further raising the prospect of a wider conflict in the region. and in the uk, the minister responsible for the post office has called forjail time for those responsible for an it scandal, in which hundreds of workers were falsely accused of theft. hello, i'm sarah campbell. it is a busy news day around the world. we will be looking in more detail at the airstrike by the us military against the houthis in yemen. but first to taiwan where votes are being counted after the presidential and legislative elections, seen as a core test of the island's relationship with china. around 19 million voters were called to elect a new president and parliament. ballots are being counted by hand and individual polling stations complete their respective counts, a picture of the outcome

could emerge in the next few hours. we're already seeing supporters converging on the main party headquarters for the announcement — this is the scene now at the headquarters of the kmt — taiwan's main opposition party. my colleague steve lai is in taipei and joins me now. this is in taipei and joins me now. is all progressing rer quickly. this is all progressing remarkably quickly. it this is all progressing remarkably cuickl . . , , , this is all progressing remarkably cuickl. . , , quickly. it really is, it is a demonstration _ quickly. it really is, it is a demonstration of - quickly. it really is, it is a demonstration of what i quickly. it really is, it is a | demonstration of what can quickly. it really is, it is a - demonstration of what can be done when it comes to electoral processes, perhaps, counting by hand, but those numbers continue to roll in. i have someone from the local news network with me, and in a transparent way, you can see the numbers getting refreshed in ten seconds. william live from the democratic progressive party is currently in the lead with 6.7 million votes. behind me is hou yu—ih from the kmt, the largest opposition party, in second place

and in third place their newest party, the taiwan people's party width—macro three, he is currently in third place. those votes continuing to come in. —— the taiwan people's party with ko wen—je. shaimaa khalil was at a polling station and looked at the counting and how it all went down. counting is almost finished in this polling station. so let me just take you through to show you what's been happening. essentially, they've been they've opened the ballot boxes, taking the ballot papers out and calling either the candidates or the party's name and then tallying it on a board. it's been a very fast moving process, actually, very quick. and that's what we're seeing reflected in the main television stations, as well as that that update as well as that update of counting, of who's on top,

of who's leading the polls right now is actually been happening quite efficiently and quite quickly after that happens, the day they take their final number to the central election commission and then we get the results in a few hours. essentially, it's been quite a pleasant atmosphere, actually quite calm. people have been coming casting their votes. some have actually been coming last minute to cast their votes, but everybody has been quite jolly. and i think it's interesting because this election is happening against a very tense geopolitical backdrop, because remember, at the heart of this election, why it's so high stakes is that tussle of regional influence between the united states and china and taiwan is in the middle of it. china, of course, claims taiwan as its own. the us sees taiwan as a crucial ally to counter china's influence and assertiveness in the region. whoever wins this election, it's going to have a big impact on taiwan's relationship with beijing, but also on the regional dynamics and that tension between those two big powers.

right, as you can see, the voting process very quick and a lot of people minds is the geopolitical things at stake with china looming over this vote of the breton butter issues as well, i've got with me and an ace to help me understand and break down what we have been saying. we have just been seeing reports of the tpp, the newest party, the taiwan people's party, which got lots of pictures from their celebrations, it seems, so they are not leading in the presidential candidate race but they seem to be in very good spirits, as the results continue to come in.— in very good spirits, as the results continue to come in. yes, they are certainly performing _ continue to come in. yes, they are certainly performing well, - continue to come in. yes, they are certainly performing well, almostl certainly performing well, almost exceeding expectations. taiwanese politics _ exceeding expectations. taiwanese politics has been dominated by the two big _ politics has been dominated by the two big parties, the dpp and the kmt for almost _

two big parties, the dpp and the kmt for almost 40 years in the new third party— for almost 40 years in the new third party has _ for almost 40 years in the new third party has only been around for four years— party has only been around for four years so_ party has only been around for four years so this is a first real showing _ years so this is a first real showing at the presidential level, and there — showing at the presidential level, and there one to prove their viability, _ and there one to prove their viability, if you will, and tonight they— viability, if you will, and tonight they are — viability, if you will, and tonight they are getting well above 20% of they are getting well above 20% of the vote _ they are getting well above 20% of the vote share, that is good for them — the vote share, that is good for them. also, if they continue at this rate, _ them. also, if they continue at this rate. there — them. also, if they continue at this rate. there is — them. also, if they continue at this rate, there is a decent chance they will get _ rate, there is a decent chance they will get quite a nice harvest at the legislator— will get quite a nice harvest at the legislator seat and that will give them _ legislator seat and that will give them more assets going forward into them more assets going forward into the next _ them more assets going forward into the next four years. you them more assets going forward into the next four years.— the next four years. you are talking about the parliamentary _ the next four years. you are talking about the parliamentary seats, - the next four years. you are talking i about the parliamentary seats, which is set —— separate vote. regardless of how ko wen—je does during the presidential race, a success for them could still be found in gaining more parliamentary seats and having a bigger seat at the table and having more influence on policy. for sure, having more influence on policy. for sure. yes- — having more influence on policy. for sure. yes- at _ having more influence on policy. for sure, yes. at this rate, it looks like _ sure, yes. at this rate, it looks like even — sure, yes. at this rate, it looks like even if— sure, yes. at this rate, it looks like even if the dpp is re—elected into power— like even if the dpp is re—elected into power at the presidential level. — into power at the presidential level, the parliamentary majority is likely— level, the parliamentary majority is likely out _ level, the parliamentary majority is likely out of reach so that gives

