live from london. this is bbc news. the rwanda deportation bill passes through the house of commons — downing street calling it a �*major step�* in stopping migrant boats crossing the channel. the us military carries out a fourth round of airstrikes against yemen's houthis — just hours after the group struck an american ship. and — a house of tiny treasures — queen mary's dolls�* house goes on display to celebrate its 100th anniversary. hello and welcome. the uk prime minister, rishi sunak, has seen off a rebellion of right wing conservatives — and successfully steered his rwanda asylum legislation through the house of commons. the government won the vote with a majority of 1m.

mr sunak argues that the rwanda plan will deter people from crossing the english channel in small boats from france. our political correspondent peter saull reports. the ayes to the right 320, the noes to the left, 276. a government victory, in the end by a relatively comfortable margin. but at times this was in doubt. 61 conservative mps tried but failed to change the legislation, including the former home secretary. this bill needs to work. it is our last chance. if we get it wrong, the british people will not forgive us and they would be right to do so. most of her colleagues fell back into line, but she was one of 11 conservatives to rebel in the main vote. and this is what the latest tory row is all about — a plan to dissuade people from getting in boats by saying, "if you come to the uk like this,

we'll send you here to rwanda, where you'll have your asylum claim processed and you can stay." but the scheme has been beset by problems. borisjohnson was prime minister when the idea was first mooted nearly two years ago. the first flight was blocked by the european court of human rights a few months later, and then, after a series of legal battles, the uk supreme court ruled that the policy was unlawful in november last year. so the bill going through parliament at the moment is to address the court's concerns and declare that rwanda is safe. this is a really important part of the jigsaw and i hope that the house of lords, bearing in mind that this bill has gone up unamended, will get on and deal with it and make sure that we can get this into law as quickly as possible and operationalise the rwanda plan. it's clear that the rwanda plan is unworkable, unaffordable and unlawful. what we've seen over the last two days isjust how weak rishi sunak is. having cleared the house of commons, the legislation will now go to the house of lords, where it's likely there'll be much more opposition.

peter saull, bbc news. we expect to hear from the prime minister shortly, there will be a news conference at downing street around 10:15am and he is expected to speak and take questions from reporters. we will bring that to you when it happens. pakistan has confirmed it carried out missile strikes inside iran targeting militants of pakistani origin. earlier, iranian media reported that several missiles had hit a village on the iran—pakistan border — in the sistan—balochistan province. a number of people are reported to have been injured. it comes two days after iran conducted strikes inside pakistani territory — saying it was targeting anti—iran groups. pakistan's ministry of foreign affairs issused a statement about its military action inside iran. it says it used specifically targeted precision strikes, against pakistani terrorists, who have based themselves in ungoverned spaces inside iran.

it says it had shared evidence of their activities — but no action was taken — and says pakistan acted now because it had credible intelligence of impending large scale terrorist activities. this morning, pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in sistan—0—balochistan province of iran. a number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence based operation codenamed marg bar sarmachar. this morning's action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large scale terrorist activities against pakistan by these terrorists. this action is a manifestation of pakistan's unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats.

live now to our pakistan correspondent, caroline davies, who's in islamabad for us. and we willjoin carolina shortly. in the meantime, we are going to take you to... , let us tell you now about a fourth round of air strikes carried out by the us military. the us military has carried out a fourth round of airstrikes against the iranian—backed houthis in yemen. the us says it struck 14 houthi missiles which may have been intended for attacks on shipping in the red sea. it came just hours after the houthis used a drone to hit another us—owned cargo ship in the gulf of aden.

on wednesday, the united states announced that it's returning the houthis to a list of global terrorist organisations. the designation will require american financial institutions to freeze houthi funds — and its members will be banned from the us. it was in november that the group began attacking merchant vessels in the key waterway — saying they were responding to israel's military operation in gaza. since then, the houthis have launched dozens of attacks on commercial tankers passing through the red sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. answering questions about the latest us strikes in yemen — the pentagon's press secretary, major general pat ryder, said the united states is focused on deterring the attacks in the red sea. in our assessment, we hit what we intended to hit with good effects. again, the objective here was to disrupt and degrade houthi capabilities to conduct attacks. and we believe that overall, in terms of the scope and the number of strikes that we took, we have degraded their ability to attack. clearly, they maintain some capability and we anticipated that after any action, there would likely be some retaliatory strikes. 0ur correspondent, will vernon, has been giving us the latest from washington.

