to disrupt global trade in the red sea. on tuesday, houthis claimed responsibility for a missile strike on a greek ship that was sailing from vietnam to israel. as with other recent houthi attacks it caused only minor damage. the attack on the greek ship followed an american missile strike on houthi infrastructure in yemen. the us says it destroyed anti—ship missiles that the houthis were prepared to launch. i spoke with bbc state department correspondent tom bateman about the us response to the attacks. what we're seeing is very much tit—for—tat. we are another us strike on yemeni soil. this was taking out four missiles that us officials said that primed and ready to fire at shipping. that had followed yesterday a yemeni attack on a us—owned

container ship that struck the ship. nobody hurt, the ship carried on, but there was a fire on board. and after the us strike today in yemen, a greek—owned vessel also hit, now you have to put this into context of what we saw last week. the big joint attack by us and the uk into yemen. had that deterred the houthis? not completely, because they are still firing at ships. but i think what us officials are trying to say is that this is not at the level that it was of the kind of attacks happening before. so i think that they would present this as a sort of tactical success so far. but the biggest strategic question remains, because that is about the houthis trying to link this to the ongoing israeli military operation in the gaza strip. they say that needs to end. an end to the siege of gaza, or they'll keep firing. they're trying to isolate

the us, which is saying what they're doing, what the us is doing is nothing to do with gaza, israel and hamas. it's just about trying to protect international shipping. pakistan has strongly condemned an iranian airstrike on its territory, calling it completely unacceptable and warning of serious consequences. the strike — which reportedly killed two children — happened near the iranian border in the balochistan region. state media in iran had earlier said it had attacked separatist militants. with more on reaction in pakistan, here's our correspondent in islamabad, caroline davies: the missile attack by iran on its neighbour, pakistan would be near unprecedented. in the early hours here in pakistan, the country's foreign ministry said that there has been an explosion after an air attack it has lamed on iran. that would make pakistan the third country in a matter of days to be hit by an attack from iran after it also hit syria and iraq. the explosion happened in

a pakistani village in the border regions of pakistan and iran in an area known as balochistan, pakistan's largest but least populated region in the south—west of the country. earlier on state media from iran said the military had used groans and missiles to hit militant groups in the area. those reports were subsequently removed without explanation according to the newsagency aep. the group has said that they were targeting, at the time, the newsagency said that they were targeting a military group known as the army of justice, a sunni militant group. pakistan has strongly condemned this violation of its airspace and says it is completely unacceptable. it has also warned that there could be serious consequences. the statement complained of what

they refer to as an illegal act that had taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between pakistan and iran and it said that responsibility for the consequences would lie squarely with iran. as caroline mentioned, the strike on pakistan comes a day after an iranian missile attack on iraqi kurdistan. it prompted iraq to recall its ambassador from tehran, and summon iran's top diplomat in bagdad in protest over the strikes. iran says they destroyed anti—iranian targets in kurdistan, including what it called an israeli spy headquarters. the us condemned them as �*reckless.’ there's been no comment from israel. this was one of the buildings hit, near irbil in the north of the country. local officials said four people were killed. in ukraine, two russian missiles strucked a residential area in the country's second largest city, kharkiv, inuring 17 people according to local officials. video footage shows rescue teams scrambling through the rubble of destroyed buildings, helping surivors evacuate and trying

to extinguish fires. the twin powerful explosions damaged at least ten homes. leaders from across the globe are gathering in davos, switzerland, for the world economic forum where global crises top the agenda. ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky urged the west to tighten sanctions on russia to ensure the kremlin doesn't success in its war against his country. zelensky also met on the sidelines of the summit with senior biden administration and nato officials. leaders are also discussing the israel—gaza war and the red sea attacks disrupting global trade. earlier i spoke with ravi agrawal, he's the editor in chief of foreign policy. great to see you. just to begin with we have been hearing from the ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky out delivering his message and