the new — likely out of reach so that gives the new third party barely over four years— the new third party barely over four years old. — the new third party barely over four years old. a — the new third party barely over four years old, a chance at playing that kin- years old, a chance at playing that king made — years old, a chance at playing that king made in minority if you well in parliament. — king made in minority if you well in parliament, if they get that they will have — parliament, if they get that they will have a lot more influence and potential— will have a lot more influence and potential assets.— potential assets. what sort of number of — potential assets. what sort of number of seats _ potential assets. what sort of number of seats would - potential assets. what sort of number of seats would they l potential assets. what sort of| number of seats would they be looking at for them to be able to have that kingmaker role that you talk about? the have that kingmaker role that you talk about? ., ., , have that kingmaker role that you talk about?— talk about? the goal they were tellin: talk about? the goal they were telling peeple _ talk about? the goal they were telling people about _ talk about? the goal they were telling people about was - talk about? the goal they were l telling people about was roughly about _ telling people about was roughly about ten seats. that kind of ballpark _ about ten seats. that kind of ballpark. they do have few seats but really _ ballpark. they do have few seats but really their— ballpark. they do have few seats but really their grand prizes in the party— really their grand prizes in the party list _ really their grand prizes in the party list which is a more proportional representational part of the _ proportional representational part of the legislator and on that they seem _ of the legislator and on that they seem to — of the legislator and on that they seem to be doing pretty well at the minute _ seem to be doing pretty well at the minute. ., ., ., , minute. there are 113 parliamentary seats u- minute. there are 113 parliamentary seats up for — minute. there are 113 parliamentary seats up for grabs. _ minute. there are 113 parliamentary seats up for grabs. securing - minute. there are 113 parliamentary seats up for grabs. securing ten - seats up for grabs. securing ten seats, that could put them in a position to impact on policy. i want to look a bit bigger, then, from this, and expand it out to the china

discussion. because i've we have been reporting on our live page, the taiwan election, it was trending earlier on weibo, the chinese equivalent of twitter now called x, that was quickly taken down, it sort of shows how china doesn't want to be seen as paying close attention to what is happening in taiwan. this noes what is happening in taiwan. this aoes to what is happening in taiwan. this goes to taiwan _ what is happening in taiwan. this goes to taiwan as their democracy in their chinese speaking world. this proves— their chinese speaking world. this proves that chinese culture is compatible with modern presents an ideational— compatible with modern presents an ideational challenge, if you will, to the _ ideational challenge, if you will, to the different systems across the taiwan _ to the different systems across the taiwan strait. that says that beijing — taiwan strait. that says that beijing will not there being too much — beijing will not there being too much coverage about it for chinese citizens— much coverage about it for chinese citizens and — much coverage about it for chinese citizens and they will be watching this election closely, chinese

officials, _ this election closely, chinese officials, what you think they will make _ officials, what you think they will make of— officials, what you think they will make of what they had seen so far? i think— make of what they had seen so far? i think they— make of what they had seen so far? i think they will closely monitor who comes— think they will closely monitor who comes up— think they will closely monitor who comes up on top and whether the new administration can have enough seats in parliament as well as a commanding share of the votes for the president to be able to have a mandate — the president to be able to have a mandate and therefore be able to make _ mandate and therefore be able to make taiwan negotiate with beijing from a _ make taiwan negotiate with beijing from a position of strength over the next four— from a position of strength over the next four years. from a position of strength over the next four years— from a position of strength over the next four years. thank you, we have been watching _ next four years. thank you, we have been watching this _ next four years. thank you, we have been watching this closely. - next four years. thank you, we have been watching this closely. we - next four years. thank you, we have been watching this closely. we are l been watching this closely. we are nowjust past been watching this closely. we are now just past six been watching this closely. we are nowjust past six o'clock, we are looking to see how this progresses in the next few hours, we might have a result sooner than we might think, will have to keep a close eye on it for you. will have to keep a close eye on it foryou. back will have to keep a close eye on it for you. back to you, in the meantime. for you. back to you, in the meantime-— for you. back to you, in the meantime. ,, ., ~ , ., ., for you. back to you, in the meantime. ,, ., ~' , ., ., ., and you can always get the latest developments on taiwan's election on the bbc news website.

we are keeping a cross, clearly the results are coming in thick and fast, extraordinarily efficient ballot vote counting system. this is a rally on going at the moment, the tpp party, as you can see, they are listening to someone talking, they are sitting there quite quietly at the moment, they were waving flags and it a go. heading to the ruling party rally as well, there we go, somebody said something exciting that the tpp rally. someone gets the impression that they will be a result sooner rather than later and as i was saying, we are running a life page where all the updates plus background and a reaction from the island and the wider region is there, just go to our website or download our app.

