hello and welcome to the programme. we begin in the united states, where presidentjoe biden says he has decided how to respond to an attack on a us base injordan that killed three american soldiers. the drone strike was the first time us soldiers were killed by enemy fire in the region since the israel—gaza war began in october. i don't think we need a wider war in the middle east, that is not what i am looking for. that was joe not what i am looking for. that was joe biden _ not what i am looking for. that wasjoe biden speaking not what i am looking for. that wasjoe biden speaking as he left the white house when he cautioned against a wider war in the middle east. no details are given about how or when the us would respond, so what could americans do? here is our international editor.-

americans do? here is our international editor. one of the presidents _ international editor. one of the presidents officials - international editor. one of the presidents officials as l the presidents officials as actions speak louder than words. we can only speculate at this point. what tends to happen is the us militarily gives the president a menu of options that he can choose. and the lowest level, if you like, might be to hit back at iranian proxies operating inside syria or iraq. that might not be enough for the americans, and especially not forjoe biden�*s critics back home. so they might do something a bit more. they might go for iranian targets in those countries or they could go for maybe iranian targets in the gulf. the most extreme option, and i think this is highly unlikely, would be to attack targets inside iran itself, inside the territory of iran. that's something that the americans have not done. so we get to a situation now where the american secretary of state antony blinken, says that the middle east is at its most dangerous point

since at least 1973, when there was a major middle east war, when at that time as well, the superpowers, the americans and the soviet union went to a nuclear alert during that crisis. he said it is at least as dangerous as that moment. and as for what's going on here, the war in gaza, which back on october 7, this is where a lot of this is coming from. of course, what's happening is there is discussion about a ceasefire. but israel's prime minister, mr netanyahu, in a very fierce speech, appears to have ruled out the terms that they're discussing. let's get more from a former cia middle east cased officer. we just had various options lead out by my colleague therefore so what do you think is the most likely cause of action for the us? i is the most likely cause of action for the us?- is the most likely cause of action for the us? i think they will hit proxies _ action for the us? i think they will hit proxies in _ action for the us? i think they will hit proxies in syria - action for the us? i think they will hit proxies in syria is - will hit proxies in syria is the most cautious response.

they could hit them in iraq as well, they are connected. on the other hand, the iraqis at some point will give up and force the us out of iraq so thatis force the us out of iraq so that is one danger. i totally agree that hitting o'reilly and is highly unlikely. for many reasons, one is the us does not have the forces to go to war with iran. it also does not have the forces to go to war against hezbollah. in other words, joe biden has no good options other than symbolic strikes. ~ ., ., ., . strikes. what do you anticipate around to do _ strikes. what do you anticipate around to do then _ strikes. what do you anticipate around to do then once - strikes. what do you anticipate around to do then once these l around to do then once these revivals come into effect? what might the consequences be more broadly depending on howjoe biden chooses to retaliate? iran is clearly escalating as the casualties go up in gaza. it is responding to gaza three proxies. the problem for the us is these proxies, there was

plausible deniability, the iranians say they do not do it and there was no way to prove that iran was behind these attacks. on the other hand, the iranians can hit the us anywhere from yemen, bases in syria, from lebanon, to iraq and that is why a long time ago described iran as the new regional superpower and i think it is. ., . �* regional superpower and i think itis. ., ., it is. you haven't covering it for many — it is. you haven't covering it for many and _ it is. you haven't covering it for many and you _ it is. you haven't covering it for many and you wrote - it is. you haven't covering it for many and you wrote a i it is. you haven't covering it i for many and you wrote a book called the devil we know, warning of the emergence of iran is a new middle east superpower and detailing the strategy of cultivating proxies in the region. have things gone as you thought they wouldn't how you predicted and how do you assess their position today? i you assess their position toda ? ., . you assess their position toda ? ., today? i watch their tactics in lebanon going _ today? i watch their tactics in lebanon going back - today? i watch their tactics in lebanon going back to - today? i watch their tactics in lebanon going back to 1982 l today? i watch their tactics in i lebanon going back to 1982 and i watched the iranians effectively drive us out of lebanon as well as the french and then in 2000, the israelis. they were a small force, very effective, be a battle trained,

