hello. i'm caitriona perry. you're very welcome. we are less than 2a hours away from the casting of the first votes of the first stage of 2024 us presidential election. here in iowa, republican voters will gather across the state for its caucuses monday evening to kick off the party's nomination process. this town—hall style voting with secret ballots is a critical indicator of how voters here are feeling and the results here can have a significant impact on the momentum of presidenital campaigns. the democratic party will also begin its candidate nomination process here. former us president donald trump begins caucus day with major momentum to win the state, with candidates such as governor ron desantis and former governor and ambassador nikki haley competing to take his place as leader of the party. it's set to be a historic night, notjust because of the political drama surrounding former president donald trump and his republican

primary challengers but because of the frigid weather. in the past week, iowa has been rocked by blizzards, with life—threatening temperatures. heavy snowfall has made travel difficult and dangerous. and on monday, when voters head to the in—person caucuses the temperatures will fall dangerously low. here in des moines, the national weather service predicts a high of —1 degree fahrenheit. that's —18 degrees celsius. the low is forecast to be —10 degrees fahrenheit, or —23 degrees celsius. things are more dire when you consider wind—chill effects. those stepping out the door may feel like they are experiencing temperatures of —30 degrees fahrenheit, or —34 degrees celsius. that hasn't stopped some volunteers who continued to canvass through the snow in the race's final days.but will the majority of voters brave the bitter temperatures to attend the in—person caucuses? experts are watching to see if and how turnout in monday's voting is impacted

by the extreme weather. the candidates spent sunday imploring voters to plan to vote monday while giving their closing arguments to voters on why they should lead the party forward. no matter how hard they try it does not make any difference, we will never give up, we will never surrender. we will never give up, we will neversurrender. in we will never give up, we will never surrender. in the end we're to win, win, win, win. if you willjoin with us, if you will bring and caucus, you will bring friends and family with you, i promise you, our best days are yet to come. i'll be a candidate that - will help sweep us to victory all across the land. i'll be a leader that- you can always be proud of. and as your president, i will win these fights for you. - i will lead this country- and i promise i will not let you down. i'm asking for your vote tomorrow night to take our america first movement to the next level. america first doesn't belong to me. it doesn't belong to trump. it belongs to you.

donald trump has led the republican field since he entered the race in late 2022. throughout the last year, a slew of republicans threw their hats in the ring as alternatives to the former president. debates were held without the former president, who declined every invitation tojoin his rivals on stage. but his support remained remarkably steady; he has led by a wide margin in poll after poll among likely republican primary voters. in the well—respected des moines register poll with nbc news released saturday night, 48% of respondents said they would vote for donald trump. 20% for former south carolina governor nikki haley. 16% for florida governor ron desantis. and less than 10% said they will vote for businessman vivek ramaswamy. the bbc�*s carl nasman is here in iowa, currently following florida governor ron desantis. we can speak to him now. how is

run desantis feeling going into the caucus? he run desantis feeling going into the caucus?— the caucus? he seems to be feelin: the caucus? he seems to be feeling pretty _ the caucus? he seems to be feeling pretty good - the caucus? he seems to be feeling pretty good here - feeling pretty good here tonight at one of the final campaign stops before the caucus begins on monday. this was a packed house earlier, moments ago desantis wrapping up moments ago desantis wrapping up the campaign speech and taking questions. it was standing room only. one of the notable things about his speech was that he seemed to be a bit more critical of donald trump than he has been in the past. he told his supporters here in the room to vote for him because he has issues at heart not donald trump. he also criticised donald trump �*s record saying he did not deliver on his promises when he was in office. ron desantis held a brief press conference afterwards and i asked if this

was a part of his strategy, taking the gloves off, and he said he'd ring criticising donald trump all along and have been doing it for weeks and months on the campaign trail and he will continue to do it but this was no change in strategy for him. if you want tojudge strategy for him. if you want to judge enthusiasm among strategy for him. if you want tojudge enthusiasm among his supporters, that is a big factor, given the weather and given the cold, the loud reception for the former governor. reception for the former governor-— reception for the former governor. reception for the former covernor. ., ., ., , governor. you have also been speaking _ governor. you have also been speaking to — governor. you have also been speaking to voters _ governor. you have also been speaking to voters in - governor. you have also been speaking to voters in various l speaking to voters in various officials as well about the issues that matter to them. what have they been saying to you? what have they been saying to ou? ., . . ., what have they been saying to ou? ., ., ., ., ., you? you hear a lot about certain issues _ you? you hear a lot about certain issues here - you? you hear a lot about certain issues here in - you? you hear a lot about| certain issues here in iowa you? you hear a lot about - certain issues here in iowa and part of that touched on hot budget —— button issues, the border, the deficit, and covid which is a big focus for him during the pandemic as the governor of florida. one of the

