father were found dead boy and his father were found dead at a property in skegness. hello, i'm sarah campbell, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. pakistan has recalled its ambassador to iran in response to a missile and drone attack on its territory. tehran�*s envoy has also been blocked from returning to islamabad. iranian state media say the strike targeted a militant group in the sparsely—populated province of balochistan. but the pakistani foreign ministry said two children were killed in the attack. a spokesperson called it a blatant breach of pakistan's sovereignty, and accused iran of violating international law. iranian�*s foreign minister hossein amir—abdollahian was asked about these missile attacks at the world economic forum in davos.

translation: e responded accordingly. we only targeted iranian terrorists on the soil of pakistan. before this, i talked to my colleague, the honourable foreign minister of pakistan, and i assured him that we do respect the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of pakistan. also, those of iraq. but we don't allow our national security to be compromised and to be played with and we have no reservation, no hesitations when it comes to our national interest. and those, the terrorist groups inside pakistan and those that are affiliated to the israeli regime in the kurdistan region of iraq. what we did was actually in line with the security of pakistan, iraq and the whole region.

we believe that the security of iraq and pakistan are the security of the islamic republic of iran. some breaking news now from kensington palace. this has been issued in the last minute. her royal highness the princess of wales, was admitted to the london clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery. the surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospitalfor ten to 14 days before returning home to continue her recovery. based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after easter. to carry on with this statement, the princess of wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. she hopes the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality

for her children as possible and her wish that her personal information remains private. kensington palace will only provide updates on her royal highness when there are significant new information to share. the princess of wales wishes to apologise to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements. she looks forward to reinstating as many as possible as soon as possible. let me take you through that top line again, a statement from kensington palace released in the last few moments. her royal highness the princess of wales, that is catherine, the princess of wales, was admitted to the london clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery. the surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospitalfor ten to 14 days before returning home to continue her recovery. based on current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to duties until

easter. we understand that she will be recovering at home in windsor after she is discharged from hospital, obviously with the support of her family. hospital, obviously with the support of herfamily. she hospital, obviously with the support of her family. she lives of course with prince william and their three children. we understand that the recuperation may take two to three months after this abdominal surgery. prince william, of course, will be helping her with her recovery. her children will be there. it's also likely that prince william will have to postpone a number of engagements as he will be supporting catherine at this time. we would also expect that any travel plans that may have been suggested for the prince and princess of wales for the coming months will also be postponed. that news once again coming in that

catherine, the princess of wales, was admitted to the london clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery and is likely to stay in hospital for surgery and is likely to stay in hospitalfor ten to 14 surgery and is likely to stay in hospital for ten to 14 days, when she will return to windsor to recover with prince william and her children. we will bring you any more details on that when we get them. let's go back to the news we have been talking about this morning, the strike by iran on western pakistan overnight. the regional authorities in the baluchistan area of pakistan have condemned the strike. pakistan has vehemently condemned aggression against pakistan's sovereignty. it's unacceptable terrorism, as pakistan's foreign office has put it. it's a regional challenge and pakistan has always sought cooperation from all the countries of the region, including iran, to combat terrorism.

so, this is unacceptable and pakistan has a right to respond to any aggression committed against its sovereignty. iranian's foreign minister has also been speaking about attacks by iran backed houthis in the red sea, and how it ties to the conflict in gaza. we all benefit from maritime security, and the yemenis also believe that. what happened 7 it has to do with the genocidal war of the israeli regime against the people of gaza and the yemenis defending the palestinians. if the genocide in gaza stops, then it will lead to the... to the end of other crises and attacks in the region. our world affairs correspondent, paul adams was listening to those comments by iranian's foreign minister hossein amir—abdollahian —

