we're approaching half time in all the ties, andre gomes has put everton ahead at goodison park with a well struck free kick meanwhile third tier blackpool on the hunt for an upset as they host top flight side nottingham forest. but the opposite of a fairy tale start with the premier league team leading 1—0 through andrew omo, also in the third tier. bristol rovers lead second division norwich by a goal to nil pre—tournament favourites morocco began their 2023 africa cup of nations campaign with a convincing win over 10—man tanzania in group f. morocco won their sole continental title in 1976 but are firmly among the expected challengers for the trophy in ivory coast following their historic run to the semi—finals at the 2022 world cup. saiss scored in the first half but, despite their total dominance, morocco had to wait until the unfancied tanzanians were reduced to 10 men late in the second half before finishing them off. azzedine ounahi's slick finish doubled the lead before youssef en—nesyri converted achraf hakimi's cross to round off the win.

meanwhile dr congo are currently in action against zambia — we've played just over half an hour, kings kangwa opened the scoring for zambia, yoane wissa with the equaliser. the ghana coach chris hughton has said his focus is entirely on the black stars�* afcon match with egypt on thursday. this come after a confrontation with an angry fan following their defeat to ivory coast at the weekend. but he thanked everyone for their good wishes and concern. something for their good wishes and concern. that is very mut past something that is very much in the past and it has a lot of media coverage and i think everyone for the messages of support but i think probably today's the day to very much look forward to and a very competitive game that we have tomorrow and again, i understand the question and he thanked everyone for

them. akram afif struck again as holders and hosts qatar became the first team into the asian cup last 16 with a 1—nil win over tajikistan. afif, who scored twice in qatar's opening 3—0 victory over lebanon, hit the winner midway through the first half in front of 55,000 at the tent—like al bayt stadium, the result means the hosts are guaranteed to go through to the knockout round as group a winners. to rugby union, and hooker jamie george will captain england in the 2024 six nations in the absence of 0wen farrell. george has been capped 85 times, having made his international debut in 2015. the 33—year—old takes over from farrell following his decision to step away from international rugby to prioritise his and his family's mental wellbeing. the england squad named by head coach steve borthwick features seven uncapped players, along with returns for henry slade and luke cowan—dickie. rohit sharma fired india to a thrilling t20 international victory over afghanistan,

a dramatic game that saw him hit three sixes across two separate super 0vers wih the two sides matching each other throughout. sharma had earlier struck an unbeaten 121 in india's 212—11, a record breaking 5th consecutivecentury in t20 internationals. but half—centuries from rahmanulla gurbaz, ibrahim zadran and gulbadin naib saw afghanistan also score 212 from their 20 overs. with the scores level after the first super over, sharma hit another four and a six as the visitors were set 12 to win but ravi bishnoi took two wickets in the first three balls to end the match. india win the series 3—0. and that's all the sport for now. both king charles and catherine, the princess of wales have temporarily stepped back from royal duties for health reasons. buckingham palace says the king is to have treatment for an enlarged prostate next week. meanwhile, 42—year—old catherine will remain in hospital for up to two weeks following successful abdominal surgery. here's our royal correspondent,

daniela relph. together on christmas day, the king, the princess of wales just behind him and the wider royal family attended church on the sandringham estate in norfolk. it was the last time the king and the princess were seen in public. they appeared in good health. in the run—up to christmas, the king had carried out all of his scheduled public engagements. there had been no indication of any health problems, but this afternoon buckingham palace released a statement. it said, i hope it will open those conversations that men can have with each other and hopefully with their gps. sometimes we hear men talking about how they find it embarrassing to talk about any prostate problems but i think it's fantastic that

again it opens the opportunity to really understand that prostate problems are common and nothing to be embarrassed about. earlier in the afternoon had come news of the princess of wales being in hospital. like the king she too had shown no sign of any health issues last month during a full programme of engagements that included hosting a carol concert at westminster abbey. but kensington palace said yesterday afternoon she was admitted to this central london hospital for what they described as planned abdominal surgery. she is expected to stay here for 10—14 days and is unlikely to return to royal duties before easter. i think based on her age, based on her fitness, based on how she appears in the public from what i can see, i think a recovery should be straightforward. as long as she looks after herself and not rush back to her very busy schedule. palace officials have not disclosed

