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.

my colleague steve lai is in taipei and joins me now. steve, hello to you again. extraordinarily quick, this, but you are thinking that it shouldn't be too long until we have some sense of the outcome?— the outcome? yeah, we can kind of already see — the outcome? yeah, we can kind of already see where _ the outcome? yeah, we can kind of already see where things _ the outcome? yeah, we can kind of already see where things are - the outcome? yeah, we can kind of| already see where things are headed as long as the percentages remain sort of the same in the difference between the candidates. i would talk a bit more about that with my guest and just amounts but first, he was shaimaa khalil who was at a polling station a little earlier. 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 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. if we look at the numbers, i have a feed here in front of me from a local media station. the numbers are coming in incredibly quickly but we can see that william lai currently is in the lead. he is from the democratic progressive party, the incumbent government. behind him is hou yu—ih from kuomintang, the main opposition party and the newest candidate ko wen—ji is from the taiwan people's party. he is currently in third. all of this tracks as it did with the polling that was done in the lead up to the election. to get some understanding of what these numbers mean, though, let's speak with my guest, professor. thank you forjoining me. i want to get your thoughts on not the order that the candidates seem

to be pulling at the moment but the margin and what that tells us. william lai is in the lead but you are seeing that his margin perhaps not as big as when he won four years ago? not as big as when he won four years auo? , , ., ., not as big as when he won four years auo? , , . ., ago? definitely. part of the reason wh this is ago? definitely. part of the reason why this is happening _ ago? definitely. part of the reason why this is happening is _ ago? definitely. part of the reason why this is happening is because . why this is happening is because people _ why this is happening is because people express their dissatisfaction with a _ people express their dissatisfaction with a certain policy. people think that the _ with a certain policy. people think that the democratic people party should _ that the democratic people party should move fast on social issues, the wp _ should move fast on social issues, the dpp. we see a drop of 18 or 16 percentage from four years ago. that four ears percentage from four years ago. that four years ago. _ percentage from four years ago. twat four years ago, that was on the backdrop of the protests in hong kong, china's crackdown there, it may have had some bearing on that selection there. you're saying but by seeing the numbers drop for the ruling party, the dpp, that this is

a vote of not is such a strong confidence over what they have been doing in the last eight years? t doing in the last eight years? i agree. if lai only won 45%, the government is like a minority government. they will have to do a lot of— government. they will have to do a lot of bargaining with parliament. you can_ lot of bargaining with parliament. you can see parliament would be controlled — you can see parliament would be controlled by the kmt. the party who controls _ controlled by the kmt. the party who controls the executive branch and the party— controls the executive branch and the party who controls the legislative branch will have lots of power~ _ legislative branch will have lots of ower. ., �* . ~ legislative branch will have lots of ower. ., �* ., ~ ., power. you're talking about the parliamentary _ power. you're talking about the parliamentary vote _ power. you're talking about the parliamentary vote that - power. you're talking about the parliamentary vote that is - power. you're talking about the parliamentary vote that is also l parliamentary vote that is also taking place. dpp had a majority over the last eight years with more than half of the 113 votes. you

don't think they will achieve that at this time round?— don't think they will achieve that at this time round? probably not. it is very possible _ at this time round? probably not. it is very possible that _ at this time round? probably not. it is very possible that one _ at this time round? probably not. it is very possible that one party - is very possible that one party which — is very possible that one party which is — is very possible that one party which is the kmt can control the speakership and agenda of the parliament.— speakership and agenda of the parliament. ~ . ., parliament. what about the tpp, the third -a ? parliament. what about the tpp, the third party? they _ parliament. what about the tpp, the third party? they are _ parliament. what about the tpp, the third party? they are so _ parliament. what about the tpp, the third party? they are so far - parliament. what about the tpp, the third party? they are so far doing - third party? they are so far doing ruite third party? they are so far doing quite good _ third party? they are so far doing quite good because he _ third party? they are so far doing quite good because he already i third party? they are so far doing| quite good because he already got one quarter of votes. although he is still a _ one quarter of votes. although he is still a minority, they will continue to survive — still a minority, they will continue to survive in — still a minority, they will continue to survive in this single member district — to survive in this single member district election. it depends how they perform in upcoming local elections — they perform in upcoming local elections which is 2026. if is the results we _ elections which is 2026. if is the results we are _ elections which is 2026. if is the results we are seeing _ elections which is 2026. if is the results we are seeing continue l

