in court in a civil defamation lawsuit brought by the writer e jean carroll. and hundreds flee incessant fighting in khan younis in southern gaza, while israeli fire kills 20 people queuing for food in gaza city. russia says it has found missile fragments and black boxes at the sight of a plane crash which its claims killed 65 ukrainian prisoners of war. live from our studios in singapore, this is bbc news. it's news day. the us supreme court has refused to stop the execution of death row prisoner kenneth smith in the state of alabama, meaning he could be executed anytime now.

the 58—year—old will become the first person in the us to be executed using nitrogen gas, a method which the united nations has called �*cruel and inhumane�*. it will be the state's second attempt to execute smith, who was convicted in 1989 of murdering a preacher�*s wife, in a hired killing. tom bateman reports. they have a 12—hour window basically from six o'clock local time in alabama until six o'clock in the morning to carry out this untested and experimental as it has been described by its many detractors method and that will involve kennett smith being led into the execution chamber, having an airtight mask strapped to his face and then pure nitrogen pumped from a pressure ride tank and him being effectively asked to breathe it in. they have of course been many experts suggesting that one of the problems here is this has never been done before. essentially we heard from what of your

contributors there, —— soby contributors there, —— soby contributors there, —— soby contributors there, waiting to find out whether it will work and he will feel any pain. this is fundamental about execution station no—one has any way of telling because the subject gets killed at the end of it. talking to some experts in this process, one of the fundamentals when it comes to the debate over capital punishment, i spoke to an anaesthesiologist involved in the case who opposes the death penalty. he said in the end there is a kind of pseudoscience carried out by the states that back the death penalty is because many experts, medical professionals won't have anything to do with the process. he talked about a veil of secrecy around it. it is very hard to know whether things are truly effective. they may look 1—way to a non—expert observer, especially if there is a paralysing effect but somebody is still suffering and in the end there is no way of telling. as this story and

this upcoming execution or impending execution reignited the this upcoming execution or impending execution reignited the debate this upcoming execution or impending execution reignited the debate for this upcoming execution or impending execution reignited the debate for capital punishment in the us and what are people saying? it is punishment in the us and what are people saying?— are people saying? it is not my sense that _ are people saying? it is not my sense that there _ are people saying? it is not my sense that there is _ are people saying? it is not my sense that there is a _ are people saying? it is not my sense that there is a huge - sense that there is a huge clamour around this particular case. it is interesting that as another guest said support for the death penalty has been falling steadily in the us for a number of different reasons but it is still more than half the population that back it for convicted murderers. it doesn't feel to me there is a massive outcry of public debate over this. when we were in alabama for several days on the run—up for several days on the run—up for this, things were quiet. i think there is a quite acceptance. there is a lot of support for the death penalty in alabama like many other southern states. the reality remains though that there is a very acute campaign of pressure

by many campaign groups that oppose this and they have been very successful over recent yea rs very successful over recent years because one of the things they have managed to do is to make it so pharmaceutical, many pharmaceutical companies will not supply the drugs needed for lethal injection because it is seen to be shameful effectively. the european union for example has banned the export to the united states of many of these chemicals. that is why states like alabama have been looking around for other methods. some have authorised, for example, the firing squad again. this nitrogen gas execution. it is tried and untested. i think it does not amount to a test case today, whether he will spark off a big public debate around the death penalty is not my sense but it could make a difference about whether or not there is a spike back upwards and the number of executions carried out because they have been dropping steadily over recent years.

former us president donald trump has testified in court in a second civil defamation lawsuit brought by the writer ejean carroll. mr trump spoke for just four minutes, saying he stands by the denials in his sworn deposition testimony. ejean carroll is seeking more than $10 million in damages for comments he made in 2019 after she accused him of raping her in the �*90s. a judge has already ruled trump's statements were defamatory. the jury's job now is to decide how much trump must pay in damages. our north america correspondent nada tawfik has more on what he said. in court outlining the ground rules for donald trump's testimony took longer than the testimony itself. thejudge, in conversation with his lawyers, left no room for mr trump to go beyond the agreed terms so he couldn't launch into a monologue or campaign from the witness stands. he answered just a few questions in four minutes, saying that he stood by his deposition, thatjean carroll's claims that he raped her were a hoax,

