north korea says it's tested its new cruise missiles for the second time in a week — with kimjong—un hailing sunday's test a success. and x blocks users from searching for taylor swift, after fake explicit images of the singer spread across social media. presidentjoe biden says the united states will respond after three of its service members were killed in a drone attack on an american base injordan, near the border with syria. us officials say some wounded us forces were evacuated for further treatment and at least 3a personnel are being evaluated for possible traumatic brain injury. president biden said the attack had been carried out by an iran—backed group. jordan — a close ally of the us — has condemned the attack and says it's cooperating with the us to secure the border. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports.

the american say the attack happened at abase known as tower 22, right on the syrian— jordanian border. it is one of many american bases across the region. there have been dozens of drone and missile attacks in recent months, but no american personnel had been killed until now. joe biden, seen here attending church this afternoon, was quick to point the finger. "we know it was carried out by radical iran backed militant groups operating in syria and iraq," he said. it's not necessarily a tipping point into uncontrolled competition between the united states and iran, but is a dangerous step because, as i say, the us will have to respond more strongly than it has done to previous attacks. carefully cultivated over years, iran has a wide network of allies and proxies operating in countries across the middle east. they are all opposed to israel and the united states — it's sometimes called the axis of resistance. there are pro—iranian militias in lebanon, the palestinian territories,

gaza and the west bank, plus iraq and syria, and far to the south there's also the houthis yemen. over the weekend, the houthis have been launching their own attacks, hitting a tanker in the gulf of aden. last night, a british warship, hms diamond, used an air defence missile to bring down a houthi drone. with british help, the us had been hitting houthi military targets for weeks, so far the houthis seem undeterred. they say they will stop attacking ships if and when there's a cease—fire in gaza. the problems america is dealing with across the region aren't all about gaza, but the war there has left the whole middle east a lot more dangerous. paul adams, bbc news our chief international correspondent lyse doucet says this is the latest and most serious of a string of similar attacks on us forces.

earlier, she told us how biden might respond to these attacks. he has to be seen to be doing something, both at home, it is a domestic political issue as the election campaign hot up, former president trump has already intervened and said it would not happen if he was in power, but a message has to be sent to iran—backed militias that the united states will not take this standing by. the difficulty is, what target do you hit without them provoking an even greater escalation? since the start of the crisis, both the united states and iran, two countries long locked, decades, and animosities, have avoided direct confrontation. there are now calls in the united states for president biden to strike iran directly. he will want to avoid that. there are a range of iranian assets in the region that his military

chiefs could choose. they have struck iranian assets in the region during this current conflagration, but they have to choose a target that sends an even stronger message. more importantly than being seen to do something, they have to succeed, this is the conundrum. the united states is now leading the attacks against the houthis in the red sea but that military campaign has not only not stop the houthi attacks, it is actually multiplied them and catapulted the houthi where they want to be, on the centre stage. it's likely that whatever the measure of america's reply, the attacks the iran—backed initiative won't stopped. all that will stop them is an end to the war and the cease—fire that so far, president biden has not called for, at least in public. the united nations is urging

governments not to withdraw funding from its main agency which delivers aid to palestinians in gaza — known as unrwa. france is the latest country to pull money for the organisation — after israel alleged that 12 of its staff were involved in the deadly october seventh attacks by hamas. the agency, which employs 30,000 members of staff, 1,300 of whom work in gaza, says it is investigating and has already sacked nine employees. in a written statement, the un's secretary general antonio guterres said. "the tens of thousands of men and women who work for unrwa, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalised. the dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met." here's un spokesman, stephane dujarric. the secretary general is horrified by this news and asks mr lazzarini to investigate this matter swiftly and to ensure that any unrwa employees shown to have participated or abetted in what transpired on october 7th, or in any other criminal activity, be terminated

immediately and referred for potential criminal prosecution. more than two million people in gaza depend on unrwa, which runs shelters for more than a million people and provides food and health care. displaced palestinians leaving khan younis for rafah gave their reaction to the decision by some ten countries to pause funding for the agency. translation: it is my right - as a palestinian child to get help from these european countries. as a displaced palestinian, all the people of gaza are supposed to get aid from the european countries. we are displaced for the second time from gaza and we didn't see the aid reaching us from the european countries. translation: unwra is our lifeline. who will give us food and drink after the war?