trying to rally support. at a tense time i wonder how his passage being received? ukraine is still an important _ passage being received? ukraine is still an important topic - is still an important topic here at davos and it has been over the last few years. in that sense there is a sense of continuity but it has changed. instead of asking for more weapons and more money what he was asking for actually was moral support and supporting a peace plan that ukraine has been proposing for a while now. this is a plan that has actually won support from dozens of countries around the world, crucially not russia, but it is also planned that many experts believe russia would never go for as it entails russia essentially backing out of ukraine entirely and giving up crimea as well and giving up crimea as well and then paying for reparations among other demands on this piece plan. if those demands are maximalist i think one way to see it is that it opens a

door to negotiations which at least ukraine, publicly, has not been as willing to do for the last few years. in that sense this could be the year that some diplomatic advance is made. but even beyond zelensky�*s speech there has been a lot of attention on a new cause. ukraine house on the main promenade at davis and a lot of prominence because of him dropping by. there is a big ukrainian delegation of mps and the foreign minister and other important dignitaries from there, all of whom are working very hard to make sure that ukraine stays at the forefront of the agenda, not only in europe but for other places around the world where there may be other concerns that drea doesn't grab attention.— doesn't grab attention. there is something _ doesn't grab attention. there is something of— doesn't grab attention. there is something of a _ doesn't grab attention. there is something of a split - doesn't grab attention. there i is something of a split screen here as well because there is the situation in ukraine and, of course, what we see

happening in the red sea as well. how is that being discussed their? what kind of level of attention is that situation receiving? there are so many different _ situation receiving? there are so many different types - situation receiving? there are so many different types of. so many different types of davos. if you look at the main street less attention is being paid there but behind the scenes there is a lot of diplomatic activity. the us national security adviser gave a public address here on tuesday which was very well attended and in that speech he made quite clear what he saw as the path forward for israel and gaza, putting forward a plan for a potential piece deal, one that would hinge around normalising ties between israel and saudi arabia. presumably as and saudi arabia. presumably as a carrot to get israel to commit to moving forward with some sort of a peace deal however people see that as far—fetched even prime minister

netanyahu's government contains ministers who have openly said that they would not countenance a peace deal. be that as it may it is the proposal that the... israel's president will be speaking on thursday and that will be widely watched but also behind the scenes we have the saudis here in force, the amorite is here in force and of course but our�*s prime minister who has played such an important role in behind—the—scenes negotiation with hamas, trying to release more of the hostages who are still being held in gaza with the us secretary of state on tuesday and you can imagine there are some advances there that will emerge in the coming days. that will emerge in the coming da s. , ., ., days. something else i want to briefly touch _ days. something else i want to briefly touch on _ days. something else i want to briefly touch on was _ days. something else i want to briefly touch on was ai - days. something else i want to| briefly touch on was ai because every time i have covered the

world economic forum in davos we always speak about the industrial revolution from .0 saying the message was that this was an opportunity. but i wonder whether with w ef, if they will come forward and say that companies have to engage in retraining, whether it is starting to be seen as a challenge as well. what do you think? it challenge as well. what do you think? it is _ challenge as well. what do you think? it is definitely _ challenge as well. what do you think? it is definitely a - challenge as well. what do you think? it is definitely a big - think? it is definitely a big tentacle of topics here at davos. if you walk across the main promenade there are several major companies who have set up their stalls advertising their wares when it comes to ai. it is a big topic of discussion along a number of streams whether it is elections this year, this is the year where people vote then in any other year in the history of the world and ai could play a role in this, supercharging those things in a sense and thatis those things in a sense and that is an issue and an area with a lot of concern for a lot

of leaders and civil society leaders here as well. ai has been playing into a range of issues here and there are a lot of leaders here who are trying to position ai as a force for good but there is also geopolitical tussle behind it and inasmuch as ai is only possible with the most powerful chips which, again, only a handful of companies and handful of companies and handful of companies and handful of countries have access to, it immediately becomes a geopolitical tussle involved and of course again thatis involved and of course again that is what it often tends to be about. the worry i have heard from many people here is that we are creating a world of haves and have nots where you haves and have nots where you have a few countries and companies that basically monopolise the world of ai and everyone else is catching up and completely left out. joining us there from the annual meeting of the world economic forum.— annual meeting of the world economic forum. thank you for our