that he didn't instruct anyone to hurt ms carroll and that he had himself wanted to defend himself, his family and the presidency. the latter part, the judge ordered stricken from the record. but that didn't stop the former president from uttering, this is not america and i never met her, from the defence table where he wasn't under oath. now, donald trump is testing the limits of the courts in his legal cases, but it is keeping his supporters invested and tuned in. and more importantly, he's receiving considerable press coverage as he campaigns for the republican presidential nomination. now, closing statements will be next. and then this case will go to the jury to decide how much in damages donald trump should pay for defaming jean carroll. meanwhile, donald trump's former senior adviser, peter navarro, has been sentenced to four months in prison and fined $9,500 on two counts of contempt of congress. peter navarro refused

to comply with a subpoena from the house committee investigating the january six attack on congress, claiming he was shielded by executive privilege. federal prosecutors said he: "...chose allegiance to former president donald trump "over the rule of law". his lawyers say he will appeal the conviction. gary 0'donoghue has more from washington. he gary o'donoghue has more from washington-— washington. he was right there from the beginning _ washington. he was right there from the beginning of— from the beginning of administration, very hawkish on china but when covid came along that took up much of his activity. after the election, he was part of the process that was trying to overturn the results of the election and in fact after in 2021 he wrote a book about it, went on television, talked about it in great detail, calling it what he described as the immaculate deception, in other words he believed there were a number of voting allegra narratives that should have had the election overturned. —— allegra laverty�*s when the january sex

committee that was investigating the rights at congress came calling to get him to testify about the attempts to overturn the election, he did not want to do that and he did not provide documents, did not sit for a deposition and therefore ended up deposition and therefore ended up getting charged by the department ofjustice. he has always claimed he was protected by executive privilege, in other words the president asked him to do things and he is protected from that. the court did not agree. peter navarro says he is now indebted to the tune of $1 million and is appealing for money and says he was effectively caught between two branches of government, the legislative arm and the executive arm and he believes they should go all the way to they should go all the way to the supreme court to decide whether or not there was executive privilege or not. a bipartisan delegation from the united states congress is in taiwan, where it's reaffirmed support for the island. their visit follows the election of taiwan's new president on the 13th of january.

they're the first us lawmakers to visit since the independence—leaning democratic progressive party won a third—straight term. earlier i spoke to one of the lawmakers involved, democratic congressman ami, who's co—chair of the house taiwan caucus. i asked him about the main focus of their meeting. i think it was important we just watched a free and fair elections take place a little over a week ago it in taiwan's. i think it was to reiterate, reiterate the united states support that the future of taiwan is really up to the people. the people have chosen then ex—president and one of then ex—president and one of the co—chairs of the congressional caucus thought the congress of the united states should congratulate him and visit with the new president and cabinet members and again reaffirm our principles of the taiwan licence act, which is the future of taiwan is really up to the people of taiwan's.

jaehwan has an alignment with the us when it comes to democratic values and it looks to the us as a deterrent to china's aggression. what does the us get out of the relationship? i think we get a lot. they manufactured the majority of the world's most advanced conductors critical to the world economy. we also want to maintain the status quo. nobody is looking for a con confrontation kinetically with the prc. i think we want to send a strong message that the status quo has been peaceful and prosperous for the majority of this region. that is the stance the president elect, we see aggressive manoeuvres of coming out of beige and the taiwan strait. we see them in the south china sea and again thatis the south china sea and again that is not what we should be doing in the 21st—century. i think it is to reassure the people of taiwan that the status quo is the best path forward for peace and prosperity in this region.