may allah help the people. what can i say? translation: the comments- of britain, germany and some other european countries in regards to the aid for the palestinian people is considered a disaster for us. - the occupation keeps on doing crimes and yet they are supporting them - to do more crimes on us. what we are going through right now is not a war from israel. _ it is a war between- the world against us and. meanwhile, the israel military is pressing ahead with its operation against hamas in the south of the gaza strip. palestinians continue to flee khan younis, which is now the focus of israel's offensive. multiple israeli air strikes were reported there, as well as further north in gaza city. the hamas—run health ministry says 339 palestinians have been killed in the two days since a top un court ordered israel to prevent any acts of genocide in gaza. it takes the total number killed since the start of the war to more than 26,400. representatives from israel, the united states, egypt and qatar have met in paris to discuss

a proposed truce in exchange for the more than 100 hostages still believed to be held by hamas. israel says negotiations, which would see it suspend fighting for about two months, have been "constructive", but significant gaps remain. before sunday's talks, president biden spoke by phone to the leaders of egypt and qatar, who are acting as intermediaries with hamas, to try to narrow the remaining differences. more talks are expected in the coming days. back to our top story where three american soldiers have been killed in a drone strike on thejordanian border. i'm joined now by aaron david miller, who's a former adviser and negotiator at the us state department and is now a senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace focusing on us foreign policy. thanks for your time. how did this happen? and how vulnerable

are us military assets in the region to such attacks? i think the numbers answer the question, since october about 170 attacks, not counting houthi strikes against us flagged or owned commercial vessels and those of scores of other countries in the red sea, and probably no more than 10% responses by the united states. so, the biden administration has been risk—averse, i think, the biden administration has been risk—averse, ithink, and the biden administration has been risk—averse, i think, and very lucky. they were not lucky this time. obviously, they picked a target vulnerability, not iraq or syria, butjordan, right across the border, a structure called tower 22 on a staging area for an american garrison. it is right across the

border and syria. the casualties were three dead, 30 wounded, and that will go up, many with traumatic brain injuries. so, i think the options for the biden administration are not great here. there will be a response. the secretary of defence and the president have expressed their opposition to the strikes and said there will be a response of their time and choosing. i think it may go beyond what the united states has done in the past. they could go after iranian naval assets, radar installations in the persian gulf, or you can do

something that united states has never done before, which is to strike the ring and assets in iran. in 1988, we destroyed 40% — 50% of the iranian navy and to offshore oil wells, the united states has never struck iran at least in the republic route when there been any other actions or covert actions. those are the responses, but to do nothing or respond characteristically —— characteristically and respond to rule the militias, will not reduce what is currently occurring, with the houthi in the united —— in the red sea and other areas.

how real is the risk of escalation in the region. and more direct confrontation between the us and iran? it would if there was sustain a strike or counterstrike in that area. i'm i'm not sure that we are in the cusp of a major regional war which would bring the firepower of the united states and the israelis into direct strikes over a period of days and weeks. i don't think that is where this is going. in large measure because i don't think the major actors here are busy and focused on tremendous challenges of trying to de—escalate or and the israeli— hamas war in gaza without success so far, but you could see an american strike. the question is if it's against iran proper, what will the iranians do. they don't want a major war, the iranians do. they don't want a

majorwar, largely the iranians do. they don't want a major war, largely because of overwhelming us firepower, and they want a measure of stability. the ayatollah is much more concerned not with the united states but the process of cessation. so i don't think they're looking for a major confrontation with the united states, but if you want to define a back door into regional war, and the deaths of significant numbers of american troops mightjust get you there. we american troops might 'ust get you there. ~ ., , ., ., there. we will leave you there for now, there. we will leave you there for now. thank _ there. we will leave you there for now. thank you — there. we will leave you there for now, thank you erin. _ there. we will leave you there for now, thank you erin. -- - there. we will leave you there for now, thank you erin. -- aaron. . to turkey next, where two gunmen have been arrested after a man was killed in a shooting at a catholic church in istanbul. the masked attackers struck during morning mass. the islamic state group says it carried out the shooting. our senior international correspondent orla guerin sent this report from istanbul. two attackers in masks, captured on cctv, walking casually towards the church.

a man enters. the gunmen follow and appear to target him. the congregation, ducking for cover. the victim had intended to become a christian, according to a relative, but was not baptised yet. police move in to seal off the streets around the 19th—century church, as a manhunt gets under way. a morning mass here became a scene of terror. police are still here and there is a real sense of shock in the community. local officials and government ministers have rushed to condemn the attack. the local mayor told us there was no tension in the area between different religions. "the church doors are always wide open," said sukru genc, "even during mass." "muslims visit the church, as well as christians.