the us military in their statement saying that its forces targeted 14 houthi missiles that were primed and ready for launch. and the language of this statement was quite interesting because it basically said that this was an act of self defence and this is a narrative we've seen time and again over the last week or so when the us and its allies are talking about the military action that they're carrying out in yemen, that this is very much a kind of coalition, an international coalition carrying out a defensive mission. and that defensive mission is to protect international shipping, to protect the lives of mariners and indeed of their own servicemen and women and nothing else. now, these were the fourth round of strikes are carried out on houthi targets in yemen since last week. last thursday, we remember, don't we, those coordinated, large scale attacks by the us, the uk and with support from four other nations.

now since then, the situation has basically descended into a kind of tit—for—tat where the houthis fire missiles or drones and then us forces respond. now these fresh strikes came a few hours after a us—owned vessel, a bulk carrier, was hit by a drone fired from houthi—controlled territory in yemen. the us military said that that ship was seaworthy, although it was damaged, and continued itsjourney. now the big question now, of course, is what happens next? because when those large scale, those coordinated strikes were launched last thursday, the us and its allies said that they had two objectives in that. the first one was to dissuade the houthis from carrying out further attacks on red sea shipping. the second one was to degrade their capabilities to do so. now, one week on, it would appear

that they're not really having much success in either of those. attacks on shipping in the red sea continue, albeit on a smaller scale. and that begs the question, what is the way out of this? what is the exit strategy to ensure the us does not get embroiled in a regional war and ensure that the situation, this tit—for—tat, does not continue? we expect to hear from the prime minister shortly, there will be a news conference at downing street around 10:15am and he is expected to speak and take questions from reporters. we will bring that to you when it happens. live now to our chief political correspondent, henry zeffman, who's at westminster. high damaging has this episode been for him? it’s high damaging has this episode been for him? �* , , ., high damaging has this episode been for him? �*, , ., , ., ., for him? it's been a strange mix of devastation — for him? it's been a strange mix of devastation and _ for him? it's been a strange mix of devastation and time. _ for him? it's been a strange mix of devastation and time. he - for him? it's been a strange mix of devastation and time. he has - for him? it's been a strange mix of- devastation and time. he has managed to get the bill through parliament

without it single change but on the other hand he seems to have fallen are quite badly with a few dozen of his own mps in the process so it's politically mixed for rishi sunak but this morning, he will be feeling very relieved, pleased even because from his point of view, what is crucial is getting this legislation into law because he believes that will enable the room asylum policy finally to get off the ground meaning the uk will be able to deport some asylum seekers to rwanda for their own asylum claims to be considered by the rwandan government and from his point of view, that is and from his point of view, that is a route if not the right to elect or salvation for a conservative party thatis salvation for a conservative party that is very far behind the labour party in the opinion polls. what that is very far behind the labour party in the opinion polls. what is next for the _ party in the opinion polls. what is next for the bill? _ party in the opinion polls. what is next for the bill? when _ party in the opinion polls. what is next for the bill? when do - party in the opinion polls. what is next for the bill? when do we - party in the opinion polls. what is i next for the bill? when do we expect to see anyone leaving the country

for rwanda?— to see anyone leaving the country for rwanda? there some stage are still to come. _ for rwanda? there some stage are still to come, the _ for rwanda? there some stage are still to come, the bill— for rwanda? there some stage are still to come, the bill goes - for rwanda? there some stage are still to come, the bill goes to - for rwanda? there some stage are still to come, the bill goes to the l still to come, the bill goes to the house of lords and i think that will probably take place around mid february and in the house of lords we know that there are grave concerns about this legislation. in a slightly different direction software the vertical direction has been this week, mps on the right of the conservative party trying to toughen up the bill under the provisions relating to the european court of human rights in strasbourg in particular. in the house of lords i think you get the opposite, members who want to make sure the bill is more compliant with international law, but the government insists it is a ready so there is a tussle going on there and that will probably take you to the spring, march april and that will probably take you to the spring, march apriland i that will probably take you to the spring, march april and i think rand but then a version of this legislation, similar to the version now will make it into law under rishi sunak is to be believed, it should mean flights can take off a

reminder very soon after that. but some of the concerns over some of the mps who voted against the legislation yesterday as rishi sunak is wrong about that and the bell and the flights will get bogged down in legal challenges before the general election which we expect in october or november this year the government. not have been able to send a plane of asylum seekers to wohlwend efforts. —— to rwanda. 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. for more on this, let's cross over to our correspondent sean coughlin, who is outside kensington palace. have you got any updates this morning? 50

