killed three in jordan. at bbc verify, we've been looking at new analysis that shows that more than half of gaza's buildings have been destroyed or damaged since israel launched its offensive in gaza. french farmers continued their protests with dozens of road walked around paris and major cities. ants could a new microchip help people control electronic devices with the power of their minds? hello, i'm matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live, power—sharing in northern ireland's devolved assembly is set to return, after the biggest unionist party, the dup, backed a british government deal aimed at soothing concerns over post—brexit trading rules. government at stormont has been suspended for almost two years, after the dup walked out in protest over arrangements which created

trade barriers between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. it's not clear yet what's in the deal, but it won't reverse the basic settlement between the uk and the eu. speaking in the last hour or so, dup leaderjeffrey donaldson said the deal vindicated his strategy of boycotting the assembly. thoses who said there will be no legal change, who were protecting all kinds of outcomes, what things would fall short — well, i simply have asked people to wait and see the outcome. we at and see the evidence and judge for yourself what this deal does, what it delivers, the change that it secures. and i believe we are now beginning to see on day one that delivery coming through.

there will be more to come. tomorrow, the government will publish the proposals so everyone in northern ireland will be able to see clearly what has been agreed, what is proposed, what change will come, what difference will it make for all of us in northern ireland? and i look forward to the publication so that finally people will be able to see the extent of what has been achieved by the dup in delivering that change for northern ireland. earlier the leader of sinn fein — mary lou mcdonald said it will be a moment of "very great significance" when her party colleague michelle o'neill becomes first minister at stormont. speaking in the great hall at stormont, mrs o'neill said the next days will be �*crucial�* in restoring power sharing. obviously i am very glad we are at thisjuncture in the think it is a day of— thisjuncture in the think it is a day of optimism and there is some hope _ day of optimism and there is some hope for— day of optimism and there is some hope for the wider public. our public— hope for the wider public. our public sector is stretched in public sector_ public sector is stretched in public sector workers have been forced to the picket— sector workers have been forced to the picket lines. i want to be in position— the picket lines. i want to be in position because i want to make a difference — position because i want to make a difference to people's lights and i

want to— difference to people's lights and i want to stand up and fight back against — want to stand up and fight back against the tory authority agenda that has— against the tory authority agenda that has hurt so much over the last 13 years _ that has hurt so much over the last 13 years so — that has hurt so much over the last 13 years so we have work to do, a lot of— 13 years so we have work to do, a lot of hard — 13 years so we have work to do, a lot of hard work ahead of us, a bit of a slog _ lot of hard work ahead of us, a bit of a slog ahead of us but collectively we can do better for the people that we serve. collectively, we could fight back against — collectively, we could fight back against the tory authority agenda and stand — against the tory authority agenda and stand up and fight for our public— and stand up and fight for our public services that is our business to take _ public services that is our business to take peoples lives better and that is— to take peoples lives better and that is what i want to be in the position— that is what i want to be in the position of— that is what i want to be in the position of the first minutes to and work_ position of the first minutes to and work with— position of the first minutes to and work with all the other parties i think— work with all the other parties i think the — work with all the other parties i think the next few days will be crucial — think the next few days will be crucial to — think the next few days will be crucial to get us to the real—life point _ crucial to get us to the real—life point of— crucial to get us to the real—life point of where we go into that chamher— point of where we go into that chamber and nominate point of where we go into that chamberand nominate and point of where we go into that chamber and nominate and put ministers — chamber and nominate and put ministers into position and let's -et ministers into position and let's get down — ministers into position and let's get down to business, the public deserve — get down to business, the public deserve no less. well a little earlier i spoke to our ireland correspondentjohn campbell. he gave us his assesment. jeffrey donaldson was certainly in fighting form there, out selling this deal.

saying that it's going to deliver more than some of his critics had suggested. now, of course, we only have what he is telling us his particular spend on this deal. he says there's going to be new legislation to further underpin northern ireland's position within the united kingdom. there'll be legislation which will guarantee the unfettered access of northern ireland goods as they flow across the irish sea and to other parts of the uk. he's also saying there going to be changes to the rules for goods coming the other direction because that has been the major concern for unionists that the post—brexit trading arrangements which the uk government imposed on northern ireland, meant that businesses within great britain need to jump through various new hoops in order to get their goods into northern ireland. for unionists that was undermining northern ireland's place within the uk. so they've wanted that sea border swept away. they're not going to get that, butjeffrey donaldson says it will be further amended and mitigated. one thing we are pretty sure on, though, is a sort of side deal which the uk and the eu have announced this afternoon, and that concerns northern ireland's