"from time to time, you see the priest having tea in someone's house." and from the vatican, a message of support from pope francis. "i send my sympathy to the congregation of the church of santa maria..." he said. "..which suffered an armed attack during mass." the motive for the attack is unclear. but churches in this overwhelmingly muslim country have been targeted in the past. orla guerin, bbc news, istanbul. north korean state media says leader kimjong—un supervised a submarine—launched cruise missile test on sunday. the kcna news agency said the cruise missiles flew for more than two hours. earlier, south korea's military said pyongyang had fired multiple missiles into the sea off its east coast. it followed a similar test on wednesday, of what north korea

said was a new type of cruise missile that could be capable of carrying nuclear warheads. kcna said kim called the latest test a success and also inspected the construction of a nuclear submarine. a british basejumper has died in thailand after his parachute failed to open as he plunged from a 29—storey building. nathy odinson, 33, was killed after leaping from a 29—storey apartment block in the thai resort of pattaya. eyewitnesses reported seeing a man fall to the ground after crashing through a tree. the police say they found a blue parachute on him, which had not opened. the victim's social media pages suggest that he was an experienced pa rachutist. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk.... uk business secretary kemi badenoch says she sacked the post office chairman because it

"just wasn't working". she said henry staunton�*s departure wasn'tjust about the horizon scandal, which saw hundreds of subpostmasters wrongly convicted because of a faulty it system. an interim chair is expected to be appointed shortly. labour's chief whip has suspended mp kate osamor from the party pending an investigation. she had sent a message to party members on the eve of holocaust memorial day saying there was an �*international duty�* to remember the victims of the holocaust, but also �*more recent genocides in cambodia, rwanda, bosnia....and now gaza'. she subsequently apologised on social media. king charles is spending a third night in hospital in london, after undergoing a procedure for an enlarged prostate. he was visited on saturday and sunday by queen camilla. charles is staying in the same hospital where the princess of wales is being cared for, following her abdominal surgery. you're live with bbc news.

in the uk, two boys, aged 15 and 16, have died in hospital after being stabbed in bristol last night. police say they were attacked by a group who fled the scene in a car. a 44—year—old man and 15—year—old boy have been arrested, but police are looking for other suspects. danjohnson reports from bristol. this is another community stunned into a moment of collective silence by the loss of two young lives to knife crime. a minute to quietly contemplate what happened and what it means. their parents have to live the rest of your life and their brothers and sister without them. it's heartbreaking, heartbreaking. the question on everyone's mind here is, "why? what prompted such violence"? this street was today still a crime scene under intensive investigation. it needs to stop. it really needs to stop.

i don't want my girls to grow up. do you worry it's getting out of control? yeah. a lot, yeah. i thought it was bad when we were young. then, but no it wasn't. that double—decker bus marks where that attacked happened, but we don't believe that was involved, itjust happened to be passing at the time, but we are told that one of the boys was living on the street, so it has hit people here hard. officers were here quickly and tried first aid, they have made arrests and found a car but not yet the others they think were involved. it is demoralising but it has made me determined to support the community and work with the team of police officers we have committed to this to identify others and bring them to justice. any idea as to why these boys were attacked?

still subject to the investigation and cctv and accoutns from people locality. you can't mistake the anger in this community, and while there is talk of gang rivalries on this estate, people believe these boys were blameless. it's shocking, they were quite nice boys, my honest opinion, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. people are grieving but are also anxious to know who did this and how to stop it taking more lives. danjohnson, bbc news, bristol. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. centre—right candidate alexander stubb has narrowly won the first round of finland's presidential election. he'll face green party candidate pekka haavisto in a run—off on february 11th. it's the country's first election since itjoined nato last year, and all nine candidates promised a tough stance on the kremlin. protesters have hurled soup at the mona lisa painting in paris. the 16th century work — by leonardo da vinci — is protected by bulletproof glass and was not damaged.

the two eco—protesters were demanding the right to "healthy and sustainable food", saying the agricultural system is at risk. it's the latest attack on the masterpiece in the louvre museum, after an activist threw a cream pie at the painting in 2022. the social media platform x — formerly known as twitter — has blocked users from searching for taylor swift after explicit ai—generated images of the singer began circulating on social media. some of the fake images were flagged by her fans, who flooded the site with real images of her with the caption �*protect taylor swift'. in a statement to the bbc, a spokesperson for x said it was a "temporary action" to prioritise safety. the world's largest cruise ship, the icon of the sea, has set sailfrom miami in florida on its maiden voyage. it is 365 metres long, has 20 decks, and there is enough room for almost 8,000 passengers on board.