there is clear bipartisan support towards the taiwan as we can see by the visit and the extension of the new president—elect. are you worried about retaliation from china? they might see the us relationship with taiwan and the us president in the reason as a threat in itself? —— taiwan is not threatening may know china. the united states is not threatening mainland china. we are reacting to increase pressure increased aggression that we see coming out of beijing. received in the south sea and talk about the folks in the philippines, certainly vietnam in their own exclusive economic zone. that is not the way we should behave in a 21st—century. again, we have seen increased incursions, lights, navy patrols are debating, out of mainland china. again, that is not helpful. at this time in the world's economy is fairly fragile we have two wars in the

world, now is a time to de—escalate tensions. dr biden administration is doing the right thing by opening up lines of dialogue. i'm a democrat, i was here my republican co—chair and i think congress would also be willing to open up lines of communication and dialogue to de—escalate tensions. there is still some time before the inauguration in may of the president—elect. are you expecting any movement from china in reaction to his ascension to the position? i wish i could say that i would not expect anything coming out of mainland china, but i really do think they will step up as we approach the may inauguration with more aggressive war drills etc, to try to influence the direction of the president—elect, comments. he ran on maintaining

the status quo, it has been peaceful and prosperous for the region, and we are here to reiterate congresses commitment that the future of taiwan is really up to the people of taiwan's. ...to to slide on wednesday, triggering strong condemnation from south korea, japan and the united states. the lodge khamis south korea conducts a 10—day special forces infiltration drill off its east coast. north korea has accelerated weapons testing in recent months. it is the second launch event this year, after testing of another intermediate range ballistic missile carrying a hypersonic warheads document last year north korea conducted over a dozen tests of cruise missiles of different ranges from land and sea, posing a major security challenge for the region. doctor sojourn limb is the co—director of the

international... she told us more about the potential reasons for north korea's weapons testing.- reasons for north korea's weapons testing. kim jong il essentially — weapons testing. kim jong il essentially had _ weapons testing. kim jong il essentially had a _ weapons testing. kim jong il essentially had a meeting i weapons testing. kim jong ii i essentially had a meeting with food and as we well know for the korean... he managed to sell lots of weapons to russia and last week the appointed minister of north korea flew to russia and there was some sort of business factor now we know that quite many of north korean chip labour force that quite many of north korean chip labourforce are in russia. for me, it looks like kimjong eom is looking russia. for me, it looks like kim jong eom is looking for is some kind of tester show capability of north korea to other potential customers, like iraq or syria. in a way that, yes, is a worrying situation but at the same time if we think in a slightly different angle, it could be a way that north korea is looking for the way are they go through about

this current economic difficulties by selling the weapons and this could be what of those ways to see and show their weaponry capabilities to their weaponry capabilities to the other. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories in the headlines in the uk. he valdo calocane know who killed three people austrian in nottingham has killed three people austrian in nottingham has been killed three people austrian in nottingham has been told killed three people austrian in nottingham has been told is likely to spend the rest was likely to spend the rest was like a high security hospital. he was given a hospital order after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of this mini —— diminished this possibility. the family members of the people stabbed have expressed their disappointment at the sentence. a court has heard that a baby girl would still be alive if it wasn't for the "callous, cruel, "arrogant and ultimately grossly negligent conduct" of her parents. constance marten and her partner mark gordon are on trial for the manslaughter of their newborn daughter victoria, who was found inside a shopping bag covered in rubbish. they deny the charges.

the uk covid inquiry has heard that nicola sturgeon called borisjohnson a "clown" in an expletive—laden text conversation with her chief of staff. her successor as first minister humza yousaf has been facing scrutiny at the inquiry over his tenure as scotland's health secretary during the pandemic and the government's use of mobile messaging apps like whatsapp. you are with bbc news. talks on a potential second gaza deal are on the cards. president biden is to send cia director william burns, to help broker a deal on the release of israeli hostages held in gaza. he'll meet the head of the israeli intelligence agency mossad, and the prime minister of qatar, for talks in france. more than a hundred hostages are still being held by hamas in gaza, while israel's siege and the ongoing war continue to inflict a devastating toll on civilians. 0n the ground in gaza, the hamas—run health ministry

says 20 people were killed by israeli fire in the north today as they queued for food. while in the south, un officials say israel has ordered tens of thousands of palestinians sheltering in a un compound in the embattled city of khan younis to leave within 2a hours. and on the border between israel and gaza — near rafah in the south — families of israeli hostages held in gaza have stopped aid reaching the city. 0ur middle east correspondent lucy williamson reports. in gaza city, hunger sometimes offers the best chance of survival. crowds drawn to a delivery of humanitarian aid yesterday driven away by gunfire. bullets arrive faster than starvation. sirens blare today at the same aid delivery point 20 people were killed by shelling, according to the hamas—run health ministry. more than 100 injured.

