tensions with china loom as taiwan gets ready to go to the polls to elect a new president. and scientists discover a gigantic ring—shaped galaxy cluster in space, so big it challenges our understanding of the universe. hello and welcome to bbc news. the uk and the us have carried out military strikes against houthi rebels in yemen, following sustained attacks on shipping in the red sea. these pictures are from the uk's ministry of defence. this is the moment royal air force jets took off from cyprus

to carry out strikes on two houthi targets in yemen. other aircraft, ships, and a submarine were also involved in operations. the houthis, backed by iran, have been attacking ships passing through the red sea in response to israel's military operation in gaza. the us said it hit more than 12 sites, including in the yemeni capital of sanaa and the city of hudaydah, a red sea port controlled by the houthis. us presidentjoe biden released a statement shortly after, saying: these targeted strikes are a clear message that the united states and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world's most critical commercial routes. british prime minister rishi sunak addressed the attacks by houthis, saying:

and says: in response, the houthis�* deputy foreign minister is reported to have told yemeni tv channel, al—masirah, that the us and uk will �*pay a heavy price�* for what he called �*blatant aggression�*. our reporter louisa pilbeam has more details. uk fighter jets launch uk fighterjets launch their attacks on yemen from an raf base in cyprus overnight. was directed by the prime minister tojoin us planes striking yemeni rebel target. the results were captured on houthi television, showing these

explosions and reporting significant damage in cities including the capital sanaa. yemen's houthi rebels are a tribal mountain militia that controls much of yemen and its red sea co—. they have declared their support for hamas in gaza and since november have been attacking ships in the red sea. written, the us and un have all demanded a stop to the attacks. the uk government say they have been forced to act after giving repeated warning. we been forced to act after giving repeated warning.— repeated warning. we cannot have a situation repeated warning. we cannot have a situation where repeated warning. we cannot have a situation where a repeated warning. we cannot have a situation where a ma'or have a situation where a major sea route, a major ability to move goods around the world has been cut off by terrorists and thugs and we therefore must act. , . , thugs and we therefore must act. , . , . ., act. this was a houthi helicopter _ act. this was a houthi helicopter brain - act. this was a houthi helicopter brain on . act. this was a houthi helicopter brain on a i act. this was a houthi - helicopter brain on a container ship in november. seizing the vessel and its crew and stewing it back to yemen. the rebels have defied all warnings to stop targeting shipping. their attacks are having a global effect. around 15% of world trade passes by the nearby

sanaa straight but now major shipping companies like bp and burst are having to avoid the red sea altogether. they are rerouting around the far side of africa, adding days to the journey and driving up costs in europe and elsewhere. the ministry of defence said the bombings followed houthi attacks on the hms diamond and us navy vessels on tuesday. in a statement, prime minister richey new de maxxine said the uk stands up for freedom and the free flow of trade, adding that the strikes were limited and necessary. while the us presidentjoe biden said the strikes were in direct response to unprecedented houthi attacks against international vessels in the red sea. de houthis help by iran have plenty more missiles and have vowed to use them, which is why the us and uk say they must now bear the consequences. live now to our reporter

in washington, will vernon. what do we know from the us side of this operation? president biden in that statement earlier saying that the strikes were conducted successfully against a number of who the two houthi targets and we then heard from the us defence secretary lloyd austin, he said those strikes targeted the houthis drone and missile capabilities as well as coastal radar and air surveillance system. mr austin said the intention is to disrupt the houthis attacks on commercial shipping. because for many weeks now us officials have sent a series of stark warnings to the yemeni group that there will be serious consequences if those attacks against international shipping do not stop. this, remember, is targeting one of the world's

most important trade routes around 15% of all global trade passes through there. as of yesterday, according to us military, there were 27 attacks by the houthis on shipping in the area. those warnings to stop were not heeded and i think now we are seeing the consequences. there will be some criticism perhaps in the coming days here of president biden�*s decision to authorise those strikes. many americans do not want their country becoming embroiled in another war in the middle east, especially disc coming in a crucial election year. the narrative from us officials here will be that this is very much a multinational coalition, embarking on a defensive mission to protect international shipping and lives. is quite interesting in

that white house statement at the end, resident biden said, he may direct further measures to direct people and the free flow of free trade is necessary. —— protect the potential for further more harsher actions perhaps still to come. , harsher actions perhaps still to come-— harsher actions perhaps still tocome. , ., , .,, ,, to come. yes, lots of pressure on president _ to come. yes, lots of pressure on president biden _ to come. yes, lots of pressure on president biden at - to come. yes, lots of pressure on president biden at the - on president biden at the moment. you mentioned it being an election year. he cannot look weak, and he, on decision—making on this matter? he has also a big question as to why he didn't go to congress for approval and then we have the secretary of defence still hospitalised.— hospitalised. yes, that's ri . ht. hospitalised. yes, that's right. quite _ hospitalised. yes, that's right. quite a _ hospitalised. yes, that's right. quite a number. hospitalised. yes, that's right. quite a number of challenges for mr biden there. in terms of congress, this has happened several times in the past, that military action has been given without explicit congressional approval. again, the narrative being that this is an international coalition