economic forum. thank you for your insights — economic forum. thank you for your insights and _ economic forum. thank you for your insights and thank - economic forum. thank you for your insights and thank you - economic forum. thank you for your insights and thank you for| your insights and thank you for being with us full. making his first public comments on the so—called post office scandal to the bbc at the world economic forum the global chief executive of fujitsu, takahito tokita, apologised to british postal workers that were wrongly prosecuted as a result of its faulty it software. between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub—postmasters and postmistresses were prosecuted for theft and false accounting, the ceo made the apology on the sidelines of the forum to the bbc and between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 some postmasters and post mistresses were prosecuted for and false accounting after money appeared to be missing from their branches. but their convictions were based on evidence from faulty horizon software. some sub—postmasters wrongfully went to prison, many were financially ruined and some have since died. thousands of people are still waiting for compensation settlements. the mother of an israeli hostage — who was accidentally killed last month — says time is running out for the others. more than 130 are still

being held by hamas — a group deemed a terrorist organisation by countries including the us and uk. lucy manning reports. iris haim held out hope her son yotam would return, that he would be a hostage who came home. last month, yotam, a heavy metal drummer, was metres from safety. he'd escaped his hamas captors with two other hostages. they'd left signs saying sos and "help, three hostages" and waved a white flag. but israeli troops mistakenly thought it was a hamas trap and killed them. iris is clear who she blames. hamas is in charge of all of this terrible day, 7th of october, and all the murdered people and all the soldiers that are killed now, it's just the hamas fault.

and in an act of forgiveness, days after yotam's death, iris released a message telling the israeli soldiers involved she didn't blame them. why was that important for you? what did you want to say to them? these soldiers, they also have families and mothers... and i was worried for them also. she sobs this is what yotam filmed on october 7th. he says the terrorists are in the kibbutz... they killed, burnt and kidnapped. we met iris in november in london as she campaigned for his release. and you still have hope you will see your sons alive? we must hope. yeah. we must hope. around 130 hostages are still being held.

last night, hamas released a video where hostage noa argamani, in the middle, under duress, said two fellow hostages, yossi sharabi and itay swirsky, tonight it was confirmed the two men had been killed in bodies held by hamas. they're like a psychological terror. they want that we will be afraid all the time, and that's their way to make us weak. at yotam's funeral, a drum kit. their family's last name means life, and iris is determined her sons will have meaning. keeping the human spirit. with a high human spirit, even in a dark place like hamas captivity, he finished his life like a free person.

let's look at some other stories making news. hundreds of people are being evacuated from a tourist resort in china after heavy snow left them stranded for a week. avalanches cut off the main road to the area and trapped them in the western region of xinjiang. in some places, the snow was seven metres deep. military helicopters have been ferrying in food and flying tourists out. venice is launching its day pass purchases for tourists via online booking. officials are hoping to limit excessive visitor numbers to the historic italian city on peak days. there are 29 days from late april to mid—july where the day's pass, costing five euros, are required for entrance. venice draws millions of visitors each year. the world health organization says the global use of tobacco is declining but warns that it will take another 30 years to feel the impact. meanwhile, it says, eight million people a year will die from their habit. about 150 countries are successfully reducing

tobacco use. who reports the number of smokers fell from a third of all adults in 2000 to a fifth in 2022. you're live with bbc news. here in the us, the next stop in the republican race for president stops in new hampshire tuesday. it comes afterformer president donald trump defeated his rivals in the iowa caucuses by an unprecedented margin. our north america editor sarah smith reports from des moines on the latest victory for the former president and the challenges that still lay ahead in campaign 202a. the motorcade is rolling once more, as the trump show never stops. moving from triumph in iowa to a trial in new york. where a court will decide how much donald trump must pay in damages for defamation to a writer, ejean carroll, who he sexually assaulted decades ago. # god bless the usa...#