have you got any updates this mornin: ? ., , .,, , morning? so far, the news has been ositive. morning? so far, the news has been positive- we — morning? so far, the news has been positive. we have _ morning? so far, the news has been positive. we have played _ morning? so far, the news has been positive. we have played the - positive. we have played the princess of wales is doing well, the operation which took place on tuesday has been a success and it sounds as if everything is going in the right direction although there is a long way to go. she will be in hospitalfor is a long way to go. she will be in hospital for the is a long way to go. she will be in hospitalfor the next is a long way to go. she will be in hospital for the next couple of weeks and after that, we expect her to recuperate at home for several months and it'll be sometime well beyond easter before we expect to see her back on official duties. as you've already mentioned we had some other big royal health news in the form of king having a procedure to address an enlarged prostate, next week and i think what's most interesting was the willingness for the palace to come forward and talk about this and in some ways it has become something of a public health message. by going public he might encourage other men to go forward and have checks themselves and to raise awareness of this very big issue so in some ways it's quite an unusual degree of openness and in

some ways some chardy saying it's a good thing to challenge the tippy and get people talking about the prostate. i5 and get people talking about the rostate. , ., ., ., ~ ., prostate. is no one taking over the duties of the _ prostate. is no one taking over the duties of the king _ prostate. is no one taking over the duties of the king what _ prostate. is no one taking over the duties of the king what he - prostate. is no one taking over the duties of the king what he has - prostate. is no one taking over thej duties of the king what he has that procedure? it duties of the king what he has that rocedure? , ., ., , , procedure? it will be a fairly brief procedure. _ procedure? it will be a fairly brief procedure. i— procedure? it will be a fairly brief procedure, ithink. _ procedure? it will be a fairly brief procedure, i think. we _ procedure? it will be a fairly brief procedure, i think. we don't - procedure? it will be a fairly brief| procedure, i think. we don't know exactly. i think there will be some postponements of some events, the business of being head of state which involves the checking of documents, signing of documents, that will carry on and we do not expect any of the constitutional mechanisms which are in place of someone was seriously ill to be put in place. he will carry on doing most of us work and there will be some perhaps minor diary changes are postponements but the bill will continue as normal. in postponements but the bill will continue as normal.— postponements but the bill will continue as normal. in terms of the princess is — continue as normal. in terms of the princess is it _ continue as normal. in terms of the princess is it considered _ continue as normal. in terms of the princess is it considered to - continue as normal. in terms of the princess is it considered to be - princess is it considered to be quite a long stay in hospital for princess is it considered to be quite a long stay in hospitalfor a procedure like this? irate quite a long stay in hospital for a procedure like this?— quite a long stay in hospital for a procedure like this? we do not know recisel procedure like this? we do not know precisely what _ procedure like this? we do not know precisely what it _ procedure like this? we do not know precisely what it is, _ procedure like this? we do not know precisely what it is, we _ procedure like this? we do not know precisely what it is, we do _ procedure like this? we do not know precisely what it is, we do know - procedure like this? we do not know precisely what it is, we do know it i precisely what it is, we do know it is not cancer related and it was not

an emergency operation, it was something planned but whatever it is, we do not know. of course such medical matters are private and quite rightly so but what we do know is it will take quite a time to recover so that certainly implies it is something of some significance to take perhaps another three months before she is able to return to duties so it is something of some significance even if we do not know exactly what. significance even if we do not know exactly what-— around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the consumer group which says its research suggests people can pay significantly more for train tickets at station vending machines in england compared with those bought online. it checked the prices of 75 different journeys. train companies said they would continue to work with the government and the rail industry to achieve further changes to fares that would benefit customers. an amber warning for heavy snow is in place in scotland after overnight temperatures fell

well below freezing across the uk. the met office have warned snow showers will affect the northern isles and northwest scotland and could disrupt travel, power, and communications. yellow warnings for ice and snow are also in place in all four uk nations. and a report on the constitutional future of wales says independence would be a viable option but would bring significant financial challenges. an independent commission, co—chaired by the former archbishop of canterbury, rowan williams, has concluded that urgent change is needed to protect welsh devolution from collapse. you're live with bbc news. some years now from pakistan and we canjoin our some years now from pakistan and we can join our correspondence caroline davies who can give us the latest on what is going on between pakistan and iran. we what is going on between pakistan and iran. ~ ., ., what is going on between pakistan and iran. ~ . ., , ., what is going on between pakistan and iran. ~ . . , ., ., and iran. we had a statement from