hezbollah control syria, for instance. they have proxies everywhere. now we see in yemen, something entirely new, these are not 12 as she is but they have a lot of influence can close the red sea. there is a good question of was that iran behind hitting the wheel facility in saudi arabia which took it out? it should warn us that if they are to be a real war, the iranians undoubtedly would take out gulf oil and then he was the what happens to then he was the what happens to the world economy. pm the world economy. an incredibly _ the world economy. an incredibly unpredictable situation there are many players involved in and in the middle east, incredible risks as you alluded to this there. looking at the different ways this could go, what is it that is keeping you up at night? what is happening in gaza, if it gets worse, the starvation gets worse, you will see a reaction across the middle east, you are seated jordan,

north africa as well. there was only so much tolerance for this war which has gone on for way too long, it is quite remarkable that hamas has stood up remarkable that hamas has stood up to the israeli defence force so well using these tunnels. an asymmetric warfare. if this goes on and in a year we are seeing the same sort of civilian casualties, we will see an escalation across the middle east.— middle east. thank you very much for — middle east. thank you very much for your _ middle east. thank you very much for your insight - middle east. thank you very much for your insight and i much for your insight and expertise today. staying in the middle east, cctv pictures have emerged of israeli forces raiding a hospital in the occupied west bank. the undercover unit entered thejenin hospital and killed three members of palestinian armed groups. the israeli military said the men were hiding there, and that one of them was about to carry out an attack. our middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, has this report. a building with a mission to heal the sick. visitors with a mission to kill. israeli forces, in headscarves

and medical coats filmed on security camera, at the heart ofjenin's iba sina hospital. guns in one hand, handbag, baby cot in the other. here to assassinate a patient and his two companions, fighters with armed palestinian groups. translation: at dawn today, a military operation _ was carried out inside the hospital. three people were martyred, including a patient who was injured a month ago and was being treated in the rehabilitation unit. they targeted his room, and all the occupants were killed. on the third floor, they killed basel ghazawi in his bed as he slept, his brother mohammed shot in a chair. both fighters in jenin's resistance groups. a third man, mohammad jalamana, was a key hamas figure, wanted by israel, who says he was armed with this gun, and hiding in the hospital,

and that the group had been planning an imminent terrorist attack. israel has also targeted hospitals in its war with hamas in gaza, arguing that hamas makes them legitimate targets by hiding there. and today, more detail from israel's government on its accusation that the un's palestinian refugee agency is a front for hamas, and that some of its staff took part in the 7 october attacks. six unrwa employees infiltrated israel in the attack. not only does the evidence show that unrwa staff were involved in the massacre, they were also directly implicated in holding hostages once they were in gaza. israel says the agency, its shelters, schools and food aid should be defunded. aid workers say gaza's humanitarian crisis is already slipping out of control.

miriam and her seven children are living without a proper tent or food on a beach at the southern tip of gaza. a roadside cart for sweets now beach side housing for a baby. adults and infants alike, dependent on others for food and shelter, dependent on others to stop the war. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. israel has confirmed for the first time that is army in gaza has been flooding some of the tunnels used by hamas with seawater. fighting continues in gaza with the epicentre of the fighting in the southern gaza mina city khan younis. new satellite images seen by bbc suggest that more than half of its buildings have been destroyed or damaged since the offensive began almost four months ago. caroline has been looking at the extent of the destruction.—