participation in uk trade deals. up until now, northern ireland could not benefit when it came to imports under those deals. for example, when bringing in things like new zealand lamb northern ireland importers would still face tariffs rather than the tariff—free arrangements under the trade deal. now the uk and the eu say they have reached an agreement in the body which oversees the overall northern ireland brexit deal, and northern ireland now can participate fully in those trade deals. and sirjeffrey donaldson was saying, well, here is something which shows the eu have actually moved a bit. there is going to be a textural change to what is in the overall windsor framework agreement. people said that couldn't be done and now it is being done. so that is something which jeffrey donaldson has certainly grasped on to this afternoon as an example of what he says is the sort of progress which has been made. and of course, a huge amount of politics involved. so much pressure, especially on the dup with all of those protests we've seen in northern ireland in recent weeks.

it is right to say, isn't it, that money will flow from westminster to stormont once they get power—sharing running again? exactly. the secretary of state here has a cheque for over £3 billion, which he is preparing to hand over to the northern ireland parties when ans if, which looks like when, they return to stormont, a large chunk of that about £600 million is supposed to be used to settle public sector pay claims. there have been a series of very disruptive public sector strikes here because those workers in public services have seen their wages fall substantially in real terms over the last couple of years there has been a budget crisis in northern ireland and the civil servants who have been left in charge, they have not been in the position to actually offer pay deals to those workers. the hope is now that that money will flow pretty quickly and those pay negotiations can begin and those industrial disputes can start to be de—escalated.

straight to breaking news. it concerns lucy letby they can see serial killer nurse who has lost the first stage of the process of her appeal against her convictions in august of course, you remember the nurses found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill another six. at the counter of chester how are between 2015—2016. she was sentenced to a whole life term in prison. lucy letby applies to the court of appeal for permission for her case to be herded there. herapplication permission for her case to be herded there. her application was reviewed by a singlejudge there. her application was reviewed by a single judge who has denied her that permission. she now apparently has iii days in which to decide whether to apply again for the public hearing for the panel of threejudges, if she public hearing for the panel of three judges, if she was to win that hearing and appeal win and then be listed by the court. if she loses it, there would be no further avenue for her to try at this stage to

launch an appeal. so lucy letby losing the first stage of the process to appeal against her convictions. that news just coming into us. president biden says he's decided how to respond to a drone attack that killed three us service members injordan on sunday. speaking to reporters as he left the white house, mr biden didn't give any further details of the plans, but insisted again that the united states did not want a wider war in the middle east. he said iran was "responsible" for supplying weapons for the attack. let's collide to washington with gary o'donoghue. of course there is a whole range of potential actions, the president now has been clear on what he intends to do but of course none of the details being made public. take us through what he has confirmed and said. figs public. take us through what he has confirmed and said.— public. take us through what he has confirmed and said. as he say he has confirmed and said. as he say he has confirmed that _ confirmed and said. as he say he has confirmed that a _ confirmed and said. as he say he has confirmed that a decision _ confirmed and said. as he say he has confirmed that a decision has - confirmed and said. as he say he has confirmed that a decision has been . confirmed that a decision has been made about a course of action to

respond to the killing of those three service personnel in the 30 for injuries sustained at that base in jordan. for injuries sustained at that base injordan. obviously, they are not going to tell us what they are going to do before they do it or when they are going to do it but he has been having regular meetings since the weekend when it happened with his senior intelligence staff and military staff and typically in the circumstances what presidents ask for is a range of options. they asked the pentagon to come up with different scenarios, different types of response ranging from something pretty full on to something pretty moderate. and thejoke is that moderate. and the joke is that the pentagon always hopes the president picks the middle one. we will see which one he does pick, it is clear, i think in these circumstances, that simply by the nature of this attack and the nature of the consequences of this attack, that the response cannot be what has gone before. what

has happened before with these attacks since october on american basesin attacks since october on american bases in iraq and elsewhere is that the americans have gone after the specific site for which those rents and missiles were launched an attack to those. the fact that american service personnel have died, i think it has to be a larger response than that. a lot of pressure for some republicans to hit iran directly. that would be a major escalation, of course but the americans have said all along is that they do not want a wider war in the middle east. job biden reiterated that point today as he boarded marine one heading for a campaign stop in florida. gary o'donoghue — campaign stop in florida. gary o'donoghue in _ campaign stop in florida. gary o'donoghue in washington there. before i go to our guest, to a line coming in from john kirby at the white house saying thatjoe biden will attend the return of those us service members killed in the attack injordan. no exact detail on that, but the white house making it clear that the president will be in attendance when those bodies are