why the princess has had surgery. they say they appreciate there will be interest in her condition but she wants to keep her personal medical information private and would like to maintain as much normality as possible for her children. ejean carroll, has been giving evidence in her second civil defamation trial against donald trump in new york. the writer has testified that donald trump "shattered" her reputation after she accused him of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s. seated inside the federal courtroom in manhattan, the former president was heard loudly criticising her testimony. the judge warned he could be kicked out. mr trump has denied her accusation. live now to our correspondent in new york, nada tawfik. reminders of what is at stake in this trial. i reminders of what is at stake in this trial. ~ , ,., ., this trial. i think it is important for the audience _ this trial. i think it is important

for the audience to _ this trial. i think it is important for the audience to rememberl this trial. i think it is important - for the audience to remember that donald trump was already found liable for sexually assaulting and defaming eugene carol in a separate lawsuit in may so, this one is really looking just at damages for a separate incident of defamation and what we had today was testifying giving evidence for most of the morning and describing how one donald trump 2019 called her a liar and said that she wasn't his type, that it made her feel too ugly to assault it made her feel a sense of security because she was met with the delusion of attacks that continue to this day from his supporters and her lawyers put up on the screen the death threats she has received, one of them saying that she should put a gun in her mouth and pull the trigger and another one in which a friend wanted to kill her and that person couldn't stop them and that person couldn't stop them and us an e—mailjust from this past may. and talked about the harm on

her occupation as a journalist saying that no one wanted to write to you advice columnist who was seen as a disgrace by the president. and throughout all of this, donald trump is just throughout all of this, donald trump isjust a throughout all of this, donald trump is just a few rows back in the first time in decades that they had been in the same room together and he was actually reprimanded by the judge for gesturing it, making loud remarks about ms. carroll, that the jury remarks about ms. carroll, that the jury could hear, and thejudge warned him that he would have to be kicked out if he continued saying you would like to, we knew, and he continued saying kicked out if he continued saying you would like to, we knew, and he said i would love that and will we said i would love that and will we have seen in these past court cases have seen in these past court cases is just how much donald trump as it is just how much donald trump as it shied away from pushing the judge, shied away from pushing the judge, attacking thejudge and attacking thejudge and shied away from pushing the judge, attacking the judge and social media, pushing those in the court to shied away from pushing the judge, attacking the judge and social media, pushing those in the court to try to really rally his base of ram, try to really rally his base of ram, this is very much another campaign this is very much another campaign stop. fourwhat this is very much another campaign stop. four what does the judge said stop. donald decide if he about that? donald trump has at

least until monday to decide if he least until monday to decide if he will testify in this case and he is will testify in this case and he is attending melania trump plus plus attending melania trump plus plus funeral but he said he would not be funeral but he said he would not be able to dispute the facts of this able to dispute the facts of this case because it is already been case because it is already been found to have defamed eugene carol found to have defamed eugene carol and speaking to the damages —— e and speaking to the damages jean carroll. he did not stick by the rules of the judge went offered a monologue and we are expecting to hear from them at a press conference this afternoon and will see what he has to say. this afternoon and will see what he has to sa . . ~ this afternoon and will see what he has to sa . ., ~ ,, this afternoon and will see what he has to say-— yemen's houthis have said they'll carry on attacking ships in the red sea to protest against israel's bombardment of gaza, despite a us decision

to return them to the list of global terrorist organisations. the group 5 leadership has condemned washington 5 move, describing it as an act of blackmail. a us official said the re—designation on the specially designated global terrorist list, or sdgt, would take effect in 30 days, to allow time to ensure the measures will target houthi members and not the impoverished people of yemen. the us stopped short of also declaring the houthis a �*foreign terrorist 0rganisation�*, or fto, as the state department's spokesman explained. the sdgt designation gave us the tools to deny the houthis access to the financial system and gave us the tools to impose additional actions and additional sanctions on anyone who does business with the houthis while minimizing some of the downstream harm to yemeni civilians and the deterrent effect that we thought the fto designation would have on aid groups.

