welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. the headlines. the eyes to the right, 320. the noes to the left, 276. hear, hear. uk mps vote in favour of the prime minister's plan to send some asylum seekers to rwanda. witnesses tell the bbc that four brothers killed earlier this month by an israeli air strike in the occupied west bank were palestinian civilians. health issues for two british royal — king charles is to be treated for an enlarged prostate, catherine has had abdominal surgery. and china's population is shrinking for a second year in a row. we'll take a look at why

that's concerning beijing. live from our studio in singapore... ..this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in the uk, where after debating all afternoon and into the evening, mps have voted in favour of the latest version of the government's plan to send some asylum seekers to rwanda. that's despite some tory mps rebelling and pushing for changes to make the legislation even tougher. prime minister rishi sunak argues that the rwanda plan will deter people from crossing the english channel in small boats from france. our political editor chris mason reports. the ayes to the right, 320.

the noes to the left, 276. the sentence that tells you the government has won. after all the noise, the numbers. the rwanda plan lives on. this is what all of this is all about. the government has promised to stop the boats. the numbers are down, but migrants keep coming. this was dover this morning. the rwanda plan is about putting people off attempting this crossing, but no—one who's made this journey has been sent there yet. in the commons this evening, the home secretary had a go at uniting his bickering party, and turning his attention to opposition parties. the gulf between our aspiration to control our borders and their blase, laissez—faire attitude to border control could not be more stark. stopping the boats is notjust

a question of policy. it is a question of morality, and it is a question of fairness. what a farce today and yesterday have been. just another day of tory chaos and carnage. a prime minister with no grip while the british taxpayer is continually forced to pay the price. for from dismantling criminal gangs, this government has. become the criminal gang. breaking international. law, moving vulnerable people across the world without legal process. i no right of appeal, no concern for the safety or human - rights of asylum seekers. the story of the last two days has been the conservative party having a noisy argument with itself. dozens and dozens of tory mps think the government plan probably won't work. all i can say is i wish the government well, but i do have to say that i can't support this in all conscience because i have set out my case and i'm not going to retract it on principle. 18 months ago, this plane

was due to take some migrants to rwanda, but at the last minute, using what are dubbed pyjama injunctions, the european court of human rights said no. the plane never left. this afternoon, some conservatives, including prominent ones, argued that the default legal position should be that these rulings are ignored. the foreign court overrode englishjudges, overrode the well of the government, overrode the will of the british people to control our borders and stop the boats. that's a problem with the foreign courts. 61 conservative mps in total agreed tonight, unconvinced by this argument they'd heard from the illegal migration minister. the prime minister has been clear that he will not let a foreign court block these flights. we simply cannot let an international court dictate our border security and stop us from establishing a deterrent.

but, for all the argument, the now near—two—year project to send some asylum seekers here, to rwanda, remains alive. what the rwandan president make of all of this? you are getting hundreds of millions of uk taxpayers money. not a single refugee? if people don't come, we will return the money, he says. the uk has already handed over £240 million. and tonight is not the end of the wrangling over this policy. it heads next to the house of lords. chris mason reporting there. our political correspondent peter saull told me what the arguments were among the ii mps who voted against the bill. they don't think this bill is going to work in its stated aim of stopping the boats, of deterring people from crossing

the english channel. and because they believe that this rwanda policy is the best and only deterrent, really, that ultimately when people arrive on uk shores, they will be deported to rwanda. now, there were various different amendments that were voted on over the past 48 hours or so. we heard reference to them in chris's piece there. one, for example, blocking the idea of pyjama injunctions, last—minute interventions from the european court of human rights, stopping flights from taking off to rwanda. 61 tory mps backed that amendment, so that's a significant number of tory backbenchers. ultimately, though, the vast majority of them rowed back into line and when it came to the main vote at the end, the third reading vote, as it's known, just 11 conservative rebels. some pretty big

names in there — the former home secretary, suella braverman, a former immigration minister in robertjenrick, too. these are two individuals who've been involved in trying to enact this policy over the past couple of years, so they ought to know what they are talking about. but really, for the vast majority of those tories who are concerned about it, they saw this as potentially doing too much damage to the government. it would have dealt a fairly fatal blow to this legislation, this this idea that they fundamentally believe in, even if they don't necessarily agree that the government is going about it is going to bear fruit. yeah, clearly a lot of division within the party. how crucial was this vote for rishi sunak? yeah, i think had he lost it, then it would have been pretty totemic. to be honest, he has placed great stock on this policy and this legislation, which he does believe will get flights off the ground.