topics that you do not hear mentioned on the campaign trail or at all is climate change. i asked the representative here, the vice chair of the conservative climate caucus way she thinks that is. this is what she told me. during the campaign trailand what she told me. during the campaign trail and debates climate change really comes up. why do you think it is still is not a priority for discussion among republican politicians and you may even at the democrats there as well. i think it is because people are worried — think it is because people are worried about having a better lifestyle — worried about having a better lifestyle with the next president. people are challenged right now with high prices, — challenged right now with high prices, high fuel prices, high electricity, high food prices, 60%— electricity, high food prices, 60% of— electricity, high food prices, 60% of food is related to energy— 60% of food is related to energy so when you look at your day-to-day _ energy so when you look at your day—to—day existence those of the things you focus on and you are looking at who is going to help— are looking at who is going to help you. _ are looking at who is going to help you, or the next three years— help you, or the next three years under a different president or the same president

going _ president or the same president going to — president or the same president going to be better than this? we know_ going to be better than this? we know that with the current administration people are not doing — administration people are not doing better than they did prior— doing better than they did prior to _ doing better than they did prior to the inauguration of president biden. sol prior to the inauguration of president biden. so i think people _ president biden. so i think people are looking at their day—to—day life and making a decision— day—to—day life and making a decision based upon what is actually— decision based upon what is actually affecting them at the moment. ., , ., actually affecting them at the moment. ., ., ., , moment. there was a notable moment. there was a notable moment earlier _ moment. there was a notable moment earlier on _ moment. there was a notable moment earlier on during - moment. there was a notable moment earlier on during one moment. there was a notable i moment earlier on during one of the debates when the republican candidate asked whether the change was man—made cause or not. change was man-made cause or not. ., ~ change was man-made cause or not. . ~' , ., change was man-made cause or not. ., ,, , ., ., ., not. ok. thank you for that, carl. iowa is a largely rural state and is the top producer of pork in the united states. one third of the country's pigs from this state alone. but it is an industry facing many challenges — from declining employment because of consolidation of farms to environmental impacts involving soil and water quality issues.

we spoke to medium—sized farmer ron maresden in eliot, western iowa, to hear about life as an iowa pig farmer. i was supposed to be sitting at your kitchen table with you to do this interview not through your laptop on your kitchen table. the weather in iowa these few days has been quite extraordinary. what is it likely you are? it is brutal, honestly. welcome to iowa. that is the best way to describe it although i would even say that right now it has gone a little extra above and beyond. we have got wind in excess of 35 miles an hour and a couple of bitter cold temperatures and we had about nine, ten, 11 inches of fresh snow on the last three or four days. so not only other road is impossible but you cannot see you are going. so i am grateful that you did not come out here because you may have wound up stuck out here

with me for three or four days and i don't think you want that. .. ., , , that. the candidates will be wondering _ that. the candidates will be wondering what _ that. the candidates will be wondering what will - that. the candidates will be wondering what will this - that. the candidates will be i wondering what will this mean for turnout on monday night. what about yourself and your friends and family there? we take friends and family there? - take caucusing seriously as do most iowans and we will make it. i've already heard that are going to roll on monday to make sure that we can —— the snowploughs are going to roll so that we can get out. and i found it interesting because two candidates running have already sent precautionary notes and things like e—mails and texts to remind us to remind —— arrive early to get through lines quickly, put on layers of clothing to remain warm and protected. they are worried and i have heard some that have gone from in—person meetings to zoom meetings like this for a last—minute rallies and things like that. it is a challenge and to me i think it