the foreign — and iran. we had a statement from the foreign ministry _ and iran. we had a statement from the foreign ministry of _ and iran. we had a statement from the foreign ministry of pakistan - the foreign ministry of pakistan confirming pakistan had launched attacks on what they say are terrorist groups operating inside iran. this of course comes after iran. this of course comes after iran admitted yesterday it had carried out attacks inside pakistan borders on militant groups operating inside pakistan. this is a bit of an ongoing discussion between pakistan and iran, there have been a lot of accusations over the course of years that pakistan and iran accused the other of harbouring terrorist militant groups inside the borders, they have come across the border, carried out and have gone back across which makes it different for security forces to go and get justice. that is the backdrop to this but the other thing to bear in mind as pakistan and iran had up until some days ago, pretty cordial relationships. but at this point that has deteriorated fairly dramatically. so we have had reports as well from iran state media saying nine people are believed to have

been killed in this particular strike that was carried out by pakistan. what's really interesting in the language pakistan is using as it is talking very strongly about targeting militant groups, not talking about targeting iran itself. it's very similar language in fact almost mirroring the same sort of thing that was said by the iran foreign minister yesterday in davos when he was talking and saying that iran had carried out these attacks inside pakistan so won't let us all be now a line drawn underneath it, both sides feeling they have done the same thing of all bc iran decide to retaliate, will be see a further escalation between these countries. bearin escalation between these countries. bear in mind the backdrop to this is in the course of the last few days, iran has hit targets inside syria, iraq, and then inside pakistan and it seems to be trying to show a display of strength showing anything it considers to be a threat is a target so how will it feel having

been hit or at least having had a hit happen inside its oil, even if that was not targeted at iran and its military operations? that will be the key question. pakistan in a statement said that referred to iran as a brotherly nation, that brotherly relationship is under some strain. ., ., , strain. you mention it is under strain. you mention it is under strain and _ strain. you mention it is under strain and we _ strain. you mention it is under strain and we do _ strain. you mention it is under strain and we do not _ strain. you mention it is under strain and we do not know - strain. you mention it is underj strain and we do not know how strain. you mention it is under i strain and we do not know how it will escalate or de—escalate but are there any intermediaries that usually step in between pakistan and iran to have a diplomatic angle on it? �* , , ., ., it? it's interesting, we heard from china yesterday — it? it's interesting, we heard from china yesterday who _ it? it's interesting, we heard from china yesterday who asked - it? it's interesting, we heard from china yesterday who asked for - china yesterday who asked for restraint between the countries in the way they would respond to the vessel that will be the big question, will china step in to try and be an intermediary? at the moment it seems fairly unlikely that either of them really want to have any form of escalation between the sites. as i say, they normally have gradual relationships for pakistan

it is an incredibly fragile situation, meant to be having elections in less than a month and in a fragile economic position, not got a great relationship with india but it's hard to deteriorating relationships with afghanistan. does it want a further problem with a run on another border? and for iran, we have heard of multiple issues and things that iran are dealing with around the world, different attacks in dealing with attacks on different fronts, doesn't want to have pakistan also having some form of military confrontation? at the moment both sides are talking about militant groups very clearly saying they are not attacking the state on they are not attacking the state on the other side but does it mean that space for deescalation at this point? space for deescalation at this oint? ~ ., ~ ., space for deescalation at this oint? . ~ ., ., point? what kind of reaction has there been _ point? what kind of reaction has there been in _ point? what kind of reaction has there been in the _ point? what kind of reaction has there been in the media, - point? what kind of reaction has there been in the media, is - point? what kind of reaction has there been in the media, is a . there been in the media, is a particularly tense? fin there been in the media, is a particularly tense?— there been in the media, is a particularly tense? on social media, before the attacks _ particularly tense? on social media, before the attacks happened - particularly tense? on social media, before the attacks happened there l before the attacks happened there were quite a lot of people arguing that there should be some form of military response from pakistan, a lot of analysts thought that was unlikely because that is not what

pakistan has done in the past but this has been very can very closely ljy this has been very can very closely by the media here in pakistan and whenever there is a potential conflict between countries and we have not really seen something like this between iran and pakistan in recent history, this is a real escalation between tensions between the two countries that is picked up by the national media so the key question everybody is waiting for is what will iran do now?— what will iran do now? caroline, thank you _ what will iran do now? caroline, thank you so _ what will iran do now? caroline, thank you so much. _ nurses, teachers and civil servants are among tens of thousands more public sector workers expected to go on strike in northern ireland this morning, in what trade unions are calling the biggest walk—out for a generation. the co—ordinated action between 16 trade unions will see workers walk out in ongoing disputes over pay. we look after the most vulnerable in society, and our wage does not represent that at all. abigail is a classroom assistant for children with special educational needs.

