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. the hunt is on for a cheeky monkey on the loose in the scottish highlands. 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've 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 escalation 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 in 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 hots up. former president trump has already intervened, saying "this would never have happened if i 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, in animosities, have avoided a 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 houthis exactly where they want to be, on the centre stage. it's unlikely that whatever the measure of america's reply, that the attacks the iran—backed initiative won't stop. 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.

earlier, i spoke to 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. since october, i think there have been 170 attacks. that's probably not counting houthi strikes against us commercial vessels or 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 pretty risk averse, i think, and also very lucky. they were not lucky this time. and obviously, they picked a target of vulnerability, not iraq, not syria, butjordan right across the border. at a structure or a place called tower 22, which is

a staging area for an american garrison, that may be too formal a word, in tanf, which is right across the border in syria. and the casualties were three. three dead, 30 wounded. and that's going to go up. many with traumatic brain injuries. so i think the options for the biden administration are not great here. there is going to be a response. both the secretary of defense and president have expressed there, obviously, opposition to these strikes, and said that there will be a response at a time of their choosing. i think, though, it may well go beyond, may well go beyond, what the united states has done in the past. and what do you think a reprisal would look like, though? who exactly would they be targeting? well, there are several options. number one, you can go after iranian revolutionary guard corps personnel, troops in iraq or syria. that's an option. number two, you could go after iranian naval assets, radar installations in the persian gulf,

or you can do something that the united states has never done before. which is to strike iranian assets in iran proper. in 1988, we destroyed a0 to 50% of the iranian navy and two offshore oil wells. but the united states has never struck iran at least, and or claimed responsibility for any action. there may have been covert actions. those are the range of responses. but to do nothing or to respond characteristically, which is to strike back at pro—iranian militias, it's not reducing what the iranians now have, which is a pretty good large margin to attack us forces in iraq and syria. and houthis in the red sea without much of a response from the united states.

so how real, then, do you think the risk of confrontation or direct confrontation between the us and iran is there? and wouldn't that further escalate more conflict around the region? it would, particularly if you end up with a sustained strike, counter strike trajectory between the united states and iran. and the israelis might even get into this as well. i don't think we're on the cusp of a major regional war which would bring the firepower of the united states, and almost certainly the israelis, into direct strikes over a period of days and or weeks against iran proper. i don't think that's where this is going in large measure, because i don't think the major actors here are busy and focused on... with tremendous challenges, trying to de—escalate and or end the israeli—hamas war in gaza without much success so far. but again, you could see an american strike. question then is if it's against iran proper, what will 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 khamenei is much more concerned, frankly, not with the united states right now, with the process of succession. so i don't think they're looking for a major confrontation with the united states. but if you wanted to find a back door into regional war, then the deaths of significant numbers of american troops mightjust get you there. 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. 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 seventh, or in any other criminalactivity, be terminated immediately and referred for potential criminal prosecution. our middle east correspondent mark lowen has more on the fallout from israel's allegations against memebrs of unrwa staff in gaza. looking at those allegations, the un says that it concerns 12 members of staff. nine of them have been immediately dismissed. two are currently being identified and one, says the un secretary—general, has died. the seriousness with which the un is taking these accusations shows

that they were incredibly serious, that these members of unrwa were alleged to have taken part in those attacks on 7th october. i also think that there is some international politics going on here because western governments are seeing an opportunity here to show a sympathetic understanding ear to israel publicly by pausing theirfunding of unrwa, while at the same time keeping up that quite sustained pressure on the israeli government at the moment to try to rein in its offensive. as for the israeli authorities, they also see an opportunity here to prove what they have long alleged and long believed, which is that the agencies of the un are biased or anti—semitic, they have long argued that unrwa encourages palestinians to, that the status of palestinians as refugees to be entrenched, longing to return to historic palestine, and therefore harbouring a hatred of israel. this is an opportunity

for the israelis to bolster their argument. 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. now to istanbul, where one person has been killed and several injured in an attack by masked gunmen on a catholic church. the shooting happened at the church of santa maria during sunday morning mass at around 11:a0am local time. this is the moment the masked gunmen were on their way to the church. turkey's interior minister has condemned the "vile attack" and said an investigation has been launched. police are still searching for the suspects. north korea says it tested its strategic cruise missiles for the second time in a week on sunday. the kcna news agency reported that the cruise missiles flew for more than two hours.