looking at the extent of the destruction. for wheeze, aid agencies _ destruction. for wheeze, aid agencies have _ destruction. for wheeze, aid agencies have warned - destruction. for wheeze, aid agencies have warned of- destruction. for wheeze, aid agencies have warned of the| agencies have warned of the huge scale of suffering and destruction in the gaza group no journals have been allowed in. now a bbc working with academics have used a satellite mapping analyses can show the extent of the israel strikes. the un says a ceasefire is desperately needed, these maps show how the damage has built up show how the damage has built up since the start of the israeli response to the attacks on 7 october. israel has repeatedly said hamas embeds itself deliberately in civilian areas. the analysis shows between 50% and 61% of buildings are either badly damaged or destroyed. israel initially told civilians to move south for their safety but this is the southern city of khan younis which has also now been badly hit. here, before the air strikes and now afterwards, and you can see a dramatic change to the city landscape. more than 38,000 buildings have been destroyed here alone. jerona footage

shows whole residential areas once a bustling streets, now in ruins and this was israel blowing up a whole university in what appears to be a controlled explosion earlier this month.— controlled explosion earlier this month. ., this month. the extent of the damaie this month. the extent of the damage is — this month. the extent of the damage is remarkable. - this month. the extent of the damage is remarkable. i- this month. the extent of the j damage is remarkable. i have never— damage is remarkable. i have never seen this much damage appear— never seen this much damage appear so quickly. satellite reader _ appear so quickly. satellite reader indicated damage so quickix _ reader indicated damage so quickly. in that sense, it really— quickly. in that sense, it really stands out.- quickly. in that sense, it really stands out. we have also been looking — really stands out. we have also been looking at _ really stands out. we have also been looking at satellite - been looking at satellite imagery illustrated the extent that farmland has been effectively laid to waste. the rdf told us they found tunnel entrances and rocket launch sites in various agricultural areas but they have been allegations of deliberate destruction. of course, it has caused massive displacement for civilians. this was an area near the egyptian border in october and this more recently, tense and temporary structures, now covering 3.5 square kilometres. a sprawling new

city of hunger and despair. you can let city of hunger and despair. you can get the _ city of hunger and despair. you can get the latest _ city of hunger and despair. you can get the latest and a lot more analysis on the war in gaza on our website, bbc.com slash news. pakistan's former prime minister imran khan has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, after being accused of leaking state secrets. his party says it is a mockery. he is already serving a three—year term, after being convicted of corruption. our correspondent caroline davies reports from islamabad. his face is on the election posters, but imran khan is already behind bars. the former prime minister has not been seen in public since he was jailed almost six months ago. this is the closest we have got to imran khan, the outside of adiala jail. all of his court appearances now happen inside the four walls of the prison, and the verdict today suggests he will not be appearing in public any time soon. today's conviction is about this rally. in march 2022, mr khan appeared on stage waving a piece of paper he said showed a foreign conspiracy against him.

he did not say the name of the foreign power but was heavily critical of the united states. prosecutors argued this was leaking state secrets and damaging diplomatic relations. the latter can lead to life imprisonment or the death penalty. the trial lasted several months but the results came fast today, taking even some of his legal team, outside giving a press conference at the time, off guard. translation: just now we have heard that imran khan _ and shah mahmood qureshi were sentenced to ten years in prison. imran khan's sister said outside islamabad high court that they will appeal. translation: do i look worried? no. this is a fight. imran said this is about justice, that is why he is injail. they will not break any law, they will stay put and fight all the cases. people should not turn to violence, we will use the legal ways to fight this. pakistan is about to go

to the polls, imran khan was already disqualified. there are candidates standing supported by his party, but will the verdict today break their and their voters' morale, or boost it? caroline davies, bbc news, rawalpindi. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making the news. the bbc has released around 3,000 emails linked to the martin bashir scandal. an independent inquiry in 2021 found that mr bashir had been deceitful and had faked documents to get his famous interview with princess diana for panorama in 1995. the corporation has now been compelled to release correspondence, revealing how it dealt with the issue. the bbc said many of the emails were largely "irreleva nt". the serial killer nurse lucy letby has lost the first stage of the process to appeal her convictions. ajudge refused her application. letby, who's 34, was given 14 whole life sentences for the murders of seven babies and the attempted murder