he told me what he made of it all. i did hear the beginning of that press conference in which he was challenged repeatedly about whether he saw any connection or any relevant comparison between israel's attack on gaza — which israel, of course, regards as self—defence — and iran's decision to attack those forces who iran regards as responsible for terrorist attacks on its territory. and that was something that he absolutely dismissed. he said that if israel were to end its assault on gaza, if there was a ceasefire, then all of the other regional crises that we've been seeing flaring up in recent weeks would end. but he also warned that there was still the possibility that things could get a whole lot worse. as you say there, we've been hearing obviously reaction from pakistan today after that, the strike in western pakistan. and, of course, this comes

on the back of similar strikes in syria and northern iraq? yes, so i think that is the context in which we should view this latest strike on a target in pakistan last night. it's worth remembering that in the last few weeks, iran has been attacked on iranians soil a couple of times. there was an attack on a police station down in the far south—east corner of the country very close to the pakistani border which was thought to be the work ofjaish al—adl, the group which iran hit last night, and then also, of course, there with the twin bombings in the city of kerman back in december. sorry, at the beginning ofjanuary, generally the third, which was the largest single terrorist on iran since

the iranian revolution and clearly iran has felt the need to retaliate at a time when perhaps people in iran are questioning whether the regime is capable of defending its own citizens. that was the largest single terrorist attack on iran since the iranian revolution. that is the light in which we need to view these operations, both in attempt to reassure iranians that the regime has iran's security under control, but also to demonstrate through the use of ballistic missiles and drones that iran is capable of reaching far beyond its territory. in fact, the revolutionary guard were boasting that the operation against irbil in iraq and also against targets in syria the other day used the longest range ballistic missile that iran had yet deployed, there was an element of bravado and showing off in particular to the world and obviously to the united states that iran is capable and able to strike far

from iranian territory. ijust want i just want to bring you ijust want to bring you that breaking news that broke at the top of the hour again. it is to do with the princess of wales, catherine, her royal highness. this is a statement from kensington palace. she was admitted to the london clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery. the surgery was successful according to the statement and it is expected that she will remain in hospitalfor ten to 14 days before returning home to continue her recovery. based on current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after easter. her royal highness catherine, the princess of wales, was admitted to the london clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery. the surgery was successful, but she is expected to stay in hospital for ten to 14 days. the statement does say that this

statement will generate a huge amount of public interest and it is hoped that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children and her wish her personal medical information remains private. therefore, we shouldn't expect an ongoing update unless there is anything significant to report. catherine had planned abdominal surgery yesterday and will remain there for ten to 14 days. she is then expected to return home to windsor, where she lives with her husband, prince william, and their three children. the prime minister is facing another test of his authority today, over plans to send migrants to rwanda. rishi sunak is trying to revive government proposals to send some asylum seekers to the east african country, arguing it will deter people from crossing

the channel in small boats. but he suffered the biggest rebellion of his premiership in parliament last night — and two deputy chairs of the conservative party resigned, saying the bill wasn't tough enough. damian grammaticas has more. is your party too split to back the bill? yesterday saw the biggest rebellion of his prime ministership. today, more tory divisions could be on show. all on a policy rishi sunak has put at the heart of his agenda, so a tempting target for an opposition leader. it's a farce. only this government could waste hundreds of millions of pounds on a removals policy that doesn't remove anyone. only this government could claim that it's going to get flights off the ground, only to discover that they couldn't find a plane. we have worked through a record number of cases and returned a record number of people back

to where they have come. all of that is a plan that is working and we can see that it's working because the numbers of people coming to this country are down by over a third, mr speaker. the labour leader seized on reports that mr sunak, when he was chancellor, didn't think the rwanda scheme would work as a deterrent. he didn't want to fund it, he didn't think it would work. when he sees his party tearing itself apart, hundreds of bald men scrapping over a single broken comb, doesn't he wish he had the courage to stick to his guns? i have absolute conviction that the plan we've put in place will work because i think it's important we correct this problem. the attempt to deport asylum seekers to rwanda and leave the east african country to deal with its cases was halted by the court before it got off the ground. the bbc caught up with the country's president in davos, he says it is up to mr sunak

to revive the plan. the supreme court says your country is not safe. is it safe for refugees? ask the uk, it is the uk's problem. the ayes to the right, 68, the noes to the left, 529. | yesterday, dozens of tory mps tried to amend the new legislation. brendan clarke—smith resigned, saying he could not vote for something he did not think would work, as did lee anderson. jane stevenson quit and said she thinks she will vote with the government today. other tories are also wavering. i said if it remains unamended, i will at the bare minimum abstain, i still leave voting against on the table, but i will do it collectively with colleagues if they believe that is the right thing to do. that is the question — how divided will the conservative party look after today? will mr sunak get any flights of the ground, and will that really stop the boats?