returned to the united states. live now to holly dagres, who is a senior fellow at the atlantic council's middle east programmes. you heard there from our correspondent, the biden administered and has been weighing up administered and has been weighing up their options and now have a clear in their mind what they are going to do, what you think is the most likely options able will choose? ., ~ most likely options able will choose? . ,, , ., ., most likely options able will choose? . ,, ., . ., choose? thank you for having me on the programme _ choose? thank you for having me on the programme. for— choose? thank you for having me on the programme. for starters, - choose? thank you for having me on the programme. for starters, as - choose? thank you for having me on | the programme. for starters, as your reporter rightly noted, that republicans in congress have been calling on the united states to actually hit assets inside iran which deftly does not seem like an action that the joe which deftly does not seem like an action that thejoe biden had been attrition will be wanting to take because that could lead to a very large regional escalation and potential all—out war. so i think more likely we are going to see that iranian assets in iraq and syria and potentially being hit and potentially being hit and potentially in the in the near future cyber attacks and sanctions

on ir ct related entities. you mention some _ on ir ct related entities. you mention some of _ on ir ct related entities. you mention some of the - on ir ct related entities. you mention some of the hottest bushes yesterday is listening to a senior general same to the british media saying that decisive force was needed this time —— hawkish voices. the arguing saying that the tit—for—tat strikes have not stopped iran. i know what you're saying but joe biden and the caution of a wider war but what do you say an argument like that? i war but what do you say an argument like that? ~ war but what do you say an argument like that? ,, , . . like that? i think it is an argument that also the _ like that? i think it is an argument that also the netanyahu _ like that? i think it is an argument i that also the netanyahu government has been making since the october seven attack by the terrorist group hamas. so it is that they believe that the head of the state needs to be cut and they see the head of the sink being the republic of iran and parades of these proxy groups across the region whether in syria, iraq, yemen, and the gaza strip and lebanon. so for them if they are

able to stop these attacks directly, they believe it will put an end to these so—called axis of resistance. and as i pointed out earlier, actually hitting iran on iranian soil would definitely lead to an all—out war. soil would definitely lead to an all-out war-— soil would definitely lead to an all-out war. ., ., all-out war. going back to basics, because to _ all-out war. going back to basics, because to run _ all-out war. going back to basics, because to run denies _ all-out war. going back to basics, because to run denies any - because to run denies any involvement on what happened on sunday and any involvement on what the houthis are doing, obviously the white house consistently says all of roads with these attacks lead back to tehran. in terms of the concrete evidence for that, what is that? just looking at the context of the events on sunday that led to the three us service members being killed, the attack was claimed by the resistance, the iraqi resistance group. in essence this is an

umbrella group of iran backed she a militias and they believe that this was retaliation for a earlier event that happened prior with the united states hitting his brother i will give you an example. when the events on sunday happened, a irgc affiliated account posted a picture of the leader of hezbollah giving a hand gesture leading us forces into the region and them in coffins. so the region and them in coffins. so the whole goal here is to pressure the whole goal here is to pressure the united states enough to withdraw from iraq and syria. a, the united states enough to withdraw from iraq and syria.— from iraq and syria. a final brief thou~ht from iraq and syria. a final brief thought because _ from iraq and syria. a final brief thought because john _ from iraq and syria. a final brief thought because john kirby - from iraq and syria. a final brief thought because john kirby in i from iraq and syria. a final brief thought because john kirby in a | thought becausejohn kirby in a news conference was irritated by a question he was asked in terms of the options thatjoe biden would choose,is the options thatjoe biden would choose, is it impacted by the fact that we are in an election year, do

you think that is in any way part of the equation here?— the equation here? certainly, an election year _ the equation here? certainly, an election year does _ the equation here? certainly, an election year does play - the equation here? certainly, an election year does play and - the equation here? certainly, an election year does play and part| the equation here? certainly, an i election year does play and part in every presidential candidate's calculations here, but i think the wider issue is that the iran policy with the biden administration has been seen as a failure with many and they believe finally they need to step up and this is a prime example why the biden administration needs to do more with iran and that is the message here from republicans and democrats, increasingly as well. thank you so much for being here on the programme. just as i was going through that interview another line from the white house and john kirby saying, hope you are making progress on the hostage talks. it's that continues to bubble away in the background. another line coming from the afp news agency out of the middle east,