had he lost it, it really would have been back to square one for him, back to the drawing board. but he has got through it now. downing street are telling us that this is a major step forward. it is actually fairly comfortable, a majority of 44 for the government. it will now, though, go to the house of lords that is the uk system. of lords that is the uk system, so the other chamber will have a look at it. they will table their own amendments. there's probably going to be actually more opposition in the lords than there was in the house of commons to this. so it could end up back in the house of commons. it could end up in a situation with what we call ping—pong between the commons and the lords. so probably still quite a few weeks, if not months to run in terms of actually getting this piece of legislation onto the british statute book. and then, there's the potential of further legal challenges down the line, too, because remember — the uk supreme court ruled that this was unlawful back in november, which actually led to the government coming up with this piece of legislation in the first place. in other news... four brothers killed earlier this month by an israeli air strike in the occupied west bank were palestinian civilians who posed no threat to israeli forces, witnesses have told the bbc. violence in the territory has been rising.

the un says more than 300 palestinians have been killed by the israeli army in the west bank, since the hamas attacks in october. 0ur middle east correspondent lucy williamson has been to investigate the killing of the four brothers, which happened hours after a 19—year—old israeli officer was killed during clashes with palestinian groups injenin. gunshots, sirens. the war is in gaza. but it's hard to miss the warnings coming from west bank cities likejenin. since the hamas attacks, the israeli army has come intojenin again and again, and again, determined to root out hamas and its sympathisers. jenin armed groups here, determined to resist. those armed groups proudly claim any members killed in israeli operations as martyrs for their cause.

none have claimed the four darweesh brothers, killed in an israeli air strike ten days ago. their mother's first gesture on seeing where they died, to tidy a little. translation: i wanted to come and imagine where each - of them was sitting. alaa was there. ahmad, rami and hazza were here. there were the other martyrs. i wanted to see exactly where my sons were. the men, all in their 20s, were filmed by a security camera sitting around a fire with three of their extended family as the air strike happened. one of the first paramedics on the scene is convinced they were doing nothing wrong. translation: there was no sign of any clashes _ or confrontation. not shooting,

not throwing stones. was there anything you saw that could explain why these men were killed? translation: there was nothing. they had no weapons. they were drinking coffee by the fire. they were wearing slippers and pyjamas. we asked the israeli army why the men were targeted. it said an aircraft struck a terrorist squad that hurled explosives at israeli forces, and sent us this video. the black flashes near the passing vehicle, consistent with explosives, analysts say. witnesses said soldiers drove through the village 15 minutes to an hour before the strike took place. we asked the army when their footage was filmed. it said it had nothing to add. their mother, ibtesam, found all four sons in the hospital morgue. the family showed us israeli entry permits for two of them. no—one israel sees

as a security threat would have them. translation: they took my whole family away. i who can i complain. to when all countries are supporting israel? if they wanted to do anything, they would have helped - the children in gaza. my sons are under the soil now, and no—one stood with them. i in the village cemetery, her caresses and her questions go unanswered. this is a place she can take her grief. but her anger has nowhere to go. lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin. pakistan has recalled its ambassador to iran in response to a missile attack apparently targeting militant bases on its territory, which killed two children. islamabad has also blocked tehran�*s envoy from returning to islamabad.

warning of "serious consequences". earlier this week, iran also launched attacks inside iraq and in syria. the strikes add to the growing tension across the middle east, as our world affairs correspondent paul adams explains. as david cameron said recently, warning lights seem to be flashing all across the middle east and each day it seems there's a new one. to what extent then are they all connected? and is all this happening because of the war in gaza? well, yes and no. let's look at one of the most recent examples. last night, iran fired drones and missiles into neighbouring pakistan, targeting what it says is a terrorist group responsible for attacks inside iran, including one in december which killed 11 iranian policemen. and on monday, iran fired missiles and drones in the other direction, hitting targets in syria and iraq.