with more on this, damianjoins us now. so are really sticky day for the prime minister yesterday. the debate is now under way, so what are we expecting? is now under way, so what are we meeting?— is now under way, so what are we exectinu ? ., ., ., ., ., expecting? today we have more of what we saw _ expecting? today we have more of what we saw yesterday, _ expecting? today we have more of what we saw yesterday, which - expecting? today we have more of what we saw yesterday, which is i expecting? today we have more of. what we saw yesterday, which is more attempts, particularly by those conservative mps who don't think this legislation is going to do what their prime minister says he wants it to do, and want to add extra changes to the legislation, essentially to say any asylum seekers the government is trying to remove should have no recourse to the courts, no recourse to judicial oversight from the european court of human rights, so that they can be put on planes and sent to rwanda. those debates are going on now, along with attempts by the opposition to amend this. it seems almost certain that none of those

changes will go through, because there is not a big enough group that backs any of them. so the key question comes later in the day, when the whole bit of legislation without any changes will be put to the house of commons to vote on it. the question then for rishi sunak is, how many of his conservative mps who have already said they don't think this does the job actually put their money where their mouths are and vote against it, so vote with the labour party and the opposition to vote down this bill? that hasn't happened in something like 50 years for a bill at this stage, so that would be a big step. it is worth remembering that for all the noise yesterday, before christmas, when these same rebels had a chance to do this, not a single one of them voted against it. today, a handful of them are saying they will vote against it. many others are still reserving the right, still discussions going

on. so it is likely it may go through. the question is how many abstentions there are and how that damages the government position, how damaged the government looks, and thenit damaged the government looks, and then it goes to the house of lords, where it could face yet more opposition, particularly for those questions about the way this legislation would interact with the oversight of the courts and try to limit that, and how much the lords may disapprove of that.— may disapprove of that. damian grammaticas. — may disapprove of that. damian grammaticas, thank _ may disapprove of that. damian grammaticas, thank you. - may disapprove of that. damian grammaticas, thank you. this l may disapprove of that. damian | grammaticas, thank you. this is may disapprove of that. damian - grammaticas, thank you. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a court in kenya has ruled the leader of a doomsday cult linked to the deaths of hundreds of people should undergo a mental health assessment ahead of a murder trial. paul mackenzie nthenge was arrested in april after the police began finding bodies in shallow graves. russian police have clashed with protesters angered by the jailing of a rights activist in the republic of bashkortostan.

fail alsynov has been sentenced to four years in a penal colony after a court found him guilty of inciting ethnic hatred. he was accused of insulting migrants at a protest against plans to mine for gold. a us—bound ana plane was forced to return to tokyo after an intoxicated passenger bit a crew member mid—flight. the passenger, reportedly a 55—year—old american, sunk his teeth into crew member's arm while "heavily drunk", leaving her mildly injured. japanese media said the man told police he had taken a sleeping pill and did not remember what happened. you're live with bbc news. let's go back to that story we broke at the top of the hour, the statement from kensington palace with regard to catherine, the princess of wales. with me is daniela relph, our royal correspondent. it daniela relph, our royal correspondent.- daniela relph, our royal corresondent. , . , , ,