may perhaps help with that. but you're right, it is inevitable that several republican candidates, especially of course the front runner in the presidential republican nominee race, former president donald trump, ithink race, former president donald trump, i think he and others will use this as a stick to beat mr biden in this crucial election year.— beat mr biden in this crucial election year. thank you very much indeed. _ election year. thank you very much indeed. thank- election year. thank you very much indeed. thank you. - let's get more now from our security correspondent frank gardner, on who the houthis are, and what the effect of their attacks has been. armed, angry and defiant. yemen's houthi rebels. a tribal mountain militia that controls much of yemen and its red sea coast.

they've declared their support for hamas in gaza and, since november, they've been attacking ships in the red sea. britain, the us and the un have all demanded a stop to the attacks. the hooter sounds tanks are having a global effect. around 15%... passes through the bab—el—mandeb strait. now major shipping companies are having to avoid the red sea altogether. as this computer tracking shows they are rerouting around the far side of africa, adding days to the journey and driving up costs in europe and elsewhere. us—led task force including the royal navy's hms david dominic diamond has been in action. they shot down drones and missiles on tuesday. but the houthis helped iran have plenty more missiles and have vowed to use them. frank gardner colak bbc news. with me now is said shahata from bbc arabic. said, what have we heard from the houthis in response to these strikes?

the foreign minister of the houthis said the united states and britain will pay a heavy price for what they've done. they are defined and said they are going to be responding. another leader said the americans and the british risk militarisation of the red sea and they also saying they are going to respond. even some of them said they responded and retaliate but the american... are on high alert because there are many bases of the americans and british in the region so they can't be targeted. the houthis will not let it go like that but to what extent the houthis can do like damage to the american british bases because like according to the americans and british, they weakened the military abilities of the houthis to launch attacks on shipping route in the red sea. this will be tested in the next few days

wendy who the dummett two can do the same like before because they made 27 attacks on ships and the international route even attack military ships which makes americans and british angry. so it is a challenge for the weather. can they do that and can america respond because they don't like escalation? or everyone does not like escalation even saudi arabia. a statement on ex— platform said they called for restraint, avoid escalation, because they have been before and yemen is a complication and yemen. it is a complex and hard time for all the parties, not escalate, because the inaudible to contain the spread of the conflict. , , ., ., , ., conflict. the spread outside to the red sea. _ conflict. the spread outside to the red sea, the... _ conflict. the spread outside to the red sea, the... it - conflict. the spread outside to the red sea, the... it will- conflict. the spread outside to the red sea, the... it will be i the red sea, the... it will be a mess and the american and british it is not their intention to do a mess but to contain the attacks of the

houthi in the red sea. thank you very much indeed. live now to brendan kearney, a military analyst and retired us marine corps colonel. thank you very much forjoining us colonel. first off, what do we know about the houthis military capability because it did become a lot stronger following its conflict, its crisis with saudi arabia. it did not weaken them at all connected it?— did not weaken them at all connected it? ., ., ., connected it? you have to give the houthis — connected it? you have to give the houthis credit _ connected it? you have to give the houthis credit dash - connected it? you have to give the houthis credit dash they i the houthis credit dash they have managed to go ahead and establish a very, very financially lucrative partnership with iran. and the finances bring with it armaments, advisors, ithink very discreetly from the iranian military, and certainly, you know, the

equipments that we are seeing them use. these drones in particular and the missile. this is not something that houthis would have developed on their own in yemen. a lot of these things are delivered directly to them and with some rudimentary training they are capable of using them to some effect. they certainly are not the sophisticated weaponry that we are seeing like in ukraine right now but every weapon poses a danger. you have to give them credit. we poses a danger. you have to give them credit.— poses a danger. you have to give them credit. we will get to iran and — give them credit. we will get to iran and its _ give them credit. we will get to iran and its proxies - give them credit. we will get to iran and its proxies in - give them credit. we will get to iran and its proxies in a i to iran and its proxies in a moment. i want to go back to the strike itself. three months on here we are. they have been questions as to why there was a delay. what do you make of the timing? delay. what do you make of the timin: ? , , ., ., timing? this is long overdue. absolutely — timing? this is long overdue. absolutely long _ timing? this is long overdue. absolutely long overdue - timing? this is long overdue. absolutely long overdue by i absolutely long overdue by anywhere from 6— eight weeks. and the timing, this late time