is an awesome way to say that make awesome way to see what the tenacity is and what they desire is and how much and how willing they are willing to go to. it is a golden opportunity to. it is a golden opportunity to measure the grit of these candidates, i think. to measure the grit of these candidates, ithink.- when do iowans generally make up when do iowans generally make up their mind? it’s when do iowans generally make up their mind?— up their mind? it's totally depends- _ up their mind? it's totally depends. some _ up their mind? it's totally depends. some folks - up their mind? it's totally depends. some folks will| up their mind? it's totally . depends. some folks will not make up their mind until they go to caucus. because caucus is to go and cuss and discuss and argue many people will be's persuaded that night at the caucus, maybe to change their mind or if they are teetering in tottering between one candidate and another they might give them the extra push they need to make a decision one way or the other. so for yourself this year, obviously yourself this year, obviously you are a pig farmer there in one of the main issues that you are looking to hear about from the candidate? i am part of an

industry that is an ageing industry that is an ageing industry and by that i mean agriculture in general and i am sure yourfolks agriculture in general and i am sure your folks listening know that iowa is agriculture and agriculture is king here. for every young farmer we have and by that i mean a farmer under 35 years old, we have farmers, six of them over 65 so i am concerned about the future of agriculture in terms of potential but also in terms of the stability for the country because if we cannot find a way to get these young kids to come back to the farm and we cannot find a way to get these young kids excited and make this opportunity profitable for them will be in a world of hurt and as far as issues go, for me, thatis as far as issues go, for me, that is tantamount. i think that is tantamount. i think thatis that is tantamount. i think that is the biggest. but let's not overlook the things that iowa deals with. all of a sudden we have the second liars —— highest cancer rate in the united states. and that is unacceptable. we were behind kentucky and that is huge. and thatis kentucky and that is huge. and that is accompanied by the fact

that is accompanied by the fact that everybody has known that we have groundwater issues for a long time and those groundwater issues are a combination of over fertilisation, the fact that we have seven pigs for every one person living in iowa plus we have and not afraid of using pesticides for weed control. i5 pesticides for weed control. is there something specifically you are looking for in a president to solve that? i want a president _ president to solve that? i want a president that _ president to solve that? i want a president that is _ president to solve that? i want a president that is going - president to solve that? i want a president that is going to - a president that is going to look past the end of his secretary of agriculture's nose. i want a president who will be looking outside the box. agriculture is a tremendous amount of opportunity. agriculture has a tremendous amount of variability right now but the thing i like about the candidates we have now is that they are not afraid to spar. that is something i enjoy. in iowa we have a unique situation because donald trump is so far ahead everyone else is just

basically picking at each other and the thing i like about that is that i see that they are scrapers and they are not willing to take chances or do things that are maybe not as typical or traditional as we are expecting. and a leader in the world today is exactly the sort of canada we need to have available. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news in the uk. thousands attended a pro—israel rally in london to mark 100 days since the october 7 attacks and called for the release of all hostages from gaza. people gathered in trafalgar square carrying israeli flags and holding pictures of some of the 132 people still believed to be being held. the french coastguard says five people attempting to cross the english channel in a small boat died early on sunday morning.

it's understood more than 70 people, including children, were on board when the boat got into difficulty in french waters. dozens were rescued. on saturday, the british authorities brought about 50 migrants ashore in what was the first attempt to cross the english channel since the middle of december. six people have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to disrupt the london stock exchange. scotland yard says activists from the palestine action group were allegedly plotting to target the building to prevent its opening tomorrow. you're live with bbc news. sunday marked 100 days since hamas launched its attack on israel, when more than 1200 people were killed. the attacks sparked israel's deadliest war against hamas to date. over 200 people have been taken hostage and are now captive in gaza. the families of those hostages held a 24—hour rally in tel aviv, renewing calls that the remaining 132 hostages be returned home. hamas has released footage showing three of the hostages seized on october 7.

in the footage, the woman and two men appeal for israeli authorities to take action to ensure their release. it's unclear when the footage was filmed. this is a still taken from that footage. meanwhile, israel's military campaign has reduced much of gaza to rubble, the hamas—run health ministry saying that in the last 2a hours, 125 people have been killed in fresh attacks. more than 23,000 palestinians have been killed since the war began. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu remains defiant in his stance to continue the war until a, "total vi cto ry". wyre davies reports. a solemn commemoration as israel marked its most traumatic period since independence 75 years ago. over 2a hours, thousands of people gathered in tel aviv in a collective sense of grief to mourn the dead of october 7 and to support the families of those abducted to gaza 100 days ago.