correspondent. it is a surprise statement _ correspondent. it is a surprise statement that _ correspondent. it is a surprise statement that came - correspondent. it is a surprise statement that came from - correspondent. it is a surprise - statement that came from kensington palace around two o'clock this afternoon, out of the blue. there had been no hint that the princess of wales had been in any way unwell. the statement says she was admitted to the london clinic here in central london yesterday for planned abdominal surgery. the surgery was successful, but she is expected to remain in hospitalfor ten to ia days recovering. she will then return home to windsor to recover and she will not be carrying out any public duties. so it is clearly a surprise condition and a surprise development. h0 surprise condition and a surprise development-— development. no sign of any difficulties _ development. no sign of any difficulties over _ development. no sign of any difficulties over christmas, l development. no sign of any| difficulties over christmas, so development. no sign of any - difficulties over christmas, so as you say, a surprise?— difficulties over christmas, so as you say, a surprise? yes, i was at sandringham — you say, a surprise? yes, i was at sandringham on _ you say, a surprise? yes, i was at sandringham on christmas - you say, a surprise? yes, i was at sandringham on christmas day, i you say, a surprise? yes, i was at| sandringham on christmas day, so you say, a surprise? yes, i was at l sandringham on christmas day, so i saw her and she looked incredibly well. there has been no hint of any poor health from her. they are not giving much information from

kensington palace, as you would understand. it is clearly serious. she will be in hospitalfor up understand. it is clearly serious. she will be in hospital for up to two weeks. but the surgery was successful and were told it is a noncancerous condition that was being treated. she is not somebody that has been in poor health. a2 years old, extremely fit and healthy. the only issues that have hospitalised her previously have been during her three pregnancies, when she had hyperemesis gravidarum, extreme pregnancy sickness that meant she had to be hospitalised. other than that, there have been no serious conditions we have been made aware of. the statement does say they understand that there is going to be a huge amount of interest here, but they are keen to protect their privacy and to look after their privacy and to look after their three young children. so they will only be providing updates when they see fit and when there is something to say. find they see fit and when there is something to say.— they see fit and when there is something to say. and it looks like there is going _

something to say. and it looks like there is going to _ something to say. and it looks like there is going to be _ something to say. and it looks like there is going to be a _ something to say. and it looks like there is going to be a long - something to say. and it looks like there is going to be a long period l there is going to be a long period of recuperation. there was talk this year of international travel by the couple, but that will clearly be on hold. , , ., , �* ., hold. definitely. there wasn't a mood that _ hold. definitely. there wasn't a mood that we _ hold. definitely. there wasn't a mood that we would _ hold. definitely. there wasn't a mood that we would see - hold. definitely. there wasn't a mood that we would see much | hold. definitely. there wasn't a - mood that we would see much more of them this year. there was a trip planned to italy which now will not be happening. i think we will not see much of the prince and princess of wales in the coming months. prince william will not be carrying out any public engagements while his wife is in hospital. we are also told he wants to spend as much time as possible with her when she is back at windsor recovering and helping look after the children. so helping look after the children. so he will cut back on his schedule, and i don't think we will see the princess of wales in public doing any kind of royal engagements until after easter. any kind of royal engagements until after easter-— after easter. daniela relph, thank ou.

a review is under way after the death of a boy in skegness. paramedics were called to an address down this road, where the bodies were discovered of a 60—year—old man and a two—year—old toddler. they have been named as kenneth battersby and two—year—old bronson battersby. it has been reported that they were last seen on or around boxing day. we know that this child was known to social services, we know that this child was known to socialservices, but we know that this child was known to social services, but it was the type of case where there was contact around once a month. we understand that social workers tried to come to the address on the 2nd ofjanuary and the ath of january, but couldn't get access. there was no response, so they made inquiries at other properties where the child might be and notified the police. but it

wasn't until the 9th of january that the landlady of the property was asked to open it up so that paramedics, the police and social workers could go inside. we have spoken to that landlady and she said the discovery of the bodies was one of the worst days of her life, and she talks about how she is heartbroken. she called kenneth kenny and said she has known him for a decade and she said he was extremely helpful. and she said bronson was the light of his dad's eye. we have heard from children's services, who say they have carried out a review into the circumstances. they go on to say their thoughts are with the friends and family of those involved. the police have also said investigations have been carried out investigations have been carried out in the deaths are not being treated as suspicious. in the deaths are not being treated as suspicious-— as suspicious. that was joe black, re ”ortin as suspicious. that was joe black, reporting from — as suspicious. that was joe black, reporting from skegness. - musicians at the english national opera are to go on strike next month. it's as the opera plans to axe 19

