the uk and the us carry out fresh strikes on houthi targets in yemen. britain's foreign secretary says the latest attacks are justified. what the houthis are doing is unacceptable, it is illegal and it is threatening the freedom of navigation. and nominations for this year's oscars will be announced shortly, with box office blockbusters oppenheimer and barbie expected to top the list. hello. i'm rajini vaidyanathan. we start in the middle east, where israel's military says 2a soldiers were killed in central gaza on monday, making it the deadliest day for israeli forces since the start of their ground operation. in a statement, prime minister

benjamin netanyahu says, "yesterday we experienced one of our most difficult days since the war erupted." he goes on to say... "in the name of our heroes, for the sake of our lives, we will not stop fighting until absolute victory." that's despite increasing pressure internationally and from within israel for the fighting to stop to secure the release of the remaining 130 hostages held by hamas and allow in more humanitarian aid to gaza. the israeli military says it's killed dozens of terrorists in gaza in the past 2a hours. this video from the israel defense forces video showing strikes on hamas targets. this is the scene looking across at gaza from southern israel. the hamas—run health ministry in gaza says at least 195 palestinians have been killed in the past 2a hours, taking the total killed since the seventh october to 25,490. our middle east correspondent yolande knell has more from jerusalem.

our middle east correspondent yolande knell has more from jerusalem. these were 21 reservists close to the israeli border, near to a israeli kibbutz buts, the israeli military says they were on a mission to try to make things safe enough for israeli residents to go back to their homes, in the south and they were in two, two storey buildings when it seems that missiles were fired at a tank nearby and because the two buildings had explosives inside, it looks like the plan by the israeli military was to demolish them, then those two buildings themselves collapsed, the israeli military says it is still investigating what happened. another developing story we're following today — the us and uk have once again hit houthi targets in yemen. it comes in response to attacks by the group on shipping in the red sea.

uk foreign secretary lord cameron said the strikes sent the �*clearest possible message the countries�* words would be supported by action. our north america correspondent david willis has this report. royal air forcejets, armed with precision guided bombs, joined us forces to rain missiles on houthi targets, prompting explosions which rocked the capital sanaa and other parts of yemen in the early hours of tuesday morning. us officials said among the targets was a weapons storage site very deep underground. the uk ministry of defence said they hit multiple targets at two military sites in the vicinity of sanaa airfield. this was the second round of military action undertaken jointly on the part of the us and the uk. a previous effort 12 days ago, coupled with half a dozen attacks mounted by the us alone, has so far failed to stop the houthis.

are the air strikes in yemen working? well, when you say working, are they stopping the houthis? no. are they going to continue? yes. before the latest strikes, houthi leaders had vowed to continue their attacks on shipping in the red sea as part of a show of support for palestinians caught up in the war with israel. however, the defence secretary, grant shapps, predicted this latest mission would erode the houthis�* ability to threaten global trade. yet more than 30 attacks on commercial vessels navigating a key route for world trade have already prompted fears of inflation, as freight supplies are delayed or re—routed. added to which, iran's backing of the rebels raises the troubling possibility of a broader conflict in the middle east. david willis, bbc news, washington. we can cross live to westminster and our political

correspondent helen catt. what is the government been saying today? what is the government been saying toda ? ~ ., , ., what is the government been saying toda ? ~ ., ., today? well there was a “oint statement issued �* today? well there was a “oint statement issued by h today? well there was a “oint statement issued by the h today? well there was a joint statement issued by the uk | today? well there was a joint i statement issued by the uk and today? well there was a joint - statement issued by the uk and the us governments after these air strikes in which they said they had been proportionate and necessary, and that it was about protecting the free flow of commerce, that is very much what we have heard from the uk government this morning, grant shapps the defence secretary talking ant these being in self—defence and against what he called intolerable attacks by the houthis in shipping in the red sea, that was something echoed by the foreign secretary lord cameron who said the attacks were unacceptable. . a long side that action, is a whole set of measures we will be taking including sanctions and other pressure to put on the houthis, combined of course with the action the royal navy is taking with others in the red sea and we will be building the

strongest coalition of support to back the steps that we have been taking. let us be clear, we have no car elsewhere with the yemeni people, indeed our aid feefrds 100,000 yemenis every month, using the sea lane, delivering that aid, which is the sea lane that the houthis are trying to close. these was the second set of air strikes in which the uk has taken part, the us has carried out eight sets so far and before the uk joined those for the first time, the prime minister then did brief the leader of the opposition s keir starmer ahead of the strikes happening, he briefed the speaker of the house of commons, now that we understand did not happen this time round, and labour would like a confidential briefing this morning for keir starmer, they have also would like to see the prime minister make a statement to parliament, and if they don't get this confidence that will briefing they will be pushing for things like details on the aims of