of six others. police have shot dead a man in south—east london, who was reportedly armed with a crossbow and wearing body armour. they said the man, in his 30s, was trying to force his way into a building in surrey quays, just before 5 o'clock this morning. two people inside the property are understood to have received minor injuries. you're live with bbc news. thailand's constitutional court is due to issue a ruling on the opposition move forward party. there will be looking at the party's promise to amend the royal defamation law. if found unconstitutional it could disband the move forward party. our corresponding jonathan head has more from bangkok. so our corresponding jonathan head has more from bangkok.- has more from bangkok. so for the second _ has more from bangkok. so for the second time _ has more from bangkok. so for the second time in _

has more from bangkok. so for the second time in a _ has more from bangkok. so for the second time in a week, - has more from bangkok. so for the second time in a week, the j the second time in a week, the fate of thailand's most popular political party will be decided by the ninejudges political party will be decided by the nine judges of the constitutional court. this time the court will be running on a complaint filed last year that the party because my proposal to amend the famously harsh royal defamation law amounts to an attempt to overthrow the entire political system in thailand and is therefore unconstitutional. if the court agrees, that would lay the party open to being dissolved, and much of its leadership being banned from politics. the move forward party has argued that the law is widely viewed as excessively harsh. for example earlier this month, one man was sentenced to 50 yours in prison for a few social media posts, and as a part of the regular penal code, it can be amended by parliament. indeed it has been amended in the not so distant past. the issueis the not so distant past. the issue is also one moved forward cares about because of its young, first—time mps are themselves facing charges.

however its proposal to amend it was used as a justification by the unelected senate last yearfor by the unelected senate last year for blocking the move forward party from forming a government. as one senator put it to me, the law cannot be viewed as like any other law precisely because it deals with the monarchy, which is officially viewed as a near sacred institution here. if the constitutional court does find against the move forward party, it will be adding that youthful reformist pa rty�*s it will be adding that youthful reformist party's scalp to a long list of other parties and leaders who have been marched off thailand's political stage largely because they were viewed as a threat to the royalist establishment. jonathan head in bangkok. an australian state mp has accused a local news channel of misoygny, after it edited an image of her to give her larger breasts and more revealing clothing. georgie purcell posted this message on social media, showing the altered image

and the real one, side by side. she told me how she felt when she first saw that doctored image. look, i was confronted to see my body altered live on the news. i actually had just had a really catastrophic day at work and it only just made it worse. i think that many young women like myself struggle with negative body image, and we need to do better for women in public life, particularly with the emerging threat of ai and other forms of editing. i want to come to ai injust a bit. but first i want to ask if you accept the explanation that nine news gave, blaming the automation by photoshop for creating the image and photoshop developer adobe says human intervention and approval would still have been needed. yeah. look, i have accepted 9's apology. i guess my position on this is complex. i'm satisfied with every other

way that they have dealt with this scenario, and they did apologise to me unreservedly. however, i'm not sure i totally buy their reasoning behind it. i'm not an expert in photo editing and i won't claim to be. and i've left that narrative up to the people who know it best. however, i do think this question is raised now that adobe have responded and said at the very least it would have required human intervention, and ijust hope that they have learnt a lesson from this. now singer taylor swift has also been subjected to altered images recently in her case explicit in nature, and ai generated ones of that. what concerns you most about this and what you've experienced? what concerns me the most is that our law is notjust here where i am in victoria, or in australia, across the entire world, is that al is moving at such a rapid pace that our laws are not equipped to deal with it. obviously this has happened to myself this week. it's happened to taylor swift. but my biggest concern is that it will happen to other women who don't have a public profile, who are without a voice to call it out,