there's three generations of my family that has been disappeared. three generations of my family that disappeared. and the world is keeping silence and asking us to stop and stay calm. i cannot... i cannot get it any more. many here say that october 7 changed israel forever. israelis feel more vulnerable than ever. and while their priority remains releasing the remaining hostages, they support their government's war aims in gaza and there are very few voices now calling for tolerance and coexistence. just after dawn 100 days ago, thousands of heavily armed hamas fighters stormed through the border fence, attacking kibbutzes, military bases and a music festival. 1,200 people were killed along the length of the border as israeli defences were caught completely by surprise. images of hundreds of

music—loving peaceniks fleeing of their lives at the nova festival shook israel to its core. more than 360 people were killed here. dozens were abducted to gaza. later that same day, israel embarked on an unprecedented bombing campaign in gaza. its goal — the complete destruction of hamas and its support structure. much of the territory, from gaza city in the north to khan younis in the south, has been destroyed. and the number of civilians killed in gaza has been huge — very nearly 211,000 dead, according to the hamas—run health ministry, many of them women and children. it's a situation the un's humanitarian chief has described as "intolerable". faten abu shahada needs regular kidney dialysis and her family has been forced to move south. home is now a plastic

tent in khan younis. translation: gaza j has been destroyed. there is no gaza left. no hospitals, no education. our children have lost their school year. gaza is no longer alive. it is not alive anymore. israel says it won't stop fighting until hamas is completely defeated. the war could continue for weeks, perhaps months. the immediate future across the region, and especially in gaza, looks very bleak. wyre davies, bbc news. reports from yemen say that there have been more strikes on sites under the control of the houthis. a houthi—controlled news website says air strikes have again hit the port city of hudaydah. but the us central command has confirmed that the strikes have not come from the us or its coalition partners involved in operation prosperity guardian, which carried out a number

of targeted strikes in recent days on houthi positions in yemen, though the us has confirmed that it has shot down a houthi missile fired towards a us ship in the red sea. the uk is also a key part of us—led the operation in the red sea. earlier, the british foreign secretary david cameron told the bbc that london was ready to take part in any further action if the need arose. no, the escalation has been caused by the houthis. i mean, the point is since the 19th of november, you've had these 26 attacks. there have been more of them, they've been getting worse and, you know, not acting is also a policy and it's a policy that doesn't work. we've seen the escalation take place. so, what we're doing is saying your actions have a consequence. we've given these warnings. we've very much treated military action as a last resort. the strikes themselves were limited, proportionate, targeted, legal, but they were also necessary. two female iranian journalists who were jailed for reporting on the death of mahsa amini

have been released on bail. niloufar hamedia and elaheh mohammadi have spent 17 months in detention after being given sentences of 13 and 12 years in prison respectively. anger over mahsa amini's death sparked months of mass protests demanding an end to the compulsory hijab for iranian women. a volcano has erupted near the fishing town of grindavik in the south—west of iceland. these pictures from a little earlier today show some houses set on fire by the molten lava. this eruption follows a similar eruption in the same area last month but this time it's much closer to the town. people living in homes nearby have already left the area and local authorities have declared an emergency. grindavik lies about aokm from iceland's capital, reykjavik. our correspondentjessica parker has the latest. this was a worst—case scenario that's now unfolding in front of the world's eyes. a wave of molten rock

is carving its way into what was a thriving fishing town. grindavik�*s been evacuated — again — but abandoned homes and businesses lie in the path of an overwhelming natural force. this, it appears, was the first house to fall. translation: while this i is a bit surreal to watch your family home just disappear, i'm still realising what's happening. trucks building defensive barriers against the lava suddenly found it surging towards them. fiery liquid burst out into the open on sunday morning. another fissure then tore up through the earth. translation: today is a black day for grindavik and today - is a black day for iceland but the sun will rise again. together, we will deal with this shock, whatever may happen. we reported from grindavik back

in november, before eruptions began. people had to pack up their belongings as earthquakes ripped the town apart. this is now the second eruption on the reykjanes peninsula within a month and follows several others in recent years. before that, this part of iceland hadn't seen volcanic activity for 800 years. there was a period called the reykjanes fires, and that's when multiple fissures just opened up on the peninsula, kind of sporadically, and did pretty much what we're seeing today. and then, it went quiet for 800 years and then, it now seems, since 2021, we've began a sort of new volcanic era. people here are no strangers to earthquakes and eruptions but this kind of potential destruction of people's homes and livelihoods hasn't happened for half a century.