these attacks, it said, were also retaliation in this case for a devastating bomb attack in the iranian city of kerman just two weeks ago. now, none of this was about gaza. this was about iran showing to its own people that attacks on iranian soil will not go unpunished. but there is a connection at a time when the middle east is boiling. the use of long range ballistic missiles is a warning to iran's enemies, especially israel and the united states, that it's more than capable of hitting targets well beyond its borders. then there's the red sea, where the us and uk are attempting to persuade the houthis close allies of iran to stop attacking shipping bound for the suez canal. the houthis say all this is motivated by the war in gaza. and finally, all iran's other proxies and allies around the region, hamas in gaza, his brother in lebanon,

militias in syria and iraq, they've all benefited from iranian military support, and they're all seeking to punish israel or its ally, the united states, for what's happening in gaza. speaking today in davos, iran's foreign minister said all these red lights would stop flashing if the war in gaza came to an end. that's an exaggeration. the dangers currently facing the middle east don't all stem from what's happening in gaza, but the war there has made things infinitely worse. —— hezbollah in lebanon. paul adams there. our partner cbs news is reporting that us has conducted another round of strikes against houthi positions in yemen. it comes hours after the houthis said they had targeted another cargo ship in the red sea. a spokesperson for the houthis

says the us—owned genco picardy bulk carrier was struck by a bomb—carrying drone in a direct hit. this map appears to show the vessel changing course. the houthis say they'll carry on attacking ships in the red sea in protest against israel's bombardment of gaza — that's despite a us decision to return them to the list of global terrorist organisations. our state department correspondent in washington — tom bateman — explained what the re—designation means. well, what the state department says it means is bringing accountability to the houthis is a clear signalfrom the us that they regard what they're doing in the red sea and the gulf of aden as terrorism. but it is also designed to try and give the state some powers to take action against people that would give material support to the houthis. having said that, it is

a lower level of terrorism designation as those that are more commonly used. and significantly, i don't think this is going to have any major impact on the houthis on the ground, and that is because they already face significant sanctions, visa travel bans and are very, very limited and isolated in terms of what they can do. most of their funding is clandestine anyway, or coming from networks that the us already has methods to try and dismantle and attack. so i don't think this is so much about its practical effect, more about its symbolism. and when you're talking along those lines, know the real those lines, the real message from the us has not been around the terrorism designation, but it has of course been in the form of its military action that it took last week in combination with the united kingdom. that has been upping the ante, of course, in all of this what the us hopes will deter the houthis, but so far remains to be seen. and as you've just been saying, we've seen another suicide drone attack on a ship in the gulf of aden tonight.

so it seems the houthis are still firing. i think the us feels that they have created some sort of tactical deterrence because the attacks are not quite at the scale that they were previous to the us—uk strikes. it's really extraordinary, tom, how powerful the houthis have become in such a short time. have they ever been designated a terrorist organisation before? well, they were by the trump administration that slapped on the highest level terrorism designation that is possible for the us government. that was in the final days of the trump administration. and there had been pressure from iran hawks here in washington who saw the kinds of strikes that the houthis were making against the us's gulf allies like saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. and those lawmakers in washington were putting pressure on the trump administration to designate the houthis as terrorists, so they did that.

but what you then had was humanitarian aid groups saying that this would severely curtail their effect, their ability to get aid supplies into yemen in that very desperate situation with much of the country on the verge of famine — aid that is desperately needed. so, within weeks, the biden administration reversed that. they got rid of the terrorism designation. but i think now, given what's going on in the region, the pressure become too great for the biden administration. they felt they had to re designate the group, albeit, as i say, at a lower level than the listing last time. let's bring you some breaking news this hour. russia's defence ministry says its air defence units have intercepted and destroyed a ukrainiandrone over the moscow region and a second near the country's second largest city, st petersburg. —— ukrainian drone. the mayor of moscow also reported that a drone had been downed on its way towards the capital. no damage or casualties

have been reported. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news in the uk. a two—year—old boy and his dad have been found dead at a house in skegness. it's thought 60 year old kenneth battersby had a heart attack — and that his son bronson starved to death. their bodies were found on the 9th of january. the family was known to children's services. lincolnshire county council is investigating. politicians in northern ireland have once again failed to elect a stormont speaker. it is the seventh recall of the assembly since may 2022. the assembly collapsed almost two years ago due to the democratic unionist party's opposition to post—brexit trade rules for northern ireland. a legal deadline to restore devolved government runs out on thursday. the former labour mp for rochdale, sir tony lloyd,

