welcome to newsday, live from singapore, i'm suranjana tewari. the headlines: 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. the eyes to the right, 320, the nose, 276. the eyes to the right, 320, the nose. 2765-— nose, 276. they send some as lum nose, 276. they send some asylum seekers _ nose, 276. they send some asylum seekers to - nose, 276. they send some asylum seekers to rwanda. i asylum seekers to rwanda.

health issues for two british royals. issues 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 is newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. it comes hours after the houthi said, they targeted another cargo ship in the red sea. and thatis cargo ship in the red sea. and that is a spokesperson says the us owned ball carrier was struck by a bomb cowering drone

in a direct hit. this map appears to show the vessel changing course and a past few minutes, the houthi's have said they will 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. tom bateman explains what the resignation rather 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, 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 had 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. these tension in the middle east have been spilling out beyond the region, one major player is your run which has started targeting what it considers enemies outside its borders in syria, iraq and most recently, pakistan. 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, hezbollah 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.

paul adams there. in other news, four brothers killed earlier this month by an israeli air strike in the occupied west bank were palestinian civilians who caused 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 sends 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 in jenin. 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. 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. we will have more analysis on all these various strands israel, gaza, iran, yemen with our expert who will be joining me in the studio later on in the programme. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. forthe and across the uk, this is bbc news. for the first time in a0 years, with senegal ago looking to defend her title as some of the most bigger stars looking to put on a show.— the most bigger stars looking to put on a show. they have sea levels dmp _ to put on a show. they have sea levels drop significantly - to put on a show. they have sea levels drop significantly in - levels drop significantly in the past two weeks. justice nearby roads, _ the past two weeks. justice nearby roads, some -

the past two weeks. justice nearby roads, some homes the past two weeks. justice - nearby roads, some homes and vast areas of agricultural land have been inundated.- vast areas of agricultural land have been inundated. after the recent heavy — have been inundated. after the recent heavy rainfall, _ have been inundated. after the recent heavy rainfall, so - have been inundated. after the recent heavy rainfall, so much | recent heavy rainfall, so much of the south still dealing with the after—effects of flooding, it may seem surprising that major reservoirs like this one i fall to the major reservoirs like this one ifall to the brim but major reservoirs like this one i fall to the brim but as you can see, we are still way below capacity. can see, we are still way below ca aci . . ., , can see, we are still way below caaci . . capacity. the water was unable to cive capacity. the water was unable to give us _ capacity. the water was unable to give us an — capacity. the water was unable to give us an interview- capacity. the water was unable to give us an interview but - to give us an interview but confirmed it was pumping water into the reservoir when recent storms raise the volume of dirt and a pre— being carried by the rivers that feed far more. campaigners argue the company has at least in part made the situation worse for itself. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you are live with bbc news. tensions there have been escalating after iran conducted airstrikes on pakistani

territory. this barely a day after it struck a missile on iraqi. in yemen, us forces have destroyed four missiles after houthi rebels hit another cargo ship with a missile of its codes. to give us a better sense of what exactly is happening, let's speak now to our correspondent who joined us in the studio now, his senior researcher, research fellow at the middle east institute at the middle east institute at the national university of singapore. thank you so much for your time. the conflict is so complex and there are so many moving parts in the region, can you break down why this is happening and why it happening now?— happening now? there are different — happening now? there are different things _ happening now? there are different things at - happening now? there are different things at the - happening now? there are. different things at the same time and is what we are seeing, both local issues that have not been solved, in yemen, we have a conflict that has been going on since 201a, between the houthi's and government which was supported by saudi arabia. at the same time, you have

levin on where you had sent to,000 and six, a situation where was more or less stable which was not sold between hezbollah backed by iran and israel on the other side. —— levin on. when the war in gaza started in october, this triggered all this conflict to escalate. so, iwouldn�*t triggered all this conflict to escalate. so, i wouldn't say, as we saw that the... the end of the war in gaza which saw these other conflicts, in each of them has its own logic but what we see is, a kind of game between different actors, you run on one side, us and israel on the other way each of these conflicts is used in the context of this regional conflict. —— iran. context of this regional conflict. -- iran.- context of this regional conflict. -- iran. the houthi rebels. _ conflict. -- iran. the houthi rebels, such _ conflict. -- iran. the houthi rebels, such a _ conflict. -- iran. the houthi rebels, such a small - conflict. -- iran. the houthi rebels, such a small outfit, | rebels, such a small outfit, just a few years ago, have they become so powerful, so quickly?

we have to understand that you said that the houthis as you said that the houthis as you said started in the �*90s were asked small militia in the north side of yemen. when it war started in 201a and when they took the capital city of yemen, then they grew and increased their military stren-th. yemen, then they grew and increased their military stren-th. after yemen, then they grew and increased their military strength. after the yemen, then they grew and increased their military strength. after the saudi coalition started its operation to restore the government against the houthis what we saw was around back supplying more and more missiles and drones to the houthis. in the years after that we saw a rise in the attacks against saudi arabia, the united arab emirates and also attacks against ships in the red sea. in the last ten years, the houthis went from a small not sophisticated militia to this type of big, nonstate actor that is able to defy the us and its allies.—

us and its allies. briefly, because _ us and its allies. briefly, because we're _ us and its allies. briefly, because we're running i us and its allies. briefly, l because we're running out us and its allies. briefly, - because we're running out of time i'm afraid, what a rand paul donica rat�*s thinking in all of of this. their strategy? , so far, iran's strategy has not changed. it is a proxy strategy. they have been using them militia either 11 on, syria or iraqi to escalate and put pressure on the us and israel. but so far i do not see an indicated that iran wants to openly, directly attack the us and israel. so, we are in a position which is very volatile, there could be escalated by accident but at the same time all the iranians statements have been suggesting that iran is not interested in let's say open conflict with the us. senior research fellow at the middle east centre thank you for your time.

prime minister rishi sunak said the rwanda plan will deter people from crossing the english channel in small boats from france. bbc political editor chris mason is at westminster. 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 i without legal process. 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 will 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 does 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'll return the money," he says. the uk has already handed over £2a0 million. and tonight is not the end of the wrangling over this policy. it heads next to

the house of lords. chris mason there. 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 a2, has had abdominal surgery and will be in hospital for at least 10 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 royal family attended church 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 io—ia 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. 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 0wen 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 i 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.a 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 are now 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. that's all for now , do stay with bbc news. 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 skye. and it is in northern scotland we've seen the largest accumulations of snow. through wednesday, we had over 20cm on the deck in lerwick, and that was before this lot arrived. this is a trough bringing particularly heavy showers, widespread, prolonged showers southwards, and that will just 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 a0—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 clip the western side of wales, a few coming down the north sea coast of england. you might see some localised accumulations, but otherwise, 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, 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.

who the fighters attack another wrestle in the red sea. with a good look at the impact the conflict is having on the cost—of—living. conflict is having on the cost-of-living.- conflict is having on the cost-of-living. the value is $50 cost-of-living. the value is sso billion, _ cost-of-living. the value is $50 billion, apple's - cost-of-living. the value is $50 billion, apple's value l cost-of-living. the value is| $50 billion, apple's value is cost-of-living. the value is i $50 billion, apple's value is 3 trillion, 60 times, why? because manufacturing is not that profitable any more. plus, the former— that profitable any more. plus, the former governor _ that profitable any more. plus, the former governor of - that profitable any more. plus, the former governor of india i the former governor of india central bank on why the country's plan to cut foreign investors may not be the best one. hello and welcome to asia business report, i'm suranjana

tewari. we