she did the same job in england, but is paid much less in northern ireland. the pay rises by comparison in england to here, the pay rises have been lower in northern ireland and the pay rate in itself has been lower and is lower. so whilst i'm doing the same job, my pay does not represent that. horns toot. today, she'lljoin thousands of other public sector workers on picket lines. yesterday, the northern ireland assembly was recalled for the seventh time since its collapse without success. the assembly is adjourned. thank you. the devolved government hasn't been functioning since 2022, after the democratic unionist party withdrew in protest at post—brexit trading arrangements between northern ireland and great britain. in december, the government offered a £35 billion financial package for northern ireland, but only if stormont is restored.

that includes almost £600 million to settle the public sector pay disputes. but with no sign of stormont returning, the government has refused to release that money. horns toot, cheering. today's strike will undoubtedly cause massive disruption for people across northern ireland. and unions have warned that if the public sector pay dispute is not settled, there will be more strikes to come. sara girvin, bbc news. sheryl sandberg — the former chief operating officer of meta — has announced she is stepping down from the company's board. ms sandberg served as the c00 of facebook, which then became meta, for ia and a half years and as a board memberfor 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 advisor to the company.

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 1.049 billion, that's a drop of 2—point—zero—eight— in the total number of deaths — many linked to the covid pandemic — and another fall in the birth rate. meghan 0wen has more on china's historic efforts to control its population the government became concerned about the impact that could have on its economic growth. in 1979 it introduced the controversial one child policy. but actually after a shrinking workforce and an ageing population, yet relaxed this in 2015

and we saw the two child policy. there was also financial incentives for people to start a family. in 2021 this was relaxed further with the three child policy. but these do not necessarily seem to have worked. latest figures show the population in china has reduced in size for the second year running and at the end of 23 it was just over 1.4 billion. that's a reduction of 2 million on the previous year. look at the birth rate, 6.39 people per 1000. let me show you this graph which is interesting and it shows just how rapidly that birth rate has declined. so why is this happening? young couples in modern cities have said following covid they want to focus on their careers. they are also worried about the cost of living. but equally, the government are not worried because they rely on an ageing population, an ageing workforce and this is putting

pressure on the health service, but also on the pensions system is. could it be that actually these earlier interventions of worked just a little too well? stay with us here on bbc news. hello again. we started with a bitterly cold morning, leading us into another bitterly cold day and really through today and tomorrow, it's going to remain cold. there'll be further snow showers, especially so in the north of the country with some blizzards and drifting. into the weekend, it turns much milder than it has been, but it's going to be wet and windy. so the met office amber weather warning still in force for the far north of scotland and the northern isles. we could see a further 5 to 15 centimetres of snow, with blizzards and drifting. 5 to 10 centimetres coming out of some of the snow showers in northern ireland and a few wintry showers across the irish sea and the north sea coastline, making it inland at times. but despite the fact most of us will have a dry day with some sunshine, it's still going to feel cold. as we head through the latter part of the afternoon

and into the evening and overnight, further snow showers across the isle of man into north—west england, wales, cheshire, possibly even as far south as the midlands. but the showers, not all of us will see them, and we'll have more snow showers coming in across scotland. but the wind is going to change direction to more of a westerly. so it's not going to be as cold along the coasts. you can see the greens here move inland. we're looking at another widespread frost and another cold night. so tomorrow, we start off with a lot of dry and sunny conditions. initially, the snow will be at low levels in scotland, but through the day it will rise into the hills above about 400 metres or so and quite a brisk wind, as well. temperatures, 1 in lerwick to a high of 6 as we push down towards the south of england and wales. so temperatures are going to be higher than they have been, but it will still feel cold. and then as we head on into the weekend the weather changes, we start to have more of an atlantic influence, with strong winds, gales, even severe gales at times and weather fronts bringing

in some rain. so this is the picture on saturday. the rain coming in from the west pushing generally eastwards. we're also looking at drier conditions, brighter conditions in the far south—east. but it is going to be a windy day wherever you are. but note the temperatures, 6 to 9 degrees. it's been quite a while since we've seen temperatures at that level. and if anything, as we head on into sunday and monday, temperatures are going to continue to rise. but on sunday, we're looking at more rain, some heavy rain and also strong winds with some melting snow, too, which could lead to some local flooding.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a bill to deport some asylum seekers from the uk to rwanda passes a vote in the house of commons — the pm calls it a �*major step' to stop migrants boats crossing the english channel. we're expecting a news conference from the prime minister injust over an hour — at downing street — and we'll head there live when that starts. the us military carries out a fourth round of airstrikes against yemen's houthis — just hours after the group struck an american ship. as violence rises in the occupied west bank, evidence suggests four brothers killed by an israeli air strike were palestinian civilians — posing no threat. qatar says a consignment of medicines for israeli hostages held by hamas and humanitarian aid for palestinians has entered gaza.

it's the first to arrive as part of an agreement