translation: i think the point is that we've had quite a lot - of experience in dealing with this, even though this is perhaps the most serious threat of volcanic eruptions in iceland since january 1973. the land of fire and ice is an endless display of nature's awesome power. this time, what's playing out makes for an astounding but awful sight. jessica parker, bbc news. the swearing—in of guatemala's anti—corruption president—elect bernardo arevalo has been delayed by his opponents in congress amid tense scenes outside. his supporters have been threatening to storm the chamber unless deputies move forward. they say there's a last—ditch attempt to keep him from power in central america's largest country, which has been plagued by corruption for years. mr arevalo — who won august's vote by a wide margin — has faced numerous legal challenges brought by an attorney general seen as loyal to the previous administration. he's called these challenges an attempted coup.

washington has threatened sanctions against guatemalan officials unless the transition of power is allowed. to denmark now, where huge crowds have gathered to see their new king crowned on sunday. tens of thousands of people turned out to watch king frederik x succeed his mother as monarch in a historic moment for the nation. blinking back tears, king frederik told a cheering crowd outside christiansborg castle that he hoped to become "a unifying king" for the future. his mother became the first danish monarch to abdicate in over 800 years. that's it for the moment. thank you very much for watching. stay with us here on bbc news. we will have lots more for you here in des moines, iowa. in the next hour, we will hear from trumpet spokesperson mike collins about the campaign and what the former president is expecting to happen on monday

night —— trump spokesperson. do take care. hello. we have got a cold, wintry week of weather ahead. we may well see a bit of disruption down to the fact that we've got plenty of snow showers in the forecast, particularly towards the north — mainly across parts of scotland, in fact. fewer showers around further south but it is going to be cold and we're going to see some sharp overnight frosts. could be some icy conditions around, too. cold weather down to the fact that low pressure is out towards the east of the uk, opening the doors for these cold winds to come in from the arctic, so i think wind chill will be a significant factor through the next couple of days. next few hours, more of those snow showers pack in,

particularly across the north of scotland. temperatures overnight are falling to —2 or —3 widely, even in our towns and cities — colder than that in the countryside. through monday, then, more snow showers across the northern half of scotland, gales up towards shetland still and some snow and icy conditions across northern ireland, so we have got yellow warnings in force here. could be the odd wintry shower around exposed parts of these irish sea coasts, perhaps around the east coast of england, down towards norfolk and the north york moors. temperatures for most of us about 2—5 degrees but when you add on that wind chill, it is going to feel bitterly cold. it'll feel more like —7 or even —8 across the north—east of scotland. as we continue through monday evening and overnight into tuesday, we're watching this area of low pressure, this weather system, which moves its way from west to east across the northern half of the uk. now, that could cause a bit of disruption on tuesday. tuesday morning, we're expecting snow to be quite persistent through the central belt of scotland — could be about 2—5cm of snow here, pushing slowly across scotland. across the higher ground, there could be 10cm to even 20cm of snow on tuesday.

a mix of rain, sleet and snow for northern ireland and for northern england, too. we've got some sleet, some snow over the higher ground. it looks drier with some sunshine further south but tuesday, again, feels cold wherever you are. into the middle of the week, we're keeping a close eye on this area of low pressure. most of the computer models keep it over france but we've got the cold air in place with those northerly winds across the uk. if this system's a bit further north, we could see some snow around southern counties of england for a time, but i think it will predominantly be heavy snow showers again for the north of scotland, northern ireland and around any of those coasts exposed to that northerly wind. it is going to feel cold again, not quite as windy, but temperatures only a few degrees above freezing. more wintry showers for many of us on thursday. perhaps a little milder for some of us, though, by friday.

economic and political pressures. taiwan's president—elect face challenges that could affect the global semiconductor industry. and we look at the risk from the latest tensions in the red sea and what it means for the global economy. hello and welcome to

asia business report. as we have been hearing on newsday, william lai has won taiwan's presidential election. the third consecutive term for his ruling democratic progressive party. at the same time, two former us officials are visiting taipei for post—election talks, underscoring washington's long—standing interest with the territory. but china views the president—elect as a dangerous separatist and warned any move towards independence will be severely punished. my colleague spoke to a taiwanese analyst at the economist intelligence unit about how the results of this election will impact the island's relationship with beijing. china is suspicion of his intentions and much of this ties back to his past. he is infamous in that he has been vocally supportive of independence but it is also

important to mention that he has generally softened his stance in the last