elections which is 2026. if is the i results we are seeing continue with this trend and then become confirmed, if we have william lai as the president and the dpp doesn't have the majority in the parliament, what does that mean for taiwan's relationship with china? i what does that mean for taiwan's relationship with china?— relationship with china? i think china will interpret _ relationship with china? i think china will interpret the - relationship with china? i think china will interpret the result l relationship with china? i thinkl china will interpret the result as relationship with china? i think. china will interpret the result as a failure _ china will interpret the result as a failure of— china will interpret the result as a failure of taiwan strategy. i think they will— failure of taiwan strategy. i think they will continue to continue their coalition— they will continue to continue their coalition towards taiwan. the united states _ coalition towards taiwan. the united states already sent a strong message to china _ states already sent a strong message to china i_ states already sent a strong message to china. i think we will continue to china. i think we will continue to observe — to china. i think we will continue to observe how taiwan and united states _ to observe how taiwan and united states and — to observe how taiwan and united states and china interact. we to observe how taiwan and united

states and china interact.- states and china interact. we will see what her _ states and china interact. we will see what her successor, - states and china interact. we will see what her successor, if - states and china interact. we will| see what her successor, if william lai does succeed her as president, what that means for taiwan. these results we are talking about are coming to us from a live feed of local news media. there will be more confirmation of them from the taiwan election commission later this evening but we are just reporting on what we are seeing as it plays out. we will have more as the evening continues and especially those confirmed results and also any speeches or victory speeches when they do happen as well. in the meantime, sarah, back to you. thanks, steve. don't forget, you can get all the latest developments on taiwan's election on the bbc website. we are running this live page well you will find updates from other reporters plus background and reaction from the island and the wider region. just log onto the website or download the bbc news 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 — 19. the area around adora has now been sealed off. meanwhile hamas run gaza's health ministry 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 figures included 135 palestinians killed and 312 wounded in the previous 2a hours. 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.

that was hugo bachega reporting from beirut. now it's time for a look at today's sport with mike. we start, with more var controversy in the premier league. burnley�*s part—owner, and retired nfl starjj watt, called it "truly disgraceful" that luton's late equaliser stood, after a var check. burnley had led 1—0, but a late goal from carlton morris made it 1—1, in what could be a huge point at the bottom of the table. the video assistant checked for a foul, where burnley goalkeeper james trafford collided with a luton player in the box, but the goal was awarded, much to the dismay of burnley boss vincent kompa ny. my view�*s the same as at least anybody who's played the game, you know. fair play to the striker, he tries his luck, he blocks the goalkeeper, has a look, blocks him, then has

a look at the referee, and then you think, "surely not, "because we got the var, it's going to sort it out." this can't decide a game, this can't, something else, something...something done by...by a bit of magic or something done by... by... but not this. staying with football, and two major international tournaments, get under way on saturday with the start of the africa, cup of nations, when hosts ivory coast, face guinea—bissau, later. and there are three games to come in the asian cup. 2015 winners australia get their campaign under way against india, while group b also sees uzbekistan play syria. in between those games, china take on tajikistan in group a. it's the eve of the australian open, tennis' first grand slam of the year, which gets under way on sunday, instead of the traditional monday start to welcome more fans. and they have flocked to the event in their thousands already. organisers say that almost 90,000 fans came during qualifying.