before we move on, let's focus on who are the houthis. the houthis are a political and military group from a sub—sect of the country's shia muslim minority, the zaidis. they control a large part of yemen, most of the population lives in houthi areas, including in the capital, sana'a. its control of the red sea coastline make its attacks on commercial shipping possible. the movement formed in the 19905 against this man, the then—yemeni president, ali abdullah saleh. in the early 20005, they fought a series of rebellions against yemen's government. president saleh tried to eliminate the houthi rebels, but failed. since 2014, the houthi movement has been fighting a civil war against yemen's government. iran is accused of supplying weapons to the houthis, something it denies, saying it only supports them politically. live now to tom bateman, our state department correspondent in washington. he was also our middle

east correspondent. what they have done is designate them as a terrorist organisation but it not as straightforward as putting them on the list because what you heard there for matthew miller, the spokesman was the designation that they're using without getting so lost in the weeds and the jumble of letters, he mentioned the type that this is an effectively two forms of designation and one is a bit tougher than the other and under the trump administration, and the dying days of it, president trump designated the houthis is a terrorist organisation under both of these lists. 0ne organisation under both of these lists. one of them effectively means there could be criminal sanctions and it will be a crime to provide material support to the houthis and thatis material support to the houthis and that is a massive disincentive in

this weight groups in particular in particular in early 2021 really worried about this because they thought it would prevent or delay could legally very different to provide aid to people who needed in the houthis controlled areas of human and material conditions they're worried about the impact. but within weeks, the biden administration reverse this and the biden administration is redesignated houthis as a lower level of a slightly less severe designation and thatis slightly less severe designation and that is this global terrorist group as opposed to a foreign terrorist organisation. i got to a point where the pressure was so great on the administration that they had to, they thought they had to do this and president biden was asked are the houthis terrorists and he said yes it become inevitable that this designation was could have been given their curing of military

strengths against houthis in yemen. what is the view that the us and uk are carrying out these military strikes on them to try to stop them from targeting shipping in the red sea and many saying that is not working in those military strengths of continued in shipping continues to be affected. some are suggesting by introducing this designation, thatis by introducing this designation, that is a sign that they are recognising that doing is working, what's your view? i recognising that doing is working, what's your view?— recognising that doing is working, what's your view? i disagree in the sense that — what's your view? i disagree in the sense that the _ what's your view? i disagree in the sense that the designation - what's your view? i disagree in the l sense that the designation would've been pipeline for quite a while in the big action is the terrorism designation and us officials would see this is far lower level in the piece of policy activity and the reality is having an impact on the ground and already subject to so many sanctions. and miller was asked

in that conference about this, they are never big account in the bank of new york. there are many subject to a lot of sections largely committed symbolic but they will still come with those concerns about an impact on humanitarian aid us officials saying there will be a car mounts to ensure the key to get food and medicine in there. best of the impact of the us, uk military activity, and it's really good question because we have seen sense the joint british american strengths on thursday where that houthis are still firing ballistic missiles at ships but we haven't seen is the scale of attack that in particular on tuesday of last week, that was a swarming attack of suicide drones and cruise missiles so far, my senses are they feel this is a tactical success and degraded bit of

capabilities for the houthis and they have endured for some extent but after the much wider strategic questions is that we have a battle of narratives because the houthis are saying that trying to get a change of policy and isolate the us and the seed is acting like a diplomatic in shield and two during the bombardment on cost and much of the bombardment on cost and much of the arab world when the cease—fire into the siege on gaza and saying this completely disconnected and they're just trying to protect international shipping in the red sea and all of this has a lot of potential to spread in wide and about the us is trying to deter the houthis, they have to deter the houthis, they have to deter the houthis, they have to deter the houthis, the afternoon walked this very fine line of escalation in the wider region. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

form a reservoir outside of oxford should have four more water at this time of year but locals would enjoy walking, fishing and boating here and see levels drop significantly in the past two weeks and nearby roads, some homes and vast areas of agricultural land is inundated. after this with so much of the south still dealing with the aftereffects of flooding, makes it surprising that major reservoirs like this one aren't full to the brim but we are way below capacity. unable to give us an interview but pumping water when recent storms raise the volume of george debris being carried by the rivers that feed far more. campaigners say the company has leased me the situation worse for itself.