the israeli bombardment of gaza has continued overnight, with the crowded southern cities of khan younis and rafah bearing the brunt. rockets were also fired from gaza into southern israel. the israeli military says overnight, its forces killed three palestinians armed with knives, a rifle and axes, who were trying to break into a settlement in the occupied west bank. official palestinian media say two were aged 16, and one — i9. meanwhile the hamas—run health ministry in gaza says a total of 23,843 palestinians have been killed and over 60, 000 have been wounded in israeli strikes on gaza since october 7th. the us has launched a new strike against the houthis in yemen. military officials say they hit a radar site with missiles fired from the uss carney, based in the red sea. they've described the fresh strike as a �*follow—on action' to there joint attacks yesterday, which authorities say are designed to �*degrade the houthis ability to attack maritime vessels'.

earlier, president biden had warned the us would respond if the iran—backed group continued what he called "outrageous behaviour" in attacking shipping in the red sea. on friday, the us and uk hit around 30 sites across yemen, including the capital city of sana'a. houthi leaders said five people were killed, and have warned of more retaliation. our correspondent graham satchell has more. before and after — satellite images show the impact of the american and british bombing raids. the americans say airfields and weapons storage depots were destroyed. the raf didn't take part in the new attack overnight, but both the british and americans say the raids are vital to keep shipping routes open in the red sea. houthi militia have been targeting container ships off the yemeni coast for weeks. sometimes, like this, they have boarded vessels.

in other attacks, they used drones and missiles. they say they are disrupting this key shipping route to show their support for palestinians in gaza. yemen sits at a key strategic position in the middle east, especially for global shipping. the normal route from the far east goes around the coast of yemen, through the red sea and the suez canal. it has been significantly disrupted. most vessels are now taking the longer route around southern africa. it means delay and extra cost to global commerce. a huge rally in the yemeni capital, sana'a. protesters burned the american and israeli flags. millions in yemen and across the arab world are appalled by israel's conduct of the war in gaza, and they see the current air strikes by the west as an escalation. a houthi military spokesman said british and american criminal

aggression would not go unanswered or unpunished. the americans maintain air strikes are a proportionate response, and they're talking down a wider conflict. we absolutely do not want to see an extension of the conflict in gaza broader into the region and will continue to work hard on that. but at the same time, we can't allow the houthis to continue to conduct these attacks, putting innocent mariners' lives at risk and affecting the global economy. the houthis are backed but not controlled by iran. the clear worry now is that what's happening in gaza and the red sea spreads and escalates to the wider region. graham satchell, bbc news. earlier, i spoke to our middle east correspondent hugo bachega and asked him how leaders in the region are reacting

to the latest us strikes. the houthis are saying that these attacks they have carried out targeting shipping vessels in the red sea are in response to israel's offensive against hamas in gaza. so they are linking those attacks to what's happening in gaza. i think yesterday we heard from hezbollah here in lebanon, another group that is supported by iran condemning those attacks. and i think this is the fear here that this could lead to an escalation of this violence here in the middle east. the houthis have vowed to retaliate after the first wave of attacks. and i think what happened overnight was that the us said that these attacks were a follow up action following the first wave of attacks. they said these recent strikes targeted a range of facilities being used by the houthis in yemen. we haven't had any confirmation

about the location that has been hit, but reports from yemen suggest that the capital sana'a was hit. this was a much more targeted operation. but again, it shows that the americans are still going ahead with those strikes. and we heard from an official, a houthi official yesterday who promised a very harsh and painful response and said american and british citizens will be feeling that response. so far, the actions that we've seen from the houthis have been muted. a missile that was fired yesterday by the houthis didn't hit anything, according to the pentagon. but i think the expectation from american officials is that the houthis are going to try to respond to these attacks. for more analysis on the impact of these strikes, i'm joined now by professor of middle east studies at the university of

tehran, hassan ahmadian. thank you forjoining us. we saw huge rallies in the yemeni capital yesterday after the us uk s strikes, what is the level of support for houthi notjust in yemen but in iran and the wider region?— and the wider region? well, i think that these attacks _ and the wider region? well, i think that these attacks actually - and the wider region? well, i think that these attacks actually helped l that these attacks actually helped them in rally support and basically this has the rally around the flag for yemenis and also their popularity has gone up because of what they say is targeted at israel when it is waging a war on the gazans and besieging them. the houthis are saying... and this is

very popular in the muslim world in general and i think the same goes to yemen and also around the region. we didn't hear that much criticism against what they have been doing in the red sea emanating from the region and that is for obvious reasons, because that is very popular, stopping against israelis in times of their carnage in gaza is something that i think is not easy to stand against by any government orany to stand against by any government or any official in the arab world, thatis or any official in the arab world, that is why you barely hear any criticism against that campaign and i think this attack that links the us, the british support to israel with yemen only enhances their popularity in yemen and beyond. professor, the us and uk have been at pains over the last 24 hours to try and separate the two issues,

saying that these air strikes are very targeted strikes to try and stop the attacks on ships in the red sea and trying to take away the link between what is happening in israel and gaza, how is that narrative being interpreted in the middle east? ~ ~ being interpreted in the middle east? ~

