we start to get a northwesterly

wind moving in. thicker cloud brings the threat of a few showers for northern scotland, maybe an odd spit of rain for northern ireland, too. still quite cloudy across englandand wales, but probably a better chance of seeing a few cloud breaks, little bit of sunshine coming through, and it continues to be cold for the time of year. but then, as we get into the second half of the weekend and into monday, across northern areas of scotland, northerly winds start to blow harder and we start to get showers turning to snow. some accumulations are quite likely, so we could start to see some disruption across one and two routes. elsewhere, though, through sunday and monday, little overall change in the weather picture. some sharp frosts, a lot of dry weather, some spells of sunshine. beyond that, though, into next week, we could see some areas of snow affecting northern areas of the uk early in the week and maybe a system coming up from the south later in the week. there is still quite a bit of uncertainty about those kind of features, but the potential for seeing some disruption is certainly there. the highest risk initially across parts of northern bye for now. —— the highest risk initially across parts of northern

scotland. bye for now.

voice—over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. michael lewis is a bestselling american author, famous for his books moneyball, the blind side and the big short. he has a new book out and we met him here in washington, where else

but in a book shop? well, look who it is. what a surprise! as if! i can't believe i found you here! it's been so long. can ijust say i'm standing here feeling kind ofjealous? why? well, look. and we didn't even put it there. it wasn't even staged. no? no. well, i mean, it's selling very well, so why not? and the cover looks good. i think the cover kind of pops. i'm wondering if you get a bit... you know, i've had it one or two times, books in windows, but you must get it all the time. so, the thing that makes my socks go up and down is not seeing the book in the book store window, but it's walking down the aisle of an aeroplane and seeing people read the book. when you see people reading it... i've sat next to somebody once who was reading my book and i didn't say anything. so, i had exactly that experience. after liar�*s poker came out, i was...

it was a version of this — i sat down to reread my book