delivery of this more than justified retribution against the houthis is directly attributable to presidentjoe attributable to president joe biden�*s attributable to presidentjoe biden�*s unwillingness to take a risky, gutsy decision. he simply did not have it in him to do itand simply did not have it in him to do it and he is responding to do it and he is responding to pressure i think from the allies, the economic pressure from around the world and from the congress of the united states and american people. they do not like seeing american ships being targeted and they do not like the thought of prices going up even further because of this constriction of one of the most important sea lanes in the economically.— important sea lanes in the economicall . ~ ., , economically. the white house has said that _ economically. the white house has said that the _ economically. the white house has said that the strikes - economically. the white house has said that the strikes were l has said that the strikes were meant to damage and we the houthis capability. they were not intending to kill leaders or the iranian trainers. because of the escalation, the risk of escalation. how easy is it to achieve a name like that?

it is almost impossible. it is a fully statement on the part of the white house. if anything, i think you will find most military and military political experts as we exist and title ourselves as such, would say you go after the houthi leadership, you go after them the same way they would go after innocence anywhere else. they are not in a sense. again, this is misguided on the part of washington, dc.— this is misguided on the part of washington, dc. does iran have the upper— of washington, dc. does iran have the upper hand - of washington, dc. does iran have the upper hand in - of washington, dc. does iran have the upper hand in a - of washington, dc. does iran have the upper hand in a lot. of washington, dc. does iranl have the upper hand in a lot of this, because the fingers are pinpointing their way and are they, are they in a good position, would it be wise for them to become more engaged in this conflict? i them to become more engaged in this conflict?— this conflict? i don't like the iranians- — this conflict? i don't like the iranians. i— this conflict? i don't like the iranians. i have _ this conflict? i don't like the iranians. i have borne - this conflict? i don't like the iranians. i have borne a - this conflict? i don't like the iranians. i have borne a bit. this conflict? i don't like the l iranians. i have borne a bit of a grudge since the early 1980s, late 19705, but

a grudge since the early 19805, late 19705, but you have to give them credit. they have learnt how to poke the bear and in this case we will call it the united states as opposed to russia. they have learnt to ru55ia. they have learnt to poke the united states and push us to a point where the iranians love to get us all iranian5 love to get us all riled up, love to have a reaction, but they don't want to push too hard because they do not want to get slammed, they don't want to get hit the way a lot of american folk5 way a lot of american folks would like to see them hit, which would be a major strike into iran to tell them that, hey look, you have to stop with this nonsense because that's exactly what it is.— exactly what it is. thank you very much — exactly what it is. thank you very much for _ exactly what it is. thank you very much for your - exactly what it is. thank you very much for your time. - just before we move on from this a subject we are getting a statement from reuters that hezbollah has condemned the attack, u.s.—led, including britain, on yemen. so,

condemnation from 11 on�*s hezbollah. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a pilot scheme allowing journalists and legal bloggers to report cases from three family courts in england and wales is being extended. later this month, coverage of cases at 16 more family court centres will be permitted. families and social workers will be anonymous, but reporting can include the names of local authorities and some experts. walkers wanting to enjoy footpath5 across the countryside in england and wales are being blocked or obstructed in nearly 32,000 places. the bbc found councils had 4,000 more access issues in 2023 than the year before. campaigners say it shows a "growing abuse and neglect", but local authorities say "funding constraints" limit what they can do. food delivery company

hellofre5h has been fined for sending millions of spam emails and texts to customers. the recipe box firm was told to pay £140,000, after an investigation by the information commissioner's office found 79 million emails and 1 million texts were sent out in seven months. you're live with bbc news. people in taiwan will go to the polls in presidential and parliamentary elections on saturday. the results are expected to have major implications for the island's relationship with china. under president xi jinping, china has vowed to bring taiwan under its rule, and has not ruled out the use of force to achive this goal. taiwan has accused china of intimidating its citizens in an attempt to influence saturday's elections. live now to taipei and our presenter steve lai. how are we expecting the5e elections to go? there is a lot at stake, isn't there? both politically and economically.

yeah, there is. it is quite a unique election if you think about it. they are not many places that will have domestic elections and will have the world's two biggest 5uperpower5 looking over their shoulders to see what the outcome will be. all three parties are contesting and they all want similar things. they all want the right of the taiwan to govern its own future but they have a different outlook on how to manage that relationship with china. you mentioned that xijinping has a mission to unify with taiwan but the three parties involved, as i mentioned, all have different ways of managing that relationship. the dpp, the ruling party at the moment, they want to push back more on china, pu5h more for these sort of self—determined root5, china, pu5h more for these sort of self—determined roots, and they are more closely allied to they are more closely allied to the us as well. we have had visits from various different people from congress, visiting taiwan. you might remember nancy pelo5i's visits but a lot