you're live with bbc news. mps have started voting on ammendments on the government's rwanda bill after spending a second day debating proposed changes to the legislation. there will shortly be a crucial final reading lateran attempt by tory rebels to let the uk ignore injunctions from the european court of human rights has failed downing street says it is confident that this bill will pass. china's population has fallen for the second year in a row. official figures show at the end of 2023 the population of china was 1.409 billion. that's a drop of 2.08 million from 2022. the drop is due to a steep increase in the total number of deaths — many linked to the covid pandemic — and another fall in the birth rate.

the trend towards an increasingly ageing population is of concern to the chinese government, which needs people of working age to drive the economy and pay taxes. meghan 0wen has more on china's historic efforts to control its population over the last few decades, china has had a pendulum population. now in the 19705, as it was approaching one billion people. the government became concerned about the impact that this could have on their ambitious plans for economic growth. so it decided to implement some policies. now, in 1979, it introduced the controversial one—child policy. but actually after a shrinking workforce and an ageing population, it relaxed this in 2015 and we saw the two child policy. there was also financial incentives for people to start a family. now, in 2021, this was relaxed even further with the three child policy. but these don't necessarily seem to have worked. now, latest figures show that china's population has reduced in size for the second year running.

at the end of 2023, it was just over 1.4 billion. that's a reduction of two million on the previous year. and if we look at the birth rate, it was 6.39 people per 1000. now i want to show you this graph, which is interesting, and it shows just how rapidly that birth rate has declined. so why is this happening? well, young couples in modern cities have said that following covid, they want to focus on their careers. they're also worried about the cost of living. but equally, the government are now worried because they rely on an ageing population or an ageing workforce. and this is putting pressure on the health service but also on the pension systems. so could it be that actually these earlier interventions have worked just a little too well? now we go live to dr laurenjohnston is an associate professor in china studies centre at the university of sydney.

what is your assessment of these figures and what they mean for china? . ~' ,, figures and what they mean for china? ., ~ i. ,., figures and what they mean for china? ., ~ i. . figures and what they mean for china? ., ~ . ., ., china? thank you so much for having me. i'm china? thank you so much for having me- i'm not — china? thank you so much for having me. i'm not particularly— china? thank you so much for having me. i'm not particularly surprised - me. i'm not particularly surprised by them, china's population began falling last year and just to elaborate, china has that are tightly controlled population growth policy for a long time and the demographics, the sum of the something called demographic momentum and much fewer young people than you have fewer people having children if they do not choose to increase the number of children they have, of course you will get these lower population growth rate in fact, china's working population peaked in 2012 and that is been falling for a decade. the question for china is, can it sustain such a

large share of elders and can he realise its intended productivity gains for its one—child policy were more educated than their parents. it is a question of shifting the economic model to capture new productivity and that isn't easy because of the interests. figures sa that because of the interests. figures say that china's _ because of the interests. figures say that china's road _ because of the interests. figures say that china's road second - because of the interests. figures i say that china's road second largest economy in growth have slowed and it was the slowest rate since 1990, excluding the pandemic. and to mitigate this population? it’s mitigate this population? it's t in: to mitigate this population? it�*s trying to increase tax incentives and trying to make childhood less pressurised environment so that people can relax as families, they don't need lots of money to be able

to compete in china plus plus enormously competitive society at the macro level, there is the challenges of accessing their access to finance labour mobility if people can't go over the need to go to be optimally productive and bring their families and illicitly bring their families, they cannot see the doctor for subsidised rates and peoples consumption is inhibited by the cost of health care or the cost of housing and at the margins, the government is trying to challenge these things but some these problems include a lot of population of the beneficiaries of these inflated housing prices and a challenge about the bubble, prince of the consequences of own and the international level, recognising the china's not so rich and working age