the contrary, that they have been attacking ships going to israel and coming from israel, another ship was hit, according to their claims. and i think this brings the two issues very much close together, and to separate them, you need to have more than words to basically tell that we're doing this separate from israel. if that is actually playing into many people or officials here and also in the regions narrative that well, when it comes to israel and the war, it is war on gaza, the united states is supporting the violation of international law, but when it comes to yemen, it is moving against what it sees as a violation of international law, which is a double standard, a hypocrisy, you name it. and this narrative is very

much stronger against the united states and the west in general and i think this attack will only exacerbate that. ., , , ., exacerbate that. professor, we will have to leave _ exacerbate that. professor, we will have to leave it _ exacerbate that. professor, we will have to leave it there, _ exacerbate that. professor, we will have to leave it there, professor, l have to leave it there, professor, thank you so much. the president of ecuador has welcomed the united states's offer of support for his government's fight against criminal gangs. daniel noboa told the bbc the decision to send a team of senior us military and law enforcement officials to the country was "encouraging". more than 22,000 ecuadorean troops are trying to tackle an explosion of gang—related violence. president noboa says it has international implications, with what he called "narco—terrorist" operations extending to europe and the united states. authorities in ecuador have confirmed that another gang boss has also escaped prison, and jailed gang members are still holding nearly 200 guards hostage across the country. here in the uk, the post office has been accused

of failing to hand over evidence to the public inquiry, as well as several court cases. yesterday, a lawyer acting for the post office, apologised for delays in the disclosure of documents. hundreds of sub—postmasters were convicted after the faulty software made it look as if money had gone missing. zoe conway has the details. i swear by god... the evidence i shall give... ..the evidence i shall give. the latest inquiry hearing might have been technical, but it mattered. chris jackson is a lawyer acting for the post office. it's accused of repeatedly delaying the work of the inquiry by failing to produce evidence on time. the inquiry was told thatjust last week more than 900 documents were suddenly produced by the post office, even though they related to a witness who appeared only a few days later. if i can say it with a degree of understatement, he's not the only witness in respect

of whom it has happened. and for a period, it was every witness, every day of the week, twice on sundays. chris jackson said he agreed that the ongoing delays were suboptimal. he was also asked why the whatsapp messages of post office staff, such as the former chief executive paula vennells, hadn't been collected when they could reveal conversations about horizon. chris jackson said it was his understanding staff only used whatsapp for administrative purposes. it may be a surprise to a member of the public that nobody in the post office used whatsapp to discuss issues of substance relating to the horizon system. that is our understanding, but we are keeping it under test. the post office says getting hold of all the documents

is a huge exercise as there are 70 million of them. next week the inquiry will hear from fujitsu, the company which runs the horizon it system. they're likely to be asked why they continue to deny there were problems with the software. even as evidence mounted that there were bugs and faults with the horizon system. zoe conway, bbc news. with more on this let's speak to our political correspondent peter saull. peter, whats the state of play today? you can see behind me an article on the bbc website which you can read elsewhere but there is a potential that the post office is liable for a bill for £100 million, according to a tax expert, because what they have been doing is deducting the

compensation payments handed out to people from their profits, so a huge potential sum there that they could be liable for. the post office macro is —— the post office is owned by the government was —— the minister kevin hollinrake has said those responsible should be ultimately sent to prison, no prospect of criminal prosecutions quite yet, the public inquiry of the scandal is still ongoing, kevin hollinrake indicating the government is going to make changes to the way organisations like the post office can bring about private prosecutions for the vast majority of those branch managers who were wrongly convicted had done so under private prosecutions from the post office who are saying thejustice secretary is looking at that in the round, he said in the future there was a

chance in hell that the post office would be able to bring about private prosecution so deafening some change coming on that but again probably beyond the public inquiry, and the other thing being talked about today is transparency to do with public private contracts, the tuc saying the government missed an opportunity legislation last year, again those ministers indicated that once the inquiry has concluded, they may look at that again. inquiry has concluded, they may look at that again-— at that again. plenty more to come on that story. _ at that again. plenty more to come on that story. do — at that again. plenty more to come on that story, do stay _ at that again. plenty more to come on that story, do stay with - at that again. plenty more to come on that story, do stay with us - at that again. plenty more to come on that story, do stay with us here | on that story, do stay with us here on that story, do stay with us here on bbc news. hello, there. most of us have seen plenty of this today, a lot of cloud around, but it is predominantly dry. the weather story, though, is on the change from tomorrow and into next week. it's going to turn noticeably colder with a risk of snow, even at lower levels in the north. and, yes, we will see some severe night—time frost. for the here and now, though, for the start of this weekend, we've got this cold front sinking its way steadily southwards. the real cold air not quite arriving yet, but it means some brighter skies behind that cold front, a scattering of showers to the north west of the great glen and some sunshine to the east

of the pennines. our weather front moving out of northern ireland into central and southern england. here we will continue to see a fair amount of cloud through the day, but it will stay relatively warmer than it has been. we're looking at highs of around 4 to 8 degrees. as we move through the night, that blanket of cloud will continue to linger across england and wales. so that will prevent temperatures from falling too far. some clearer skies further north, the breeze picking up and changing more to a northerly. so some of those showers in the far north of scotland will be of snow. here it will be a chilly start to sunday morning. so, the cold air starting to push into scotland. some of those showers at lower levels now starting to turn to snow. there will be some sunshine across the scottish borders into the north of england, along with northern ireland. few scattered showers from that weak weather front sinking south across england and wales. here we keep temperatures 5 to 7 degrees, but a colder story starting to develop into scotland. that cold air will continue to dominate into monday.