novak djokovic is the top seed and defending champion, and has his sights on this tournament as just step one of his goals for the year. it's no secret that i verbalise my goals and i say clearly that i want to win every slam that i participate and play in. it is no different this year. i'mjust and play in. it is no different this year. i'm just hoping that i can start the season in a way that i have been starting my season is, most of my seasons, throughout my career. with a win here in australia in melbourne. in the nba, klay thompson scored 30 points as the golden state warriors, produced, a big second—half turnaround, to beat the chicago bulls, 140—131. the warriors had a slow start, but they only needed five minutes in the third quarter, to erase a 13—point, half—time deficit. steph curry made nine assists here, and scored 15 of his 27 points,

in the fourth and final quarter. they really came good in the end. and that's all the sport for now. thank you very much for that. here in the uk, the post office may have underpaid more than £100 million in tax while overpaying its senior executives. that's according to experts, the tax policy associates, who say the post office paid less tax by deducting payments to victims of the horizon it scandalfrom its profits. they say this could be a possible breach of tax law. here's our business editor simonjack to explain. what they have been doing is deducting compensation due to victims of the scandal from their reported profits, thereby lowering — in some cases wiping out — their tax bill. now, tax experts have told us that may be a breach of tax law, that you are not normally allowed to deduct fines or compensation for unlawful acts from your profits,

they're non—tax—deductible, and as a result the post office may owe over £100 million in unpaid tax. now, in effect the government willjust have to step in and support it as it has in the past. but there is another dimension to this, whereas they have included those payments out when it comes to reporting profits, they've stripped them out when it comes to executive pay and bonuses, ignoring those payments, which means they've been boosting the salary and the bonuses of those executives. now, leading tax lawyer dan neidle, said to me, he's from tax policy associates, if a public company had done this, or a private plc had done this, then the shareholders would be asking for the heads of their senior executives on a platter. that was our business editor simon jack. meanwhile, the minister responsible for the post office, kevin hollinrake, says he wants people to be jailed over the horizon it scandal.

let's get more on this with our political correspondent, peter saull. there is an article up on the bbc news website, which you can read in detail there, of course, but there's the potential that the post office is liable for a tax bill of up to £100 million. this is according to tax experts, because what they've been doing is deducting the compensation payments that they've handed out to sub—postmasters and mistresses from their profits, which lawyers reckon is against tax law. so a huge potential sum there that they could be liable for. the post office is owned by the government, so it's potentially the taxpayer that is liable to deal with that shortfall. equally, lots of talk about accountability for those responsible for the horizon scandal. the minister responsible for postal affairs, kevin hollinrake, has said for the first time that he thinks those responsible should be ultimately sent to prison. no prospect of criminal prosecutions quite yet. the public inquiry into the scandal is still ongoing. kevin hollinrake also indicating quite strongly that the government is going to make some changes to the way that organisations

like the post office can bring about private prosecutions. the vast majority of those branch managers who were wrongly convicted done so under private prosecutions from the post office. he's saying that the justice secretary is looking at that in the round. he says that in the future, actually there wasn't a chance in hell that the post office will be able to bring about private prosecutions. so definitely some change coming on that. but again, probably beyond the public inquiry. and the other thing being talked about today is transparency to deal with public private contracts. the tuc saying that the government missed an opportunity in legislation last year. again, though, ministers indicating that once the inquiry is concluded, they might look at that again. 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. some good advice there.

the rate of deforestation in the amazon rainforest halved in 2023, falling to its lowest level in five years. it is home to around three million species of plants and animals and is said to be crucial in the fight against climate change. brazil's president has pledged to end deforestation by 2030. a bear left injured after russian shelling of a zoo in ukraine has arrived at his new home in scotland. yampil, a 12—year—old asiatic black bear, was one of the few animals to survive the attack in the donetsk region. named after the village where he was found, rescuers initially moved him to an animal sanctuary in belgium. he has now been permanently rehomed to the five sisters zoo in west lothian. well done, him. do stay with us here on bbc news, we will have you all the election news coming from

taiwan. a very important election, we have been showing you live pictures from the rallies. there has been an extraordinary quick and efficient count of the ballots. the poll is only closed 3.5 hours ago but we are already getting a clear sense of who is coming out on top. we will have all of the latest news at the top of the hour. 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... 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. 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. houthis say the us strikes had no significant impact

on their ability to continue attacks on vessels in the red sea — and will only further raise the prospect of a wider conflict in a region already affected by israel's war in gaza. 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. now on bbc news, gary lineker meets sir eltonjohn. # rocketman. # burning out his fuse up here alone # and i think it's gonna be a long, long time