but environmental organisations have raised concerns about the ship's methane emission. sofia bettiza reports. if you like going on cruises, this is a dream come true. and if not, it is probably your worst nightmare. take a look at this, it is called the icon of the seas, it is the largest cruise ship in the world. it cost $2 billion to build it. let me show you what is inside. it has seven swimming pools, six water slides and a0 restaurants, like this one. it also has an orchestra, comedians, musicians and an arcade. this is the ship setting sail from the port of miami. and taking its passengers, and can house up to 7,600, on a trip to the caribbean. the royal caribbean group

who own the ship say that all this is eco—friendly. have a listen to the chief engineer. sustainability is an important part of ourjourney to destination net zero in the future, and lng is one part of that step forward on that journey. he talks about the boat being powered by lng, which is short for liquefied natural gas. even though lng burns in a way that is cleaner compared to other marine fuels, it mostly contains methane which is a powerful greenhouse gas. some experts are warning that there is a risk that some gas could escape, leaking harmful methane into the air. listen to this. the moment you start using lng as a marine fuel, including in cruise ships, you start to emit more greenhouse gas emissions than if you had done nothing and continue to run on the fuels that we are using today.

when methane, which is what lng is mostly made of, is released in the air, it traps 80 times more heat than co2 over 20 years. so it's extremely harmful. and cutting those emissions is seen as crucial to slowing down climate change. so, for many experts, this lavish cruise ship represents everything that we should not be doing to fight climate change. and so the icon of the seas, for all its sophistication, could be one of the last ships of its kind. and finally, a monkey is on the loose in the scottish highlands after escaping from a wildlife park. the japanese macaque found a way out of its enclosure at the highland wildlife park on sunday and into a nearby village. the royal zoological society of scotland, which runs the park, said it had assembled a team to bring the animal home. members of the public have been

urged not to approach the monkey, but to contact the zoological society with any information. you can find more on bbc .com, in the meantime keep it here on bbc news, goodbye for now. hello there. we did expect it to get a bit warmer today, but it may well turn out to be a record—breaking day with some sunshine and a southerly wind ahead of a band of rain. in highland, scotland, temperatures reached close to 20 degrees earlier on, and that would smash the previous january temperature record in the uk. now, the winds are dropping, actually, and the temperature is going to be dropping too. this band of rain moving through scotland and northern ireland is heading into northern parts

of england and wales. and following on from that, in the lighter winds, we're getting into colder air — so much so that in northern parts of scotland there's likely to be a frost overnight tonight, whereas ahead of the rain across england and wales, it's still a mild start to monday. but this rain is going to hang around in northern england and wales, heavy over the hills, particularly in the north west of england. much of scotland and northern ireland likely to be dry with some sunshine, lighter winds but much colder than today. temperatures typically 7—8 degrees, whereas where it's dry across the midlands and southern england, it's still mild, temperatures of 1a, maybe 15 degrees. now, it's notjust rain that we're going to see, though, on monday. after dark, there could be some snow in the southern uplands leading to icy conditions by tuesday morning, by which point that area of low pressure will have taken the wet weather away and we're left with a cloudy start for england and wales. some sunshine for scotland and northern ireland will push its way southwards through the day. that very mild air is going to get pushed away, but 12 degrees

is still possible in the south—east. but for many in the afternoon it's going to be nearer eight degrees or so. so it's turning chillier from the north. but if we look to the north again by the middle part of the week, we've got more isobars, some weather fronts. it's turning wet and windy, particularly in scotland. widespread gales here on wednesday and across northern ireland, northernmost parts of england. the really strong winds are in the far north of scotland, but over the highlands this time we could see a couple of inches of rain. that wet and windy weather in scotland will sink down into northern ireland. england and wales looking dry, the winds much lighter further south and some sunshine temperatures of 10—11 degrees. now the weather front bringing that rain is going to move southwards overnight. the rain petering out, chilly weather for a while, but then we change the wind direction by thursday, bringing in a milderair and also more cloud.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines at the top of the hour as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. weer show you an interview in 2014 with a guest �*s remarkable story right around the world. he died after i spoke to him at the age of 106. mostlyjewish children from nazi persecution in czechoslovakia. now, he hates the label of hero, but his life is proof that an individuals can make an extraordinary difference. now a majorfilm based on his story

has been released. i travelled to his home in the english countryside to ask him what motivated him. sir nicholas winton, welcome to hardtalk. for most of your long life, your extraordinary story wasn't particularly well—known. but now it is known right around the world. do you like the fact that people now know exactly what you did in 1938 and �*39? i don't mind the story being told. i'm not so keen on the frills. what do you mean about the frills? well, you know as a journalist, better than i do, what i mean. _by —— by the