reporting that the israeli army confirms, large volumes of water into the cause of tunnels that have been talked about a few weeks ago. but the israeli army confirming that they have pumped large volumes of water into this hamas tunnels in gaza. so we will keep an eye on that and obviously we will turn if there is more. new analysis and by the bbc reveals that more than one half of the gaza buildings have been destroyed or damaged during the war with israel. bbc verify has more. more than half of the buildings in gaza have been damaged or destroyed since israel launched retaliations for attacks on october the 7th. take a look at this map of the gaza strip. this is from the 12th of october, a few days after the war began. there read bits you can see should the damage of destroyed buildings in an area. look at this. this is on the 29th of november. you can seejust at this. this is on the 29th of november. you can see just how much of the north was destroyed. that is what the original is really offensive was focus. since then,

that offensive was extended to the whole strip. this is the most recent map we have from the 29th of january. you can see the extent of the damage in the south and israel have repeatedly told people in gaza to move south for their safety. this is the city of khan younis has been severely affected and if you look at satellite images that gives us an idea of the skill and destruction on the ground. particularly because no internationaljournalists have been allowed in by israel. this is from the 2nd of december, two months into the 2nd of december, two months into the war. you can see just how much of the neighbourhood of khan younis looks undamaged. this tower here, was the tallest building in the neighbourhood. just six weeks later, take a look at what happens. much of the neighbourhood has been flattened by israeli attacks and the damage is even more striking from ground level. what was once bustling cities full of life, are now derelict and destroyed. the israel defense forces

have set these attacks are necessary because hamas deliberately embeds itself in civilian areas. questions have been asked about destruction of buildings, seemingly, firmly in the control of the idea. take a look at this. this is a video,. it is a university and working that has been badly damaged before it was blown up completely in what looks like a mass control explosion. the idf says, the approval process for the blast is now being investigated. large areas of farmland across gaza have also been extensively damaged. that is important because although palestinians were heavily dependent on imports before the start of the work, a lot of their food on imports before the start of the work, a lot of theirfood came on imports before the start of the work, a lot of their food came from farming and food production from inside the strip. but areas that were once used to produce food, have now been turned up and bulldozed, marked out for is armoured vehicles. now eight agency say half of the population of gaza faces starvation. the idf told us that they found

hamas tunnel entrances and rocket launch sites and various agricultural areas. with so many neighbourhoods and homes destroyed, people have had no choice but to flee. more than 80% of the population of gaza has been replaced —— displaced and half crammed in the far southern end of the strip according to the un. since most of these attempts have sprung up in rafah close to the egyptian border. this is from the 15th of october. if you watch this area, you will see just how many tenants have popped up. people who have come seeking refuge. displaced people. the israel defense forces have repeatedly to justify their actions by saying must deliberately embeds itself in civilian areas in the explicit instruction of buildings and late of targeting fighters. experts have said the extent and the pace of the damage when compared with other cuff links like ukraine and syria is

unprecedented. gaza's landscape has changed forever. for those who survived the bombardment, the question is, will there be any were left for them to go. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a man armed with a crossbow has been shot dead by police in south—east london. the met said the man, who was in his 30s, was trying to force his way into a building in the surrey quays area, just before 5am on tuesday, and was threatening to hurt the people inside. he was given first aid but died at the scene. the nhs app has been updated for users in england. the new features include a prescription tool with a digital bar code that can be used in pharmacies without the need for a paper prescription. nhs digital says the app will also show average local hospital waiting times for patients who require non—urgent treatment. shop prices are rising

at their lowest rate since may last year according to new figures. the british retail consortium said the drop was partly because of heavy discounts in the january sales. increases in food prices have also slowed compared with december — with the cost of butter, tea and milk falling. you're live with bbc news. the tech billionaire elon musk sis is nearly company has been for successfully implanted one of its wireless chips in a human brain for the first time. he made the announcement on his social media platform, accessing the procedure happened on sunday and the subject is recovering well. the aim is to allow a person to interact with a computer or phone using just their thoughts. it also has a number of medical uses. i've been speaking to the consultant neurosurgeon at the walton centre. it is