further snow into scotland, wintry showers into northern ireland, dry but cold elsewhere, predominantly sunny. however, as we move out of monday into tuesday, this little weather front could enhance the risk of snow into northern ireland and potentially northern england. so, anywhere north of this could see further snow and we'll start to see accumulations gathering. some disruption is likely. to the south of that, it still stays cold, but it should be quite sunny with it. so temperatures here around three or four degrees, but struggling in scotland — below freezing in rural parts. then there were some thoughts that this area of low pressure could bring some snow for a time across southern england. but, at the moment, computer models want to take it over to france. so here it looks slightly quieter.

this is bbc news, the headlines... votes are being counted in taiwan's presidential and parliamentary elections — under the shadow of threats from china that it might seek to gain control of the island. the us military says they have carried out a fresh new strike on a houthi target in yemen, a day after dozens of similar us—british airstrikes across the country. this latest attack targeted a radar site used by the iran—backed forces.

in response, the houthis have vowed to retaliate, further raising the prospect of a wider conflict in a region already affected by israel's war in gaza. you can always get the latest developments on taiwan's election on the bbc news website. we are running this live page, where you will find updates from our reporters, plus all the background and reaction from the island and the wider region. log in to bbc news dot—com or download the bbc news app. the votes have stopped and the polls closed about two and a half hours ago. the count started immediately, almost as the boxes were closed they will being opened and counted. the numbers are coming through already,

extraordinarily quickly. the pictures you are looking at, that is a campaign rally in taipei by the democratic progressive party, the dpp. according to our correspondent in taiwan, they are saying it is a very, very close race. as it was in 2000 and 2004. rupert wingfield—hayes, i will correspond reporting in the last 30 minutes that vice president william lai from the dpp is holding something like a 4.5 lead. we will keep across that story throughout the morning and we will be crossing live to our correspondent who is there. after the top of the hour. any wad of elements we get before that, we will bring them to you. let's get more on our top story, and the us has launched a new strike against the houthis in yemen. military officials say they hit

a radar site with missiles fired from the uss carney, based in the red sea. the houthis have been fighting a civil war against the yemeni government since 2014. when the war in gaza began, they declared their support for hamas and said they would target any ship travelling to israel. our security correspondent, frank gardner, looks at whether this military action will deter them. proudly independent, wary of outsiders, and also staunchly anti—western and anti—israel. the houthis are a tough mountain tribe who seized power in yemen ten years ago. today, the us led air strikes seem only to have emboldened them and their supporters. translation: we condemn the criminal terrorist strikes | on the yemeni people by israel, america, and britain. we have been at war for eight years. these strikes do not frighten us and do not worry a hair on our head. we will support our brothers in palestine and gaza and we are with them.

the houthis have already endured nearly eight years of air strikes as saudi arabia, armed with western weapons, sought to reverse their takeover and restore the legitimate government. it failed. the houthis are in firm control of most of the populated parts of yemen. that's the purple bits here, including the capital sana'a, and crucially, most of the red sea coast. and they're backed by iran, which trains them, arms them, and provides them with intelligence, which it denies. this has enabled the houthis to build up a powerful arsenal of drones and missiles. now, the houthis have effectively entered the gaza war on the side of hamas. they've demanded a ceasefire and they say they're targeting any ship linked to israel, but they've also attacked plenty of vessels that aren't. the capabilities the iranians have provided the houthis have included cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and also the capability to manufacture home—grown uavs, drones,

which can be used as a cheap way to attack both shipping at sea and targets on the land. houthi patience may outlast america's and britain's in this crisis. their drones cost a fraction of what it cost to shoot them down. they've vowed to keep attacking shipping and to exact revenge. frank gardner, bbc news. donald trump has appeared in court twice this week but this does not appear to be doing him much harm in the polls. three days out from the opening primary in iowa and he is still 30 points ahead. meanwhile, president biden is casting this year's likely rematch for the white house, as a battle to save us democracy. ros atkins has been taking a look. the us election is in november and president biden has this warning... donald trump's campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future.

he's willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power. donald trump is favourite to be the republican presidential nominee and he's firing joe biden's accusation back at him. now we have a president who's a great danger to democracy. he really is. he is a danger to democracy at a level like few people have seen. trump's not provided convincing evidence to support this claim, but his own actions raise questions about his impact on us democracy, not least his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, a claim we heard the day after voting finished. this is a case where they're trying to steal an election, they're trying to rig an election, and we can't let that happen. the election wasn't rigged. 9but again and again, donald trump falsely claimed but again and again, donald trump falsely claimed us democracy had failed to function. shouting. weeks later, onjanuary 6th, just as lawmakers prepared to certinyoe biden's victory, trump held a rally in washington, dc and again said

the election was rigged. shouting. less than two hours later, his supporters stormed congress. three years on, donald trump faces criminal charges that allege a wide—ranging conspiracy to overturn the results of the election. but despite this, despite his election claims being rejected byjudges and election officials, still trump continues his attack on the credibility of america's democratic institutions. but if you go to his campaign website, you'll find this pitch to voters. here's my plan to dismantle the deep state and reclaim our democracy from washington corruption once and for all. to trump, the deep state is a network of government bureaucrats working to obstruct him and his policies. and trump's plan to deal with this involves trump having more power. the new york times has reported that the former president and his backers aim to strengthen the power of the white house and limit the independence of federal agencies. this comes in various forms.