the strikes, on what means they are taking to protect civilians and the risk of escalation and there was a real concern about this, after the last set of strike, there was a debate in parliament, mps from across the house of commons were expressing concerns about avoiding escalation —— escalation in the region, we will see more of being debated today.— i'm joined now by a former commander of the ukjoint forces command, sir richard barrons. sir richard, welcome to bbc news. we have seen another wave of co—ordinated action from the us and the uk. the goal is to degrade the capability of the houthis, do you think that is working? irate capability of the houthis, do you think that is working?— capability of the houthis, do you think that is working? we yes, it is havint think that is working? we yes, it is having some _ think that is working? we yes, it is having some effect. _ think that is working? we yes, it is having some effect. i _ think that is working? we yes, it is having some effect. i think - think that is working? we yes, it is having some effect. i think as - think that is working? we yes, it is having some effect. i think as are l having some effect. i think as are rough estimate about 30% of the houthi missile and drone capability has been destroyed, but of course it

can be replaced, but this is an attritional act, can be replaced, but this is an attritionalact, it can be replaced, but this is an attritional act, it is not going to end the houthi's determination to go keep going or their ability to do so and it won't be the last air strikes from the us and the uk. to break this down, _ from the us and the uk. to break this down, sir— from the us and the uk. to break this down, sir richard, _ from the us and the uk. to break this down, sir richard, what - from the us and the uk. to break this down, sir richard, what is . from the us and the uk. to break| this down, sir richard, what is the us and uk targeting to reach that goal of diminishing their capabilities?— goal of diminishing their capabilities? goal of diminishing their ca abilities? ., goal of diminishing their ca-abilities? ., , capabilities? so, we need to be clear that _ capabilities? so, we need to be clear that 0% _ capabilities? so, we need to be clear that 0% of _ capabilities? so, we need to be clear that 0% of the _ capabilities? so, we need to be clear that 0% of the material i capabilities? so, we need to be l clear that 0% of the material that the —— clear that 0% of the material that the -- 90% clear that 0% of the material that the —— 90% of the you walk needs arrives by sea so freement to of navigation on the oceans of the world is vitally important to the uk, and the houthi missiles and drones are interrupting that and sending ships on a long expensive dr tour round africa, the targeting is of the drone, the missile, the radars, the logistics that support the strikes and the command and control that enables it all. these are all very military targets set so far. it are all very military targets set so far. , ., are all very military targets set so far. , . . are all very military targets set so far. ,. ., , far. it is iran that supplying the houthis with _

far. it is iran that supplying the houthis with these, _ far. it is iran that supplying the houthis with these, where - far. it is iran that supplying the houthis with these, where are l far. it is iran that supplying the - houthis with these, where are they getting this capability? 50. houthis with these, where are they getting this capability?— getting this capability? so, again, eve one getting this capability? so, again, everyone is _ getting this capability? so, again, everyone is clear _ getting this capability? so, again, everyone is clear that _ getting this capability? so, again, everyone is clear that the - getting this capability? so, again, j everyone is clear that the missiles and the drones for the post part are coming from iran, by sea, —— most partand coming from iran, by sea, —— most part and the houthis operate as proxy of tehran, they are not under total control and there is a lot of houthi independence in the act they are doing right now but it is enabled by iranian industry and politics. 50 enabled by iranian industry and tolitics. , , , politics. so this is the second wave, politics. so this is the second wave. from — politics. so this is the second wave, from your _ politics. so this is the second | wave, from your assessment, politics. so this is the second - wave, from your assessment, will there have to be several more waves to diminish the ability of the houthis to launch further drones and this all comes as the houthis say they will retaliate? we this all comes as the houthis say they will retaliate?— this all comes as the houthis say they will retaliate? we are stuck in a cle of they will retaliate? we are stuck in a cycle of least _ they will retaliate? we are stuck in a cycle of least worst _ they will retaliate? we are stuck in a cycle of least worst option, - they will retaliate? we are stuck in a cycle of least worst option, the l a cycle of least worst option, the uk has participated in two strikes, and this is now the tenth strike that the us have led on, and there is no sign really of the houthis deciding to apologise and give up, so, the real answer to this is, these strikes are likely to