has died at the age of 73. sir tony served as a foreign minister under tony blair, before becoming the mayor of greater manchester. he said last week he'd been receiving treatment for an aggressive form of blood cancer, but the illness had progressed. you're live with bbc news. both king charles and the princess of wales will be away from public duties for a while due to health reasons. kensington palace says catherine, who's 42, has had abdominal surgery and will be in hospital for at least ten days. she won't return to engagements until after easter. shortly after that, buckingham palace announced the king is to receive treatment for an enlarged prostate. here's our royal correspondent daniela relph. together on christmas day — the king, the princess of wales just behind him and the wider royalfamily attended at sandringham 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 carried out all his scheduled public engagements. there was no indication of any problems. but this afternoon, buckingham palace released a statement. it said... earlier in the afternoon came 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 has now said that the princess was admitted to this london hospital yesterday for what they described as planned abdominal surgery. she's expected to stay here for 10—14 days, and is unlikely to return to royal duties before easter.

as you're the volunteers for this evening... palace officials have not disclosed why the princess 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. daniela relph, bbc news. sheryl sandberg, the former chief operating officer of meta, has announced she is stepping down from the compa ny�*s board. ms sandberg served as the coo of facebook, which then became meta, for 1a and a half years and as a board member for 12 years. in a post on facebook, she said it had been the opportunity of a lifetime and she would continue to serve as an adviser to the company. china's population has fallen for the second year in a row.

it's concerning for beijing, which is relying on a young workforce to drive its economy. the bbc�*s meghan owen has been taking a look at the numbers. over the last few decades, china has had a pendulum population. now, in the 1970s, 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 2 million on the previous year.

and if we look at the birth rate, it was 6.39 people per 1,000. 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? a reminder of our breaking news this hour — our partner cbs news and reuters now are reporting that the us has conducted another round of strikes against ppe positions

and human. —— ruthie positions. —— houthi positions in yemen. hello there. our current cold snap may well be coming to an end, but before it does so, i think something of a sting in the tail. of course, over recent days, we've seen plenty of these snow showers — this one looking very heavy as it obscures the skyline of the island of sky. and it is in northern scotland we've seen the largest accumulations of snow. through wednesday, we had over 20 centimetres on the deck in lerwick, and that was before this loss arrived. this is a trough bringing particularly heavy showers, widespread, prolonged showers southwards, and that willjust increase the risk of seeing some disruption. now, for northern scotland, an additional 5—15cm of snow as we go through thursday, a much greater chance of seeing some disruption in northern ireland, too. i think we could see around 5—10cm of snow building in here, so a much greater risk of seeing some disruption. and for northern scotland, as well as all that heavy snow,

winds gusting to around 40—50 mph, so blizzard conditions, significant drifting of the snow, and for some communities, it'd be very difficult to travel around at all. now, there could be a bit of snow elsewhere in scotland and a few wintry showers coming down to the western side of wales, a few coming down the north sea coast of england. you might see some localised accumulations, but otherwise, a shower stream sets up off the irish sea that a lot of dry, sunny and cold weather into thursday evening. a shower stream sets up off the irish sea that will bring some snow showers to north wales across cheshire, merseyside into the north west midlands. accumulations will vary a lot from place to place, but you could see a few centimetres in a few spots on friday. temperatures come up with just a little bit and that means the showers that we have in scotland will start to fall as rain and sleet at lower elevations — the snow becoming confined to the hills. temperatures a degree or two higher. you probably won't notice much in the way of change — it will still feel cold. however, as we get into this weekend, that's when we see

a real change in our weather pattern as these south—westerly winds push mild air off the atlantic and that will really boost the temperatures for most. now, on saturday, we've got these bands of rain moving from west to east along with those gusty south—westerly winds. now, there'll be a rapid thaw taking place in scotland, so there could be some localised flooding concerns here given all of that snow lying on the deck being a much milder kind of day, very windy weather. then, for sunday and early next week, top gusts could reach around 70mph, potentially disruptive winds, but it does turn incredibly mild. bye for now.

houthi fighters attack another commercial vessel in the red sea — we take a look at the impact the escalating conflict is having on the cost of living. foxconn�*s value is 50bn dollars. apple's value is 3tn — 60 times. why? because manufacturing is not that profitable any more. plus the former governor of india's central bank on why the country's plan to court foreign investors may not be the best one. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm suranjana tewari. as we've been reporting on newsday, a new drone attack

has been launched by houthi fighters in yemen on a us cargo