here's one. first, i will immediately reissue my 2020 executive order restoring the president's authority to remove rogue bureaucrats. and i will wield that power very aggressively. this would allow the president to remove thousands of career civil servants and replace them with loyalists. donald trump and his people i want to be much more effective in enacting policies _ than they were the last time around. they don't want their policies to be undermined by non—political- or non—appointed government workers. a process to find potential replacements is already under way. it's part of what's called project 2025. dozens of conservative organisations have produced a plan for a new republican presidency. what we're doing is systematically preparing to march into office and bring a new army of aligned, trained, and, essentially, weaponised conservatives ready to do battle against the deep state.

the idea is that this marching, weaponising, and battling will be done at huge scale. axios reports project 2025 aims to install a pre vetted pro—trump army of up to 54,000 loyalists across government. that figure has not been confirmed, but it's worth putting it in context. in the united states, we already have 4,000 political appointees, and if you compare that to any other democracy in the world, it's a large, large, large number. in other words, to go from 4,000 to potentially tens of thousands of political appointees would take the us well beyond other western democracies. it would not be merit that would define employment, but rather your loyalty to the winner of the presidency. that would not only threaten our democracy but truly undermine the ability of our government to meet the pressing needs that it has to deal with very real problems. in response to media reports about project 2025, the trump campaign team released a statement saying, "the efforts by various nonprofit groups "are certainly appreciated and can be enormously helpful. "however, none of these groups

or individuals speak "for president trump or his campaign." that may be, but having the ability to replace civil servants is what trump wants, as is his ambition to expand presidential powers elsewhere. take federal departments and agencies — already the president appoints the heads of many of these, but some government agencies are independent, and trump wants to change that. i will bring the independent regulatory agencies, such as the fcc and the fdc, back under presidential authority as the constitution demands. such a move would be unusual. these are agencies normally apart from politics, but this push for more presidential power isn't a surprise because trump has a long—held belief that the us constitution gives the president full power over all parts of government. he talked about this while in office. then i have an article 2 where i have the right to do whatever i want as president, but i don't even talk about that. this interpretation

of the constitution is strongly contested, as is another claim made in 2022 — after again saying the last election was stolen, donald trump posted, "a massive fraud of this type "and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, "regulations and articles, even those found in the constitution." the termination of all articles of the constitution justified by a false claim of a stolen election. that feels relevant as we assess trump's impact on us democracy. so does his desire to use the presidency to settle scores. i will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the united states of america, joe biden, and the entire biden crime family. this description's not based on evidence and this pattern of trump threatening opponents with the law has become familiar, but that doesn't make it normal in american democracy. donald trump has come forward

and said that he wants to use his ownjustice department to prosecute his political enemies in the way that he feels he has been prosecuted politically byjoe biden and joe biden's justice department. but that would be a significant break from american democratic traditions and judicial traditions going back more than a century. this week, trump was asked about retribution. he said he won't have time for it if he's re—elected. trump's also been sharing his view of american law and justice when referencing january 6th. he's called the violent attack on the seat of the us democracy "a beautiful day." he's called the hundreds who've been jailed for what happened "hostages." none of this has affected trump's viability as a potential republican presidential nominee, nor has the torrent of falsehoods that he continues to pour into america's political discourse. and so, as republican candidates gather in iowa and the formal process of selecting the nominee begins, trump remains the man to beat. and at one recent event, there was a question for the crowd.

and you've been seeing what's going on. in the past few weeks, the radical left democrats and their fake news allies, have unveiled their newest hoax that donald] trump and the republican party are a threat to democracy. would you believe that? "would you believe that?" donald trump asks, as his supporters laugh. for some who've watched trump in recent years, the answer is yes, they would believe that. and they're not laughing. let's return to the post office here in the uk. for the past few weeks, we've been hearing the stories of former sub—postmasters whose lives were upended by the post office it scandal that left many bankrupt and with criminal convictions. one former sub—postmaster, gail ward, has spoken for the first time on camera about what happened to her. fiona lamdin went to wells in somerset to hear gail's story. this is where it happened 17 years ago, onjanuary the 11th, 2007,

at 8.30 in the morning. that's when the auditors arrived. gail ward had run a post office for eight years, but in 2005, faulty software on a computer system called horizon meant she had shortfalls every week. stressful, very stressful. you had to press that button to say that you accepted the figures knowing they were wrong. what did the investigators say to you? "where's the money? what have you done with the money? "where is it? what have you bought?" i said, "nothing. i haven't done anything." she was told the post office would drop the charge of theft if she pleaded guilty to false accounting. the solicitor phoned and they're saying, you know, was i ready for court the following week? she said, "and don't forget to bring a bag with you with some "personal items in it." and i said, "why?" she said, "well, just in case you're not coming home." you had a 13—year—old son. yes.