continue, the attacks on shipping diminished are likely to continue and this will run on and until will is a solution to the current horror in gaza. �* ., is a solution to the current horror in gaza. �* . ., ,., ., , , in gaza. and at what point does this to in gaza. and at what point does this go fromming _ in gaza. and at what point does this go fromming with _ in gaza. and at what point does this go fromming with what _ in gaza. and at what point does this go fromming with what appears - in gaza. and at what point does this go fromming with what appears to l in gaza. and at what point does this | go fromming with what appears to be a tit—for—tat action to a wider more serious escalation? it a tit-for-tat action to a wider more serious escalation?— a tit-for-tat action to a wider more serious escalation? it would require one or other— serious escalation? it would require one or other parties, _ serious escalation? it would require one or other parties, the _ serious escalation? it would require one or other parties, the us - serious escalation? it would require one or other parties, the us or- serious escalation? it would require one or other parties, the us or iran | one or other parties, the us or iran to decide that they were going to escalate this particular set of actions, into something wider, and the very clear evidence is that neither party wants to do that and therefore we may have arrived at a level of violence that we are going to live with for some time but won't necessarily escalate.— necessarily escalate. general sir richard thank _ necessarily escalate. general sir richard thank you _ necessarily escalate. general sir richard thank you for _ around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. government borrowing in december was lower than expected, helped by a steep drop in interest payments. the office for national statistics says that borrowing, which is the difference

between spending and tax income, was £7.8 billion. the amount was below forecasts, with many analysts expecting it to be about £14 billion. in the uk, two million people could have their gas and electricity cut off this winter because they cannot afford to top up their prepayment meter. that's according to new research by citizens advice. it comes as a separate report suggests millions are living far below the poverty line in the uk. the government said it is spending billions on supporting households. a simple blood test could detect alzheimer's up to 15 years before symptoms emerge. swedish trials found the test to be as accurate as painful lumbar punctures, and better than a range of other tests currently being worked on. experts say it could revolutionise early diagnosis of the disease. you're live with bbc news. ukraine says at least five people

have been killed in a wave of missile attacks overnight, with the capital kyiv and second city kharkiv among cities targeted. once again people were seen seeking shelter in the kyiv metro. the ukrainian military says of 41 missiles launched by russia, 21 were destroyed by air defences. this was kharkiv, where the three people are reported killed and 42 injured in strikes on apartment buildings. there were other fatalities in kyiv and in the dnipro region. ukraine's interior minister says hundreds of people have been left homeless and has accused russia of deliberately inflicting daily terror on civilians. let's return to the united states — voting in the new hampshire primary has got under way, with the tiny village of dixville opening the vote at midnight. the rest of the state will vote later today. our repotrer helena humphrey takes a look at what's at stake in the state.

new hampshire has been the first primary in the race for the white house, this time round the field has been whittled down to these two candidate ops the republican side, former president donald trump, coming off the back of iowa of course where we had a decisive victory over a week ago and nikki haley, she came in third, she is the former governor of south caroline that, she has been putting a lot of effort into. can paining hard, she is hoping to have a good night here, particularly if she wants to continue in her campaign. ron desantis, the governor of florida, he has just dropped desantis, the governor of florida, he hasjust dropped out desantis, the governor of florida, he has just dropped out of the race, just a few days before polling day, but this is what polling day will

look like, so some 300 polling stations open, across the state, it is a secret ballot, it will be open from early in the morning until the evening, its a republican primary, and a democratic one as well, on paper, i they because officially the business kicks off with the democratic side in south carolina, president biden won't have his name on this ballot, barring any unforeseen circumstances very likely to be the candidate on the democratic side, so for any who put their name in the ring this is about bragging rights. so, if you are an independent voter, and there are a lot of them, this is the choice you will be presented with when you walk into a polling station, you can take a republican slip or democratic one here, a few things to notice here, just taking a look for example, here you can see names like ron desantis, tim scott, of course they have

dropped out, they are still on the ballot though, if we go over thentor, the democratic side, so names you willjust want thentor, the democratic side, so names you will just want to thentor, the democratic side, so names you willjust want to note. dean phillips for example, the congressman from minnesota, he is on the ballot for the democrats as is marian williamson, the writer who will probably know from a previous election cycle too. it will be interesting to see how many votes they manage to chalk up and people can write in who they want as well, so, biden probably will get rights as well. it will be a mesh of popularity going into the —— measure of popularity going into the campaign. let us talk about the independent voters because they are important. 43% as you can see, that is a hefty block, more on than on the democratic side. that one of the reasons nikki haley has been putting attention into trying to court that electorate. she has been doing better with the independents than