translation: we were heading to get flour and they shelled - us four times, and some people were martyred and injured, and i was injured in my hand and leg. rockets are not the only threat to life in gaza. food stripped from trucks by hungry people as soon as they arrive. the un is warning of famine. doctors say diseases are spreading. ruba's chronically ill father died a week after moving to this refugee camp, she says. she shows our cameraman the makeshift train beside her tent. "this is where the sewage accumulates," she says. "when it rains all our bedsheets, blankets and clothes are soaked with sewage water". protesters arrived at israel's main crossing point today, calling for the release of family and friends held

hostage by hamas — barring the path of aid trucks. if they need that aid they will give us our people. they will get all of the aid. we are not monsters. we cannot give them without we get something back. it's very simple. do you feel any kind of conflict in your heart when you stop those trucks? nope. i feel that i need my people home. israel's private minister is under international pressure to get more aid into gaza and under domestic pressure to get the hostages out. he's sticking to his promise that military pressure is the way to free the hostages, but not everyone in the country or the cabinet agrees. lior peri's father chaim is being held in gaza. he thinks israel's prime minister has made a choice to continue the war — at the expense of the deal

to free the hostages. he keeps saying the same thing. that he still thinks there are two objectives to the war, after it's been proven over and over that they cannot work together, those two. either you bring down hamas and you give up the hostages or you stop the war and you bring back the hostages. chanting in gaza, too, some families called for a ceasefire today and the release of prisoners. the price of peace measured in israeli lives as well as palestinian ones. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. in other use marli's military rulers have accepted a peace deal. —— they blamed other signatories not sticking to their commitments and hostile as by the chief mediator

algeria. it follows months of hostility between the —— by the rebels. there is likely to further destabilise the west african nation which has been wracked byjihadist violence since 2012. let's turn now to the war in ukraine, where questions remain over the russian military transport plane that crashed on wednesday, which moscow says was carrying ukrainian prisoners of war. russia accuses ukraine of shooting it down and says it's found missile fragments and the black boxes at the site of the crash. ukraine's security service has opened a criminal inquiry and the government has called for the united nations and red cross to be given access to the crash site. the bbc has verified this video shared on social media, which shows a plane going down, followed by an explosion and a fireball. the crash happened northeast of the city of belgorod near the border with ukraine. the bbc has spoken to a form

ukrainian prisoner of war, who told us about his experience of being moved for an exchange. we also reflected on russia's claim that there were only three prison guards on the plane that crashed. translation: ., , ., translation: logistics were as followin: , translation: logistics were as following. we — translation: logistics were as following, we were _ translation: logistics were as following, we were bought - translation: logistics were as following, we were bought by i following, we were bought by present transport vehicles to the airfield. then we were transported by military plane, i'm pretty sure it was an ill 76. we picked up big group of people in kusk and then woelfl onto belgrade, from there we were bought by buses to account always exchange. —— brought. before you are moved from the prison or any other place your headis prison or any other place your head is basically fully covered by a hat and your eyes are being covered by the sellotape. there were talk of bags on the head, but i have usually seen a has been used without. the eyes are covered by sellotape. maybe

someone can sneak a peek, but they don't think it is possible for everyone. i've not seen the plane, was carried in with my own eyes, from the outside, could tell there were about six there. we were flown and carried by buses and put into three tents. each tent had more than 20 people. of course we had guards that were flying with us. each bus had at least three prison guards. imagine the huge plane dart, lights were not working, carrying 60 pows. yes, the hands are tied, but their legs are free because they need to watch. so imagine they need to watch. so imagine they have only three prison guards trying to guard them in this dark environment and these guards are not allowed to use firearms on the plane, even though they have shotguns and they cannot use them. yes, they have baton's, but they cannot do much with these baton's in the dark to control 60 plus prisoners. that's why don't