what was that like, saying goodbye to him that monday morning? horrendous. he went to school. he went to school that morning not knowing if both his parents would be there when he came home. gail was spared prison, but given community service for a year cleaning trains. i was avoided in the street. people would cross over or they'd be coming towards you, you know, there might be two or three of them. and you could see them whispering, and one of them pointing, saying, "that's the one." finally, in 2021, gail had her conviction overturned, but she's never received proper compensation. locals are now beginning to understand what gail went through. thank you. and i know you mean it, thank you. thank you.

i wouldn't have got through it without my family. i'm so lucky. compared to some. i'm lucky. i've still got a wonderful husband and here i am still fighting, but i'm not on my own because there's a lot of us. fiona lamdin, bbc news. the story of gail ward the story of a sub—postmaster and we have heard lots of stories this week and each one is so shocking and affecting and we will hear from another, janet skinner. you may have seen her being interviewed throughout the week, she will be telling her story and her reaction to the way the story has really accelerated in terms of the news agenda over the last week. we will be speaking to her in about an hour and three quarters. join us for

that. there's been a huge rise in the amount of money stolen by scammers advertising fake jobs here in the uk. according to action fraud, con artists send out text and whatsapp messages to people, offering them roles with a high wage and then trick them into handing over banking and card details. dan whitworth from radio 4's money box has more. like many frauds, this is a numbers game, millions of scam messages get sent out and most are ignored. but itjust takes one to hit the right person at the right time — someone looking for a job or wanting to earn more money — for criminals to seize their opportunity. bella was caught out after she lost herjob and had posted her cv online, and after dozens of follow—up messages and phone calls over several days, she had £3,000 stolen. i didn't know if i could stop them, if there was a way of sorting it out. i had no idea how they'd left my account, really. just couldn't draw the two together.

it was, yeah, three months�* worth of work, two and a half months, the whole summer, 50—55 hour weeks, so i was pretty distraught and upset. last year, 126 people contacted action fraud to report being caught by this scam. nearly £1 million was stolen, 50 times as much as the year before. city of london police, the national lead for fraud, says these numbers are likely to be the tip of the iceberg as most victims don't report fraud because of feelings of embarrassment and shame. people on the outside that aren't looking forjobs, that aren't motivated to respond, sometimes they don't understand how people become victim of this type of crime, but, really, when we think about it, if you are concerned about a message or you think that there are alarm bells going off, that fraud is not going to get you. the fraud that gets you is the fraud that makes sense, and that's what these criminals do so well.

if you get one of these messages, the advice is to ignore it, report it, you can forward scam texts to 7726 and then delete it. dan whitworth, bbc news. dan whitworth spoke to me earlier — i asked him how much money was lost to the scams. in 2022, there was about £20,000 stolen from just 15 people in the uk through this particular type of scam. last year, thatjumped by 50 times. the amount stolen was nearly £1 million. again, as you just heard in the report, it is worth remembering that those numbers are just actually the reported ones. the actual number is likely to be much higher because we know, in general, fraud is a hugely underreported crime because people feel embarrassed, they feel ashamed, they feel guilty. they don't report it. the numbers are pretty stark. it really highlights an explosion in this type of fraud. massive explosion year on year.

any sense of what is behind this huge rise? yes, there is. again, we know fraudsters, criminals, scammers will look to exploit any type of potential weaknesses from victims. many people in the uk and around the world are living through a cost—of—living crisis. if you get the opportunity to try to earn more money, to try to generate extra income, that is something that a lot of people will be interested in. as with all fraud, it is a numbers game. they will send millions of these text messages or whatsapp messages advertising these fake jobs. most of them will get deleted and ignored. but if you are looking for a job and if you just happen to have lost yourjob, if they hit the right person at the right time, thieves will seize on this opportunity and that is exactly what happened to an 18—year—old woman called bella from devon. she is hoping to start university in october. she has been working all summer to try to save up money and all autumn. in october, what happened to her, she lost herjob she had for three

years, she posted her cv online and she got one of these whatsapp messages advertising a fake job. she replied because she was the right person at the right time. it followed up with a couple of days of dozens of messages and phone calls. they elicited lots of personal, private information from her, as you would give over to any potential employer, your bank details, potentially your card details. long story short, what happened to her, she had £3,000 stolen. i'd say a lot of youth at the moment, including me, we're trying to start our life in a very expensive world. everything is going up, car insurance has gone up, the cost of cars, moving out, everything is ridiculously expensive. and you're looking at jobs that pay you between £10, £13 an hour. and you've got limited hours, which means you're very likely to fall into this trap. i mean, i had a friend that did it about eight months ago

and i was like, i never thought... i talked about it to her but i never thought i would do it. and then six months later, i've done the exact same thing. dan, it is really targeting people when they are in such a sort of desperate place, aren't they? and you get something and you can see why people would absolutelyjump on it. you have given some advice, what can people do to try and avoid being defrauded? firstly, genuine recruitment companies will never try to approach you through a whatsapp or text message that comes out of the blue. be aware. if you are looking for a job, don't seize on an opportunity that might be true too good to be true because it probably is. if the text message doesn't apply to you, there are three things, firstly, ignore it, secondly, report it because it is useful intelligence for the authorities. in the uk, you could do that by forwarding your text messages