donald trump, so she has been trying to capture a portion o that. who goes out to vote what does new hampshire look like, here you can see it is older, it is wealthier, and it is whiter as well than many parts of the united states, more people a college degree so ridgley conservative policies that you will see do well in iowa, not the same calibration here, generally the electorate is seen as more moderate. how are the candidates doing in? we can look at a poll, just snapshots but here you can see pretty quickly if you do the maths you can see the challenge here for nikki haley, 57% for donald trump, 38% for nikki haley, we are talking about a 19 percentage points difference between the two candidates right now as they go into this. is new hampshire a good predict for of becoming the candidate? on the republican side it is, here you can see, only three

times since the 50s has the winner of new hampshire not gone on to be the republican nominee, and what donald trump is trying to do is win both iowa and new hampshire, and as a non—incumbent that would be unprecedented. he would be breaking new ground, so what are the candidates playing for tonight? they are looking for a share of the 22 delegates to go to the republican national convention injuly, to national convention in july, to choose national convention injuly, to choose the nominee. another thing to keepin choose the nominee. another thing to keep in mind here is that is quite a small proportion of the total that you will need. it is 1% you need to secure the nomination, and remember, that total number, is actually 1215, so this also about bragging rights as well, and what we will see is donald trump does manage to dominate in that convincing way we saw in iowa for example, then it does look

increasingly likely that 2024 will be a rematch between these two it will be an interesting one if it is indeed now to a major story here in the uk. up to 39,000 homes in the north of england, scotland and northern ireland have spent a second night without power because of the damage caused by storm isha. engineers are working to reconnect homes but many are bracing themselves for more extreme weather and travel disruption as storm jocelyn now approaches. mairead smyth has the report. the damage done by storm isha. trees down across the uk, the strongest winds for some in more than a decade. a narrow escape for this driver in lincolnshire as the storm brought the unpredictable — a roof flung onto the road. and with the wind came heavy rain, causing floods in parts of cumbria and north yorkshire. waves battered the coastline from blackpool in the north west of england, to east sussex

in the south east. thousands of people without power, many in remote areas warned they may not be reconnected until today. in northern ireland, a man in his 60s died after his car crashed into a fallen tree in county londonderry. and in scotland, an 84—year—old man lost his life after the car he was in, hit a fallen tree in grangemouth. rail travel brought to a standstill in scotland. it's been travel chaos, as you can imagine. all the local transport links to central station have been cancelled. well, i did have a flight booked. the flight was cancelled. so then this booked this. this is now delayed as well. so, who knows when we'll get there? we've travelled from ayr. so we had to get a bus this morning. that was delayed, and now this is delayed. . hopefully we'll get there! the force of storm isha, now gone, with another in its wake, storm jocelyn. amber warnings for wind are in place across northern and western scotland

from 6:00 this evening. scotrail say services will be suspended from 7:00 tonight, and no rush hour services will run tomorrow morning. yellow warnings for wind are in place across the rest of scotland, northern ireland, wales and large parts of england. and yellow warnings for rain covering north west england and the west coast of scotland today. mairead smyth, bbc news. you can see there we have lots of stories on the bbc news website you. ca turn to your bbc local radio stations and local television for more localised updates about what is happening nominations for the years most prestigious awards ceremony — the oscars — will be revealed today

at 1330 gmt. this year's box—office has been dominated by barbie and oppenheimer. earlier i asked film critic jason solomons what we can expect this afternoon. it would be great to have some surprises, we really want surprises, because as you say, the obvious ones are barbie and oppenheimer, and basically how many nominations those two giants of this year's cinema can chalk up. but where will we see surprises is probably the people who have been left out, rather than the ones we suddenly included. people in the directing category, where it gets very tense, you can only pick five. will they pick favourites like martin scorsese, will they pick people like bradley cooper or will we see some directors from other areas rewarded, particularly in the female film—making?

it is almost a category of its own, now, but people get very very upset if there is not female film—makers included in this, particularly if they have made films that merit it. i am thinking of greta gerwig as director of barbie, who was snubbed by the baftas last week for a nomination. martin scorsese's killers of the flower moon, a big favourite to rack up a lot of nominations, martin scorsese overlooked by the bafta voters for a nomination. so who will take their place in that oscar list? i am hoping greta gerwig will get in there. we are looking directors like justine triet from france for the film anatomy of a fall, which has a big chance of racking up a lot of nominations, although oddly not in the foreign language film category or internationalfilm, because france didn't nominate it itself, but it is going on its own without the backing of its home academy. i am thinking of a film like past lives, directed by celine song in her first film. lots of love for that in new york, the new york voters loved that film.