posts and make orchestra and music staff part time — a move the musicians union claims threatens' livelihoods. last year the eno lost its almost £13 million annual grant from arts council england, and was told it must move outside london to get any future funding. plans have been announced for a move to manchester, but details are still to be confirmed. now, horses have been dazzling spectators at the traditional festival in spain. locals gathered in the narrow cobblestone streets to watch as around 100 horses jumped over bonfires as part of a purification ceremony. it is celebrated each year on the eve of st antony �*s day despite coming under criticism from animal rights groups. but organisers say the horses were not harmed due to precautions taken by riders. stay with us here on bbc news.

we will bring you the latest including any further detail on that statement from kensington palace about the health of catherine, princess of wales. although much of the country today and tomorrow will continue to see a lot of dry, sunny and cold weather, we have some concerns for the snow showers continuing to pile into the north of the country, particularly northern scotland into the northern isles, where we have an amber warning in force. this system across france will not impose any issues to southern britain. it will bring an area of thicker cloud and a few wintry showers across the south—east. it is the snow showers in the north we have more concerns about, with an amber warning issued here for an extra five to ten centimetres of snow falling on already deep snow. we could see 15 to 20 centimetres of extra snow over the high ground and ice will continue to be an issue here.

further south, the best of the sunshine and another very cold today to come, particularly across the northern half of the uk. this evening, we lose the cloud and have a few wintry showers for the far south—east. it is cold, dry and clean for most. wintry showers director and coastal areas were given ice risk and those snow showers will continue to pile into the northern isles and into the central northern highlands. a very cold night to come wherever you are. it is a cold, frosty and icy stuck to thursday. bright with plenty of sunshine, but we will have snow showers draped around coasts. but the heaviest snow showers again are across northern scotland into the northern isles. another very cold day to come. subtle changes into friday. we lose that arctic northerly. high pressure builds in, starting to bring westerly winds. so a slightly less cold day on friday.

quite a lot of sunshine around, thanks to high pressure. but snow showers will come in thick and fast across the north and west of scotland, with longer spells of snow. but elsewhere, you will see temperatures coming up a bit. and thatis temperatures coming up a bit. and that is the theme for things to come in the weekend. big changes. we start to pick up atlantic low pressure systems, strong gale force, even severe gale force south—westerly winds and pulses of rain. this rise of temperature, with heavy rain, could lead to localised flooding, but certainly turning a lot milder this weekend.

china's economy grew by 5.2% in 2023, but could population decline now be the threat within? and an unexpected uptick in uk inflation after months of falling. we'll explore what's driving the data. hello there. welcome to world business report. we start in china where the latest official figures say the economy grew by 5.2% last year.

now that's slightly higher than beijing's target of 5%, but one of the lowest levels in china, outside of the pandemic, for decades. the post—lockdown bounce back for the world's second largest economy has struggled against a property sector crisis, weak exports and falling prices. coupled with a shrinking population, there are growing calls for more government stimulus to help get things moving. joining me now is rory green, chief china economist at ts lombard. thank you for being with us. always wear caveat thing with china, this is growth, good growth, but not as we know it. not gross like china is accustomed to. how would you describe the current state of the chinese economy? you describe the current state of the chinese economy?— describe the current state of the chinese economy? you look at 5.2% arowth, chinese economy? you look at 5.2% growth. that — chinese economy? you look at 5.2% growth, that sounds _ chinese economy? you look at 5.2% growth, that sounds pretty - chinese economy? you look at 5.2% growth, that sounds pretty good - growth, that sounds pretty good sitting in london and looks good in america as well. china's standard