to 7726, which spells out spam on your keyboard and then delete it. good advice there. a bear rescued by ukrainian soldiers after being injured by russian shelling has arrived at his new home in scotland. yampil, the asiatic black bear, is named after the town in eastern ukraine where he was discovered in an abandoned zoo, after months of russian occupation. he now has a new permanent home in west lothain, as steven godden reports. settling into life in his new home. yampil the bear�*s journey to five sisters zoo hasn't been an easy one. he's named after the town where he was rescued by ukrainian soldiers after months of russian occupation. discovered in an abandoned zoo, he was one of only a few animals to have survived. he has been through a lot. he's been in the middle of a war

zone and he's experienced some really horrible things. and so you never really know when you're working with rescue animals until you meet them and you start working with them just how they're going to react to the new environment, to the people that are working with them, so time will tell. transporting a 30—stone bear requires care and attention. the last few metres of yampil�*s journey from a belgian animal sanctuary were particularly tense. emerging from his crate, a few sniffs before thoughts quickly turned to his stomach. and then, as the neighbours look on, yampil begins to explore his new surroundings. you're always thinking about him, and he's our priority this morning, just making sure that the move went well and everything was comfortable for him. and, yeah, as you can see, he's arrived and he's settled in well and he seems happy. yampil�*s arrived earlier than the keepers were expecting so this is a temporary enclosure for him while a permanent one is built elsewhere in the zoo. asiatic black bears typically hibernate in the colder months. once yampil settles in, the hope is for a restful start

to his new life in scotland. that's nice, isn't it? well done to yampil, his new home in west lothian. stay with us here on bbc news. at the top of the hour, we will be going back to tie one. they have their election today. lots of new lines coming in —— back taiwan. this is the dpp hoping to hold onto power. you will know that the ballots closed about three hours ago. the counting started immediately. as you have been hearing from our correspondent, steve, who has been bringing us updates, they have been publishing

figures throughout the last three hours. it is expected it won't be long until we have a fairly clear idea of who has won the taiwan election. all of the news lines, everything that is coming out, is all of the bbc news web page. our correspondents, we had lots of correspondents, we had lots of correspondents at the different campaign rallies at the different counts, we will keep you across all of the details. come back and join us in the next few minutes. hello, there. most of us have seen plenty of this today, a lot of cloud around, but it is predominantly dry. the weather story, though, is on the change from tomorrow and into next week. it's going to turn noticeably colder with a risk of snow, even at lower levels in the north. and, yes, we will see some severe night—time frost. for the here and now, though, for the start of this weekend, we've got this cold front sinking its way steadily southwards. the real cold air not quite arriving yet, but it means some brighter

skies behind that cold front, a scattering of showers to the north west of the great glen and some sunshine to the east of the pennines. our weather front moving out of northern ireland into central and southern england. here we will continue to see a fair amount of cloud through the day, but it will stay relatively warmer than it has been. we're looking at highs of around 4 to 8 degrees. as we move through the night, that blanket of cloud will continue to linger across england and wales. so that will prevent temperatures from falling too far. some clearer skies further north, the breeze picking up and changing more to a northerly. so some of those showers in the far north of scotland will be of snow. here it will be a chilly start to sunday morning. so, the cold air starting to push into scotland. some of those showers at lower levels now starting to turn to snow. there will be some sunshine across the scottish borders into the north of england, along with northern ireland. few scattered showers from that weak weather front sinking south across england and wales. here we keep temperatures 5 to 7 degrees, but a colder story starting

to develop into scotland. that cold air will continue to dominate into monday. further snow into scotland, wintry showers into northern ireland, dry but cold elsewhere, predominantly sunny. however, as we move out of monday into tuesday, this little weather front could enhance the risk of snow into northern ireland and potentially northern england. so, anywhere north of this could see further snow and we'll start to see accumulations gathering. some disruption is likely. to the south of that, it still stays cold, but it should be quite sunny with it. so temperatures here around three or four degrees, but struggling in scotland — below freezing in rural parts. then there were some thoughts that this area of low pressure could bring some snow for a time across southern england. but, at the moment, computer models want to take it over to france. so here it looks slightly quieter.

live from london. this is bbc news. a festive atmosphere as supporters of taiwan's main political parties gather to hear the first results from the island's presidential and parliamentary elections. i'm steve lai in taipei — as we keep track of the latest numbers. we'll tell you why the outcome of this election could define taiwan's future ties with china. the us military launches a fresh strike against a houthi target in yemen, a day afterjoint us—british airstrikes across the country.

in response, the houthis say the us strikes had no significant impact on their ability to continue attacks on vessels in the red sea. and in the uk, the minister responsible for the post office has called forjail time for those responsible for an it scandal — in which hundreds of workers were falsely accused of theft. hello, i'm sarah campbell. welcome back to bbc news. let's start in taiwan where votes are being counted after the presidential and legislative elections, seen as a core test of the island's relationship with china. around 19 million voters were called to elect a new president and parliament and the results from individual polling stations are coming in thick and fast. supporters are already gathering at party headquarters in anticipation of the first unofficial results,

expected very shortly.