it's a story of new york and korea, will it find its way to lots of nominations? also for its actress greta lee, snubbed by the baftas, will that feature? so i am thinking there be fine arty type films, zone of interest byjonathan glazer, how will that feature? that was a uk—based film. it was shot in poland and germany and it is in a foreign language. look out for that actress sandra huller, from anatomy of a fall, she is also in zone of interest, she is an extraordinary new actor to oscar voters and i think we might see her in the best actress category, alongside hot favourite for her fourth nomination, emma stone for poor things. briefly, how much has the writers' strike and indeed the fall out from covid affected the sort of films that we are seeing, you know, in the cinemas

in the last couple of years? i don't think we have seen the knock—on effect of the strikes yet, everything we are seeing now was made before the strikes, what we are seeing are films that got in before the promotional window ended. remember during the strikes the writers, directors, actors, were sort of in sympathy with all the strikers and lots of films weren't promoted throughout the summer. it is no coincidence that barbie and oppenheimer managed to do their promotional duty, big almost world tours of seeing margot robbie and ryan gosling in pink around the world, and all the oppenheimer crew, we are talking about cillian murphy, robert downeer, they supported their films to the billion dollar totals, and then promotional windows shut down. so we are seeing some suffering from not being able to promote themselves during that time, and it is no surprise that barbie and oppenheimer, who got all their promotional activity in have succeeded

in becoming the number one and two movies. it remains to be seen what the others who delayed their promotions, and i am thinking like poor things and killers of the flower moon, who weren't able to promote during the strikes, catching up with some late promotion, can they do enough to oust those two? and a reminder — the oscar nominations for 2024 will be announced in around three and a half hour's time in an early morning news conference in la. we'll have a special programme here on bbc news so dojoin us — from 1.20 gmt onwards. i will be back actual a short break. stay with us here on bbc hello again. storm jocelyn is bringing us some heavy rain and some strengthening winds as we go through the course of today.

but it's tonight that the wind will peak with widespread gales, even severe gales in the north. now, this storm following on so hot on the heels of storm isha yesterday does mean that impacts are likely. so, we've got all this rain moving from the west to the east, another 60 millimetres possible across the highlands, the southern uplands, the lake district, the yorkshire dales and north wales, in areas already sensitive to the rain. and as it clears the south of england, in south wales there'll be a lot of low cloud left behind it and dank, murky conditions, with showers in the west. but look at these temperatures — 11 to 14, very mild for this time of year. now, these blacks circles represent the strength of the wind gusts. so, continuing to pick up through the day. the met office has an amber weather warning in force from 6pm tonight till 8pm tomorrow morning, where within this area we're looking at the potential for gusts up to 80 miles an hour. so do bear that in mind. overnight tonight, too,

the rain whittles down towards the southeast. the low pressure, which is storm jocelyn moves across the north of scotland. we've got that squeeze in the isobars. that's when the peak winds will be when we're looking at the severe gales or indeed the gales. and these are our overnight lows. we're looking at between six and 11 degrees. now, tomorrow, the winds will only slowly moderate. we'll start off with gales in scotland and also northern england. and, here, it will take much of the day for the wind to moderate. we're not talking about easing, just moderating. and then you can see, too, we've got all this cloud coming in across the southwest and we'll see some drizzle coming in here. temperatures down a little bit on today, but still seven to about 12, maybe 13 degrees. so, this is what's bringing in the cloud and the drizzle during the course of the latter part of wednesday. and on thursday, it's going to be drifting steadily northwards. thursday's going to be a fairly cloudy day, a lot of low cloud around with this rain, particularly so in the west. it's going to become breezy, if not windy. and temperaturewise, well, we're looking at six in lerwick to about 13

as we push further south. and then, as we head in towards the latter part of the week, well on friday a fairly decent day, but there'll be gales in the northwest. but, beyond that, changeable.

this is bbc news. the headlines...

one of scotland's most senior clinicians, professorjason leitch, is clinicians, professor jason leitch, is clinicians, professorjason leitch, speaking at the l where is speaking at the covid inquiry, where the topic of deleting messages is being discussed. a former post office investigator is facing questions about the horizon computer scandal, at the long—running inquiry. and survivors of the 2017 grenfell tower fire share the impact of the disaster on their lives as part of grenfell testimony week. one of scotland's most senior clinicians, professorjason leitch, is appearing before the uk covid inquiry, where the issue of saving informal messages is being discussed. last week, a message he wrote was shown to the inquiry, in which he said deleting whatsapp messages was a bed—time ritual during the pandemic. this comes after the testimony of professor sir gregor smith, scotland's chief medical officer on monday, who admitted asking his colleagues to delete whatsapp messages at the end of every day during the pandemic.