leader kim jong—un supervised the submarine—launched missile test, hailing it a success. he also inspected the construction of a nuclear submarine. on sunday morning, 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. a british basejumper has died in thailand after his parachute failed to open as he plunged from a 29—storey building. nathy odinson 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.... the uk government is set to announce a ban on the sale of single—use vapes tomorrow. the ban — which is not expected to come into force before the end of this year — is part of plans to crackdown use amongst children. 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 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. 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. don't want them 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 this attack 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 what was happening beforehand, and why these boys were attacked? not at this stage, and that is still subject to the investigation and cctv and accounts from people

in the locality. no child should be on the street with a knife. 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. the chairman of the uk post office henry staunton was sacked by the business secretary kemi badenoch, she confirmed today, following what she called �*various disagreements�* with the company�*s board. she said his departure was about more than the horizon it scandal — where hundreds of sub post—masters and mistresses were wrongly accused of fraud and false accounting — and many were jailed. our business correspondent

marc ashdown has the latest. not since it was first established more than 350 years ago as the post office faced such an existential crisis. the man brought injust a year ago to sort things out has now gone — sacked by the business secretary as the government grapples with how to resolve the horizon it scandal. i am the post office�*s sole shareholder. kemi badenoch made it clear that even though the computer issues long predate henry staunton�*s tenure, she decided there should be a change at the very top. there were various disagreements within the board, and when i looked at it, i thought that a change of personnel was what was required. i decided that given all of the difficulties the post office is having, it�*s notjust about horizon. it�*s about the entire business model, how we make it work, that we needed someone who could chair a board that was able to deal with these things effectively. the government ultimately owns the post office and campaigners have long called for it to take tough action to help bring aboutjustice for the more than 700 people

who were wrongfully convicted. i haven't got that money. jo hamilton�*s story was central to the itv drama. she doesn�*t think this departure will make much of a difference. the whole thing is a bit of a distraction from the real thing. it's the dead cat strategy. and i think it's designed to make it look like the department, the business department, is being proactive and listening to the postmasters, but actually they're not. but the business secretary did hint that further personnel moves could follow. one labour mp who�*s long campaigned on the issue says root and branch reform is needed. i hope this is the start of wider change. clearly nick reed, the chief executive, needs to go and we need now an open and honest culture which is not there at the post office at the moment. today, the post office said it�*s fully cooperating with the horizon public inquiry and is making changes so the issues of the past cannot be repeated.

questions about this sacking will rumble on. why now? who might go next? and who might now be brought in, tasked with delivering a resolution to this scandal and a proper turnaround at one of britain�*s oldest institutions? mark ashdown, bbc news. protesters have hurled soup at the mona lisa painting in paris. the 16th century work — by leonardo da vinci — is protected by bulletproof glass, so is unlikely to have been damaged. the two eco—protesters are reported to have been demanding the right to "healthy and sustainable food", saying "our agricultural system is at risk". it is the latest attack on the masterpiece in the louvre museum, after an activist threw a cream pie at the painting in 2022. the military rulers of burkina faso, mali and niger have announced they are withdrawing from the regional economic bloc ecowas with immediate effect. all three nations were suspended by the economic community of west african states after military ta keovers. their withdrawal is a blow

to the body�*s efforts to get them to provide a clear timetable to return to democratic rule. the three military leaders say they want to restore security before holding elections. translation: after 49 | years, the valiant people of burkina faso, mali and niger regrettably, and with great disappointment, observe the organisation has drifted from the ideals of its founding fathers and the spirit of pan—africanism. they argue that ecowas, underforeign influence, betrayed its founding principles and became a threat to its member states and their populations, which it was supposed to ensure the well—being of. 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. 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. venice carnival has been kicked off by a giant rat. 0k, not a real rodent — take a look at this rather a giant rat boat. hundreds of vessels took part in the parade along the famous waterwaters. this year, the carnival is markinge 700th

is marking the 700th anniversary marco polo — of one of its greatest travellers who died in 1324. that�*s it for us on bbc news, stay with us, and asia business are follows. 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 wind�*s 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.

breaking down the shortselling— chinese authorities ramp up efforts to halt of worsening stock market route. we look into why thousands of men in india are signing up to work in israel.

welcome to asia business report i�*m steve lai. short selling will be restricted starting today in a move that chinese securities regulators are designed to create a fair market order. short—sellers try to make money on chairs, bonds or other instruments that they think will fall in price. by curbing the crackly �*s, regulators are hoping to halt a worsening market sell—off. —— the practice. the benchmark csi 300 index of shanghai listed stocks dropped 11% last year and has extended into the new year. earlier, ispoke and has extended into the new year. earlier, i spoke to the directorfor year. earlier, i spoke to the director for economic research katrina l, and she told me this latest measure is an attempt to address negative investor sentiment.— address negative investor sentiment. . �* , , sentiment. what we're seeing is the route that _ sentiment. what we're seeing is the route that has _

sentiment. what we're seeing is the route that has really - the route that has really gathered steam over the past couple weeks, really