believe that information that there only three guards on the russian plane is true. it is simply lies. abs, russian plane is true. it is simply lies-— russian plane is true. it is simply lies. russian plane is true. it is siml lies. �* ., ., simply lies. a young woman has been jailed _ simply lies. a young woman has been jailed for _ simply lies. a young woman has been jailed for 27 _ simply lies. a young woman has been jailed for 27 years - simply lies. a young woman has been jailed for 27 years for - been jailed for 27 years for killing a pro— war blogger last april. she died does mcgree died when a bomb concealed in statuesque of himself went off when he gave a dog in a st petersburg cafe. he had been handed the statue by darya trepova. she said she had been set up in thought it contained a listening device are not a bomb. she told the trial she was acting on the orders of a man in ukraine who had been spending her money and instructions. it is one of the hardest sentences imposed on women in russia's history. after three years in which it surpassed all expectations, another has confirmed that it is ingenuity mars helicopter has made its finalflight is ingenuity mars helicopter has made its final flight after sustaining damage. the mini aircraft made history by achieving the first powered

controlled flight another planet in 2021. the last of the flies took place last week. this is the final pick it took back. we end with police in thailand who have arrested a woman after her pet line, yes, about line was seen riding in the back of a car. the bentley with the lion in the backseat was in a southern city driven by a sri lankan man who is now for the country. 0wning by a sri lankan man who is now for the country. owning a lion is legal in thailand, but this animal was not properly registered and the woman could face up to one year in prison. that's all for now. stay with bbc news. hello. thursday was a pretty cloudy but very mild day. temperatures reached 14.1; celsius in a couple of spots. friday won't be quite as mild. a little bit cooler, a little bit fresher, but more in the way of sunshine. and just for some of us, a few showers around,

particularly across parts of scotland. but an overnight weatherfront has brought a lot of us some rain. that's just pushing its way eastwards. now through the early hours of friday it'lljust be lingering across parts of east anglia, the south—east of england as well. so early rain for some in the south and east that clears away. and then we're left with clear spells for all blustery showers coming in across the north—west for scotland over the higher ground. they could be falling as snow for a time. perhaps one or two showers for northern ireland and northern england, but they'll be few and far between. further south, you should stay dry all day. temperatures in the afternoon about 5 to 9 degrees. so for some of us, i think they're actually going to come down a little bit through the day. these are the wind gusts that we're expecting. it's going to be particularly windy up towards the northwest of scotland. western isles could see gales at times. into friday evening, more blustery showers in the north and the west, clearer and lighter winds to the south and east. and we could see some mist and fog patches forming through perhaps the midlands, east anglia, the southeast as well. temperatures getting down to two or three here in the towns and cities, so a slight frost.

further north, they've got more of a breeze, more cloud and patchy rain to keep those temperatures from falling too low. and then into the weekend, then it is back to the mild air, particularly by sunday. the winds coming in from the south where the front approaching from the west later on sunday. but for saturday, early morning mist and frost clearing away quite quickly. a bit of rain for parts of northern scotland where it will still be breezy and perhaps some patchy rain into northern ireland later in the day. but for central and southern scotland, much of england and wales are dry day. top temperatures around about nine or ten degrees. into the second half of the weekend, sunday probably going to be that a little bit warmer than saturday. again, quite a bit of sunshine around, a little bit of cloud drifting around here and there and more rain into northern ireland and western scotland later on in the day. but before it arrives, look at those temperatures, 12 or 13 degrees. so above average, certainly for this time of year. into next week, low pressure starts to try and move its way

in from the atlantic. we've got higher pressure across the continent, but things could turn a little bit more unsettled, particularly in the north for the middle part of the week onwards. but its remaining mostly dry in the south. and certainly for all of us, it's looking mild. bye— bye.

us markets eat fresh record high as the economy continues to grow. but fears to what

tensions in the red sea will mean for global inflation. 0il mean for global inflation. oil prices hitting their highest levels this year. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. let's begin in the us, the world's number when economy grew at a better—than—expected pace last year. led by strong consumer spending. drove stock markets to new highs. s&p 500 logs is fifth record close. michelle fleury has more from new york. for an economy many said was headed for recession, the us continues to defy expectation. in the final three months of last year, the american economy grew faster than expected, expanding at an annual later three x 3% while inflation fell. growth for the entire year also accelerated, even as the federal reserve was engaged in the most regressive rate height cycle in years. dr biden ceased on the moment. here is

the president in