last night he looked like the cat that got the cream or maybe the king regaining his crown. donald trump was practically inhaling the adoration. # proud to be an american, where at least i know i'm free...# knowing he'd won support beyond his usual base, including women, college graduates and younger voters. # god bless the usa!# he's already talking about being back in the white house. so we are going to come together. we're going to drill, baby, drill, right away. drill, baby, drill. we're going to seal up the border. you can tell donald trump is impatient to get this nomination wrapped up so he can take the fight tojoe biden. he's not the republican presidential candidate yet, but he might be soon. and he's behaving as though he has already won his party's nomination. i think people want peace and prosperity and strength

back, and that's what we had under donald trump. we had strength, and we no longer have strength underjoe biden, who is arguably the most incompetent president in the history of our nation. gop candidates are turning to new hampshire... ..where trump's rivals hope they have a very slightly better chance of beating him. we came out with a strong showing. that's what we wanted in iowa. now we're in new hampshire. you can look at the polls in new hampshire. we are a stone's throw away from donald trump. ron desantis came a second behind trump in iowa. that is a bad look after sinking time, money and most of his hopes into this state. he says he will fight on, for now. we have a lot of work to do, but i can tell you this. as the next president of the united states, i am going to get thejob done for this country. the scale of his victory left donald trump feeling unusually magnanimous toward his rivals. i want to thank you very much, congratulate ron and nikki for having a good time together, we are

all having a good time together. i think they both actually did very well, i really do. we don't even know what the outcome of second place is. but do remember, he is not the outright victor yet. this mood will definitely not last. earlier, i talked to our correspondent gary o'donoughe in des moines. so, of course, it is now the day after or the evening after the night before when we saw that decisive victory for donald trump, but iowa is iowa, it's not always the best predicter on who goes on to be the nominee but what does all of this tell us about that race for the presidential nomination? that magnanimity you saw talking about in donald trump's speech last night didn't last very long. at the same time his

campaign was sending out emails berating the other two candidates, calling nikki haley her somebody who loves china, attack social security, so peace and love lasted for about zero minutes. new hampshire is going to be a different case all together. nikki haley believes she has great hopes there. she's still 1a points behind on average than donald trump in new hampshire but a lot of independent voters who get the chance to take part in their primary and they tend to be more moderate and tend to go for her. so she thinks it's a two—horse race 110w. hence, why she's dropped out effectively of the presidential debate because she says if the other person i'm running against donald trump isn't there then i'm not going to be there either. the debates are off. the debates are off for the candidates when they get there, those three out in front, what is the game plan

on the ground there, you know, with just a week to go to new hampshire? well, look, new hampshire is different, but in some way it is politics the way you do the politics is the same, its retail, shaking hands, knocking on doors, small meetings, criss—crossing the state, doing as much local media as you can, meeting as many people. it's the same kind of idea, very different electorate, sure. but this is another place where, of course, you're getting into the primaries rather than caucuses. new hampshire sees itself, you know, as the place that corrects what happens in iowa, going forward. but, you know, at the moment, nikki haley still got a big mountain to climb. of course, the real problem on the horizon, a month down the line, is south carolina, her own state, her home state, two—term governor there, populartwo—term governor, still 30 points on average adrift of donald trump there. all right. our very own gary o'donohue there.

gary, thank you so much and get inside. get warm. thank you. the world's oldest dog has been temporarily stripped of the recognition. before bobby died last october he held the guinness world record for the oldest living dog and the oldest dog ever. a purebred from portugal. bobby had apparently lived for 31 years and 165 days. the equivalent of 200 human years. but every dog has its day. with some reports questioning the change in colour of his paws, from white in the late 90s to brown close to when he died. and now because of his title by guinness world records, a title handed many dogs down the years that have defied the odds.