people anywhere in the village income and less educated, chan is interested in opening factories in places like bangladesh and ethiopia. they are off shoring some of this labour shortage, so to speak. fix, lat labour shortage, so to speak. a lot is cominu labour shortage, so to speak. a lot is coming to _ labour shortage, so to speak. a lot is coming to bear— labour shortage, so to speak. a lot is coming to bear on _ labour shortage, so to speak. a lot is coming to bear on the _ labour shortage, so to speak. a lot is coming to bear on the country, the economy when the pressures on the economy when the pressures on the chinese government communist party? it’s the chinese government communist pa ? �*, , ., party? it's partly from high unemployment _ party? it's partly from high unemployment of - party? it's partly from high unemployment of the - party? it's partly from high| unemployment of the youth party? it's partly from high - unemployment of the youth and finding qualityjobs for unemployment of the youth and finding quality jobs for these unemployment of the youth and finding qualityjobs for these well educated youth is a challenge and the pressure for the chinese government from the order population is also enormous because of this massive inequality in pensions a pensioner in shanghai and beijing does much better and there's a lot

of inequality. does much better and there's a lot of inequality-— of inequality. thank you for speaking — of inequality. thank you for speaking with _ of inequality. thank you for speaking with us _ of inequality. thank you for speaking with us and - of inequality. thank you for speaking with us and thank| of inequality. thank you for - speaking with us and thank you for joining us. hello there. the met office amber snow and ice warnings remains in force across northern scotland and the northern isles tonight and into much of tomorrow. these snow showers will come in thick and fast with some significant accumulations of snow in places. could lead to some issues by the morning period. elsewhere, it's largely clear that very cold and very frosty, probably the coldest night of this cold snap. so this weather fronts accentuating the snow showers across northern scotland and the northern isles. stronger northerly wind which allows some drifting and blizzard conditions. and we'll see further snow showers developing around some north sea coast, northern ireland and through the irish sea. anywhere where we have wintry showers ice will be a significant risk. for most, it's dry and

clear and very cold. north to south across the country could be down to —15 celsius central northern scotland. so it's a very cold start to thursday. there will be a lot of sunshine around, but wintry showers continue around. coastal areas could see a dusting of snow across some of these eastern counties. but the heaviest of the snow, again, falling across northern scotland to the northern isles. again, drifting and blizzard conditions perhaps in excess of ten centimetres of fresh snow by the time we reach the end of thursday. and it'll be a very cold day. a slightly stronger wind for all areas, so it will feel bitterly cold, i think. and then through thursday night, we start to lose the showers from the east coast as the wind changes. directions are more westerly. so its northern, western scotland which will continue to see the snow and the ice. elsewhere, clearer skies and other cold nights come, but maybe not quite as cold as what we're expecting tonight. subtle changes into friday. this area of high pressure starts to build in. so a lot of fine weather, but it cuts off the arctic northern and brings us a westerly. so i think it'll be noticeably less cold on friday. but we'll continue with snow across northern and western scotland, certainly over the high

ground, maybe wintry mix down to sea level and it will be breezier. so another cold day to come here. but you'll notice further south we've lost those blue colours, 4—6 degrees. then that area of high pressure pulls away into the weekend and allows low pressure off the atlantic to take over. so a very different feel to the weather through the weekend and indeed into next week. wetter, windier and much milder. but the combination of mild air with snowmelt and rain could lead to some localised flooding. so stay tuned.

hello, i'm samantha simmonds. you're watching the context on bbc news. we have worked through a record number of cases and returned a record number of people back to where they've come. all of that is a plan that is working and we can see that it is working because the numbers of people coming to this country are down by over a third, mr speaker. kagame, is the uk deal working? the supreme court says that your country is not safe. is it safe for refugees? ask uk. it is the uk's problem, not rawanda's. - all the signal today from those rebels from yesterday is that most of them now will get behind this bill at this final stage.