and that people will think these images are real. it's very, very damaging. we've done a lot of work to stop image—based abuse and image based exploitation of real images, and we've done some work here in victoria around so—called deepfake pornography. but this is moving at a pace that i don't think we've kept up with, and we need to seriously consider how we are going to. to play devil's advocate, there may be some people that have seen this story, seen the pictures that have been altered in your case and thought, "so what? "no big deal." why is this a story? what would you say to them? i would say that for women it is a big deal when our bodies are altered without our consent. it raises a broader issue — misogyny, sexism and mistreatment of women in public life. as i said, this is something that would never have happened to a male politician, and we're held to a higher standard. our looks are constantly under the microscope. again, that doesn't happen to men,

and this deters women and young girls away from a career in public life, despite having a valuable contribution to share, and that is the last thing that i want, and particularly as more and more young people move in to the political ranks, like i have, i'm the youngest woman in our parliament here. we're going to see more of this and we need to do better. and what do you think needs to happen then in order to bring about meaningful change and address this misogyny and double standards in the media? we've come a long way on this issue, but this is showing that there's still more to do. we need to make politics and public life a safe and welcoming space. there needs to be equality and respect that our male counterparts receive, and i think, particularly here in australia, we have done a lot to overcome the really obvious out there forms of sexism and misogyny that was happening in politics. in the parliament i'm in, we've actually got gender parity, there's an equal amount of women mps and male employees. however, it does feel that we still have to work twice as hard to get

in there, and then have to prove our right to be there when we get there, if and that is just because of misogynistic views within our society, and i think editing a woman's body to meet conventional beauty standards is a really subtle version of that that speaks to a bigger issue. tech billionaire elon musk says his company has successfully implanted a wireless computer chip in a human brain. it aims chip in a human brain. itaims to tackle chip in a human brain. it aims to tackle neurological issues by allowing users to control their phones and computers with their phones and computers with their thoughts. several rival companies have already implemented similar devices. the man who has continually try to make sense vision a reality has now taken a step closer to allowing people to control phones and

computers with their brains. imagine thejoy of computers with their brains. imagine the joy of connecting with your loved ones... this is elon musk's — with your loved ones... this is elon musk's latest _ with your loved ones... this is elon musk's latest venture, i elon musk's latest venture, following his enterprises and electric cars, space rockets and social media. h0 electric cars, space rockets and social media.— and social media. no wiser -h sical and social media. no wiser physical movement - and social media. no wiser physical movement are - and social media. no wiser- physical movement are required. now elon musk and said implanting a chip into a person for the first time has gone well. last year his company was given permission to test its chips on humans, and it asked for volunteers. to chips on humans, and it asked for volunteers.— for volunteers. to enable eo - le for volunteers. to enable people who _ for volunteers. to enable people who have - for volunteers. to enable people who have lost - for volunteers. to enable people who have lost the j for volunteers. to enable - people who have lost the brain body connection to be able to operate a computer or phone faster than someone who has hands that work.— hands that work. previously, this monkey _ hands that work. previously, this monkey with _ hands that work. previously, this monkey with a - hands that work. previously, this monkey with a brain - this monkey with a brain implant was shown playing a video game controlled by its thoughts. elon musk's california —based company is not the first to experiment using chips on humans to control movement, but it is his notoriety and celebrity status which raises the profile of this technology and could speed up this technology and could speed up development. a decade ago,

scientists implanted microchip into the brain of a patient, who was then able to control a robotic arm.— who was then able to control a robotic arm. people are kind of divided as _ robotic arm. people are kind of divided as to _ robotic arm. people are kind of divided as to what _ robotic arm. people are kind of divided as to what elon - robotic arm. people are kind of divided as to what elon musk. divided as to what elon musk brings to the table. the sam vokes, the hype and the often controversy brings his attachment and for others it can only be a good thing for someone to put such attention, such a spotlight, to bring such money to the field.— money to the field. some exoerts — money to the field. some experts have _ money to the field. some experts have safety - money to the field. some experts have safety and l money to the field. some - experts have safety and ethical concerns but i hope that brain implants could one day allow people with disabilities to use smartphones and computers with their minds opens up a life changing possibilities. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. you may have heard of cat cafe is where customers can cuddle a cat alongside their cappuccino, but have a look at the latest craze injapan. yep, it's a pig. craze injapan. yep, it's a pig, and this is the peak cafe, where miniature pigs trot around and try to find a comfortable spot on visitors's laps. micro—pigs don't get much