there are a number of factors that can influence how long a dog can live, genetics, it might be fortunate to see a view animals that have lived to their early 20s. there are increasing health problems like humans associated with age, anyone who has an older age work with your bit and have regular checkups and do not compromise record chasing the quality of life. he compromise record chasing the quality of life-— quality of life. he had been validated — quality of life. he had been validated by _ quality of life. he had been validated by the _ quality of life. he had been validated by the pet - quality of life. he had been validated by the pet data . quality of life. he had been i validated by the pet data base in portugal last february. guinness says they have started a review and decided to temporarily leave hold the record titles for oldest living dog and ever until all of the findings are in place. it looks like bobby's accolade could have gone to the dogs. paris fashion week kicked off with glimpse at some new kit expected in this summer's olympics there. a dozen french olympic athletes took to the catwalk to parade their stephane ashpool—designed uniforms for the 2024 paris olympics.

they feature a throwback 1990s vibe. the paris olympics will be held from july 26 to august 11. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. tuesday brought some fresh snowfall to parts of northern ireland and northern england, although here the snow did tend to turn back to rain through the day, but nevertheless it left a thick covering here in grasmere in cumbria. further northwards, though, in scotland it was here that the snow stayed as snow, particularly across the northern half of the country. a snowy pitlochry here. we have had some very large accumulations of snow, then building in. really the result of a few days worth of snowfall. lerwick — 18 centimetres of thick snow there on the ground and there is morejust around the corner

because of these shower clouds you can see here. very heavy snow showers heading into northern scotland. this cloud further southwards — well, that's storm irene. it's named by the french forecasters at meteo—france. it will be bringing some disruptive snowfall here, some freezing rain mixed in as well. and in parts of belgium, germany, we could see 20 or 30 centimetres of snow. now, the precipitation from that just about stays offshore. you'll get very close and there will be a veil of cloud working into southern—most counties of england over the next few hours. at the same time, there will be some showers around working southwards across england and wales, mostly rain, maybe one or two flurries. but that will leave a legacy of icy conditions pretty much nationwide as we start the day on wednesday. now, wednesday, there will be further snow showers in northern ireland, so a few more centimeters here, but the heaviest snow will once again be affecting northern scotland. another 5 to 10 centimetres expected on top of what's already fallen. so, yes, there will be some further disruption here. more heavy snow to come as well for northern scotland through thursday. a few more centimetres possible for northern ireland. thursday, a lot of dry and sunny weather elsewhere. but again, there could be some wintry showers working down the north sea coast affecting parts of eastern england, and late in the day, as the winds start to turn to a north—westerly direction,

you might see some wintry showers turn up across north wales, cheshire, merseyside and the north—west midlands. by friday, although for the majority of the uk it continues to be cold and sunny, the showers that will be affecting scotland could be really prolonged, but the air is turning very slightly less cold and so the snow should tend to become confined to the hills. that process of the weather turning milder, then continues into the weekend, with south—westerly winds blowing much milder weather conditions across the country. however, there will be some very strong winds, maybe even disruptive winds around on sunday into the early part of next week. and spells of heavy rain, as well, that could see areas of flooding return.

and i was worried for them also. china says its economy grew by 5.2% in 2023 according but reports of high youth unemployment and a shrinking population. and more and more workers are searching for new career paths. we take a look at the trends across the asia—pacific. hello, and welcome to asia business report. we begin in china where officials have just released new economic data. the world's second largest economy grew by around

5.2% in 2023. signs of recovery after those strict covid lockdowns. to help us break down the numbers let's go now to taipei where we can find alicia garcia, chief economist. good to see you again. we have not seen these growth numbers since early 2021. what do you make of the data? ., , early 2021. what do you make of the data? . , :: ' early 2021. what do you make of the data? . , i: ' ., , early 2021. what do you make of the data? . , :: ' , the data? early 2021 was better and that is _ the data? early 2021 was better and that is the _ the data? early 2021 was better and that is the answer - the data? early 2021 was better and that is the answer meaning j and that is the answer meaning it is rewarded in that china is growing at its stated official target but the reality is that it is very low. when 2021 ended at 8.1% and that was a similar year. a recovery from covid era policies. so the exhilaration is there and you are right, we

can see from unemployment data