the consultant neurosurgeon at the walton centre.— walton centre. it is a significant move we as _ walton centre. it is a significant move we as neurosurgeons - walton centre. it is a significant - move we as neurosurgeons have been placing neurostimulator since the brain for quite a few decades. mainly, we have been either recording neural information or we have been stimulating. i think what is really exciting about this particular development is that this chip that has been inserted, and for courts and it can stimulate the brain. i think the interesting thing that neuralink is the post processing so using this huge volumes of data that they will acquire and they will be able to process it and really only in the last two years with the post—processing power to do the set skill. so i think it is a very exciting time.— skill. so i think it is a very exciting time. skill. so i think it is a very excitin: time. , , . ., exciting time. just give us an idea ofthe exciting time. just give us an idea of the practical — exciting time. just give us an idea of the practical uses, _ exciting time. just give us an idea of the practical uses, you - exciting time. just give us an idea of the practical uses, you think i of the practical uses, you think within touching distance because we saw a graphic and the description is, you can think about something and it will happen on a computer or phone, but there are medical links to this because we have seen it with

artificial limbs where you think about an action you want and it actually can stimulate that action. sure. i think those are the very definite first applications for the sort of technology. they stated they want to help people with perhaps a motor neurone disease, they talked about spinal cord injuries and bypassing the injury and then leaving the spinal cord this is been done prudently by universities but never at scale and never with a roll of resource tech companies i think the movement is opposite the first things to try and they are currently running a trial for patients with motor neurone disease but i think the of the things we have stated is perhaps helping strengthen recovery. so perhaps putting a chip into the centres to encourage recovery and even centres to encourage recovery and even one area centres to encourage recovery and even one area they are looking at is the visual cortex. perhaps augmenting or restoring site. sol

think those are the first areas which would be absolutely phenomenal for patients. i think the other claims which they have talked about is a bit further down the line than they have talked about sort of uploading programmes or perhaps augmenting memory. ithink uploading programmes or perhaps augmenting memory. i think we're quite a distance from that because you really don't have an understanding on how the brain works to do sort of higher level functions.— to do sort of higher level functions. , . ,., ., functions. only about one minute left. in terms _ functions. only about one minute left. in terms of _ functions. only about one minute left. in terms of obvious - functions. only about one minute| left. in terms of obvious dangers, what you think they are?- left. in terms of obvious dangers, what you think they are? sure. from the brain implants _ what you think they are? sure. from the brain implants that _ what you think they are? sure. from the brain implants that we _ what you think they are? sure. from the brain implants that we put - what you think they are? sure. from the brain implants that we put in - the brain implants that we put in everyday here at our centre is the risk of infection, and bleeding. some data has showed some devastating bleed so that is not different to any other neurosurgery. i think the longevity of implants is an issue. they could reach a situation where the body's tend to scar around electorates could impair the function and back and leave the

patient without any sort of ability to change the implant. so exciting news today but i think there will be a lot more work before we see this. just time to tell you more from the us becausejohn kirby at the white house saying it is very possible you will see a tiered approach in terms of how the us response to the attacks injordan. notjust a single action. more on that here on bbc news coming up. hello. today has been a beautiful day for many northern parts of the uk. however, it is not going to last. beautiful blue skies and sunshine overhead for this weather watcher close to belfast during this afternoon. but on the earlier satellite picture, you can see that trouble has been brewing. this shield of cloud here and from within this, we will see an increasingly deep area of low pressure passing to the north of the uk. now this low has been named

by the norwegian weather service named storm ingun because it is set to bring winds of more than 100 miles per hour in norway. the wind is not as strong here, but northern parts of the uk can expect some very wet and very, very blustery weather as we head through the day on wednesday. those winds picking up actually through tonight across the north—west of scotland. we will see gales developing, some rain eventually moving in further south and east. some clear skies where we have this zone of clear weather could well see a touch of frost temperatures, for example, in birmingham and cardiff getting down to freezing. not as cold further north and west with more cloud that's strengthening wind and some outbreaks of rain. so many parts of england and wales starting wednesday with at least some spells of sunshine. northern ireland and scotland, though, clouding over with outbreaks of very heavy rain. in fact, just about here, a line of really intense downpours sinking south—eastwards with some squally, gusty winds. those wind gusts generally 50—60 miles per hour across parts of northern ireland, northern england and scotland. but in the north of scotland, we could easily see gusts in excess of 80 miles per hour,

likely to cause some damage and travel disruption.

this is bbc news, the headlines... power sharing in northern ireland could return in a matter of days after a two year gap, as a new deal is struck. concerns of corruption in the uk are at an all—time high as the country falls to its lowest ever position on a key global index.

so should be sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. he is expected to make his debut in mexico this week as part of masters champion team, a fixture on europe's last pga tour, 2020 arnold palmer invitational. at another bit of breaking news to bring you, marcus smith has been ruled out of six nations opener with italy and rome with a calf injury, opens the door for shannon smith to make his international debut, left england's training based on crutches yesterday and had been for a scam, england already without some key players to

help them to