bigger than a corgi. even as adults. this is the latest in a series of animal coffee shops that have popped up injapan, ranging from owls and otters to hedgehogs, birds and even snakes as well. i am going to pass on those snakes, for sure. that is all from rc on bbc news. goodbye for now. hello. a fairly potent area of low pressure is going to move to the north of the uk. it's been named storm ingunn by the norwegian metservice. the southern half of the uk is going to be bright and breezy on wednesday, but that storm will bring some strong winds and heavy rain across northern parts of the uk, particularly so for parts of scotland, where the strongest winds could reach around 85 mph. here's the storm system; you can see it developing here. it is moving well to the north of us. but just look at all those isobars heading our way through the day on wednesday. so that's the active front that's bringing the strong, squally winds and heavy rain.

first thing wednesday, i think temperatures are going to be nearfreezing, perhaps even a little below through central parts of england and wales. but i think frost—free further north, where we've got the cloud, the winds — gales already during wednesday morning and the rain moving in. so that rain willjust shift its way gradually further eastwards across parts of scotland through the morning. this line here could produce some really heavy bursts, perhaps some hail and thunder, and those gusts of wind could reach 85, possibly close to 90 mph up towards the western isles. but widely, we're looking at gales across scotland, parts of northern ireland and northern england as well. so gusts 55, perhaps 60 mph across this zone, enough to cause some significant disruption, particularly when combined with the heavy rain. further south, across england and wales, you should stay dry for a good part of the day, not as windy as further north, but still blustery. 8 to 11 celsius towards the south, a touch colder in the north, with that fresher air moving in, and some wintry showers follow on overnight into thursday across the high

ground of scotland. but eventually the cloud and the rain clear away, so it's going to be another fairly chilly night, actually. we're likely to see a touch of frost in a few prone spots, certainly as we head on into thursday. but thursday does look like a much quieter day, because we'll lose the tail end of that storm system, and this ridge of higher pressure builds its way in for thursday. so that's going to squeeze away most of the rain and it will bring lighter winds. still quite a breezy day across northern and western scotland, with some rain arriving later. best of the sunshine for central, southern and eastern parts of the uk, and here, temperatures perhaps down a touch on recent days, 9 or 10 celsius, so a slightly fresher feel to the weather. but then it looks like we see things turning milder once again. so looking ahead for friday, into the weekend, some rain in the north and the west, drier towards the south, but it is looking mild for all of us. bye— bye.

alphabet and microsoft turn in their quarterly report cards amid an intensifying race to deliver new ai applications. plus, boeing tells all — the aviation giant is set to unveil its quarterly earnings, weeks after an embarrassing mid—air incident. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. we begin today with a focus on microsoft and alphabet, which have just reported quarterly earnings.

microsoft beat wall street estimates for fiscal second—quarter revenue, as new ai features helped attract customers to its cloud and windows services. quarterly revenue grew 18% to $62 billion, compared with the average analyst estimate ofjust over $61 billion. now, all that investment into ai from microsoft is putting the heat on its competitors. that's the case for google's parent company, alphabet, which reported results that disappointed investors. it came short of expectations for advertising revenue, recording $65.5 billion in the fourth quarter, while analysts on average had estimated just over $66 billion. those results overshadowed the company's efforts in artificial intelligence and the cloud. now, ai is increasingly becoming a central theme in the quarterly results presentations of major tech companies as they compete to place ever bigger bets on the technology. so, is all that investment starting to pay off? i spoke to ubs' tech equity strategist sundeep gantori a little earlier.

if you look at the headline numbers...