of outrage from china. the other two parties are kmt who favour a closer relationship with china and the tpp, the newest party on the block who are favouring a middle road, if you like. but there is a lot at stake because whoever wins will 5take because whoever wins will determine the trajectory of taiwan, whether it is closer to china or the us, and that will have bigger implications for the region as well as both those of 5uperpower5 tussle for influence in the region. obviously, identity a big issue as well. what else was paramount for the voters? well, it is interesting _ paramount for the voters? well, it is interesting because - paramount for the voters? well, it is interesting because you - it is interesting because you have these big geopolitical player5 watching so closely this election, but people here in taiwan, you know, they don't want to be pawns between these two superpowers. want to be pawns between these two 5uperpower5. they want to focus on the bread—and—butter i55ue5, focus on the bread—and—butter issues, the domestic issues that affect their bottom line, and historically over the last 10-20 and historically over the last 10—20 years, housing prices is a big concern. a lot of taiwanese will be pressure of not being able to afford their

own homes, and that is in part because the housing prices have been going up but wages have been going up but wages have been stagnant. so, they are looking for solutions to those problems and looking for a party that has a way to solve those solutions, and that will be on their minds come tomorrow when the elections began. stews when the elections began. steve lai, thank _ when the elections began. steve lai. thank you — when the elections began. steve lai, thank you very _ when the elections began. steve lai, thank you very much - lai, thank you very much indeed. thank you. here in the uk, the inquiry into post office scandal involving the horizon it system will today turn its attention to the failure by the post office to handover documents on time. between 1999 and 2015, 700 sub—postmasters and postmistresses, those are self—employed people who run post office branches, were prosecuted for offences such as theft, fraud and false accounting, after the faulty software made it look as if money had gone missing. the united nation's highest court, the international court ofjustice in the hague, will hear israel's defence

later today to accusations of genocide in gaza. yesterday, the court heard from lawyers for the south african government that israel's military offensive amounts to genocide. israel previously called this an outrageous allegation. as part of its case, south africa is calling for an immediate halt to israel's military operation. paul adams reports on yesterday's proceedings. for three months the world has looked on in horror at the images from gaza. scenes of death and destruction which south africa says is evidence of genocide. this killing is nothing short of destruction of palestinian life. it is inflicted deliberately. no—one is spared, not even newborn babies. the last three months have been utterly grim. over 23,000 palestinians have been killed, including entire families. around 300,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged, and 85% of gaza's population

has been displaced. that's almost two million people. all of this, in an area no bigger than the isle of wight. for three hours, the court listened to south africa's case. each day, yet more desperate people will be forced to relocate from where they are sheltering or will be bombed in places where they have been told to evacuate to. entire multi—generational families will be obliterated. and yet more palestinian children will become wcnsf — wounded child, no surviving family. but what is genocide? according to a 191t8 convention, it is a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group in whole or in part. israel says it was acting in self defence, following the murderous hamas assault of october the 7th, the worst attack on jews

since the holocaust. translation: we are fighting terrorists, - we are fighting lies. today, we saw an upside down world. israel is accused of genocide, while it is fighting against genocide. outside the court, emotions were running high. israel will make its case tomorrow, but its supporters say the charge of genocide is outrageous. people are talking about what israel is doing. but hamas is committing crimes against humanity every day. my brother and the rest of the hostages are there. and no—one is talking about it. the court will take years to reach its verdict, but it could, within weeks, rule that israel should, in the meantime, halt its military operation. it has no power to make that happen, but it would add to the pressure mounting on israel to act differently in gaza. paul adams, bbc news. a reminder of our breaking news this

hour. the uk and the us have carried out military strikes against houthi rebels in yemen following sustained attacks on shipping in the red sea. these are the latest pictures we've had in of the strikes from us central command. in the last few minutes, lebanon's hezbollah has condemned the attacks, as has iran. stay with us. we will look at the impact of disruption in the red sea in our business needs coming up shortly. 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 air, just 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 england and 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 scotland. bye for now.

live from london, this is bbc news. red sea warning: the boss of shipping giant, maersk, says global supply chains face �*5ignificant disruption�*, and higher costs are already being passed onto consumers. this has impacted all the groups from medicine to food to anything you would find in the supermarket shelf, pretty much

is being impacted by this and hence the consequences and the need for quick mobilisation. also coming up, uk recession fears: gdp numbers for november could signal an economy continuing to decline, as high interest rates bite. plus, one continent, 21t teams, and an audience in the billions. the africa cup of nations kicks off, with huge interest from broadcasters, sponsors and advertisers. we�*ll be looking at the growing commercial clout of african football. hello and we started in the middle east. we start in the middle east, where as you�*ve been hearing, forces from the us and uk have launched strikes on houthi militants in yemen, in response to their ongoing attacks on international shipping in the red sea.