hello, i'm caitriona perry. presidentjoe biden says he has decided how the us will respond to sunday's deadly drone attack on american soldiers injordan, but what we don't know yet is exactly how and when the us intends to retaliate. three us soldiers — all from the state of georgia — were killed on sunday morning, when a drone struck an army barracks on the border ofjordan and syria. the white house says president biden has spoken with theirfamilies. more than a0 others were injured in the attack. the strike injordan marked the first loss of life for american troops in the middle east since the start of the israel—gaza war. well, speaking to reporters outside the white house on tuesday, president biden said he holds iran responsible because it is iran that supplies weapons to the militia group the us believes carried out the attack. but mr biden reiterated the white house position — that the us is not

seeking war with iran. as the middle east braces for a us response, some members of congress have called for retaliation against not only iran's proxy forces, but iran itself. others have argued the president does not have the authority for such strikes unless authorized by congress. republican congressman mike turner, who chairs the house intelligence committee, told the bbc — the us response was likely to be robust. what they are doing and both providing weapons and training and funding for these groups throughout the middle east, they are the source of the instability, i was briefed by the director of national intelligence, our director of the cia met with secretary for

nato and he indicated that he understands that this is an attack upon the west and certainly an effective commerce, affecting our allies, the fact that it was like that we've seen here in the united states. and as they experience in israel. this needs to be responded when they understand that we are not going to continue to play defence, this been 160 attacks on american troops during this period of time, the first that has resulted in casualties, we will not allowed to happen again without iran understanding that this is a conflict that is going to come under their doorstep. elsewhere in the region — israeli forces raided a hospital, killing three members of palestinian armed groups in the occupied west bank. surveillance footage showed members of an undercover unit disguised as medics entering thejenin hospital. the israeli military said the men were hiding there, and that one of them was about to carry out an attack. the bbc�*s mark lowen has more. this was a pretty daring

operation by israeli commandos, disguised, bursting in the hospital injenin, one day so was planning an attack on israel to others, they have already carried out an attack, it showing once again how the gaza conflict spilling out over into the west bank which is seeing a level of violence and now the worst for around two decades. in terms of the fighting in gaza, there's been an uptick in violence around gaza city in the north which is a worry for the israeli authorities, they started pulling up troops from the north are redeployed to the south suggesting that their operations in the north were largely completed so this is perhaps suggesting that the war is not a sincerity going according to plan for israel. it all out into renewed pressure for both sides to reach a ceasefire after talks over the weekend, the qatari and americans say that there is good progress and a new momentum in those talks around a potential ceasefire but perhaps a 1.5 months at a face release of some israeli hostages and palestinian

premises with the hope to progress into a second phase of the ceasefire but even hamas send a delegation, they are starting their proposal, both�*s and israel said significant hurdles remain, dampening down hopes of imminent breakthrough. —— hamas. israel has confirmed for the first time that its army in gaza has been flooding some of the tunnels used by hamas with sea water. intense fighting continues in gaza with the epicentre of the fighting in southern gaza's main city — khan yunis. new satellite images of gaza seen by bbc verify suggest that more than half of its buildings have been destroyed or damaged since israel's offensive began almost four months ago. caroline hawley has been looking at the extent of the destruction. for weeks, aid agencies have been warning of the huge scale of suffering and destruction in the gaza strip but no journalists have been allowed in independently. now, bbc verify working with academics have used satellite radar mapping analyses can show the extent

of the israel's militant strikes. the un says a ceasefire is desperately needed. these maps show how the damage has built up since the start of the israeli response to the hamas attacks on 7 0ctober. israel has repeatedly said hamas embeds itself deliberately in civilian areas. the analysis shows between 50—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 israeli 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. drone footage shows whole residential areas once 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. the extent and pace of the damage is remarkable.

i have never seen this much damage appear so quickly. satellite radar indicated damage so quickly. in that sense, it really stands out. we have also been looking at satellite imagery illustrating the extent that farmland, shown in these squares, has been effectively laid to waste. the idf told us they found hamas tunnel entrances and rocket launch sites in various agricultural areas, but there 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. let's disucss this now with robin wright. she's a foreign affairs analyst who's a distinguished scholar at the woodrow wilson center and a columnist for the new yorker, as well as a former diplomatic correspondent for

the washington post. thank you forjoining us. we note the us has decided on the action is going to take, what will the president and his team have been weighing up in the last eight or two in terms of their tactics and the strategy here? , , . their tactics and the strategy here? , ,._ their tactics and the strategy here? , _,. ., here? this is a critical moment for the biden _ here? this is a critical moment for the biden administration, | for the biden administration, it wants, on one hand, to signal to run and militias across the middle east that it won't take any more than 160 attacks. by a iranian relations across the region. but it also is very involved in trying to negotiate a ceasefire work — between israel and hamas to allow for a sensation of facilities at least for a period of time and a release of hostages and trying to do one thing while ensuring that the other doesn't either implode or backfire is going to be very difficult, the timing is everything right now. could there be a _ everything right now. could there be a diplomatic - everything right now. could . there be a diplomatic response than from what you are saying or must be a military component to it? ,, ., , ., ,

to it? the united states wants, will send a _ to it? the united states wants, will send a military _ to it? the united states wants, will send a military response i will send a military response for the attacks that killed three americans over the weekend but it also made progress over last weekend in brokering this ceasefire. and so, it is to make sure that the two don't intersect and that the ceasefire toke stone collapse and its response against iran is militias and allies don't lead to a bigger war that has been playing out in gaza, even larger.- in gaza, even larger. what is the risk of — in gaza, even larger. what is the risk of the _ in gaza, even larger. what is the risk of the us _ in gaza, even larger. what is the risk of the us being - in gaza, even larger. what is| the risk of the us being drawn into a bigger war with iran? a full on conflict? i into a bigger war with iran? a full on conflict?— full on conflict? i think we crossed — full on conflict? i think we crossed the _ full on conflict? i think we crossed the threshold, - full on conflict? i think we| crossed the threshold, the full on conflict? i think we - crossed the threshold, the ten conflicts that have played out among the first rivals of a different flashpoint before october 7 have now been converged into one larger water. and the issues intersect in a way that dad have sacked in a way that dad have sacked in the united states, it cannot walk away from in and say, we are not in a bigger war, the

language's, the diplomacy is trying to signal we don't wanted, i actually don't think the iranians don't want now either but it will be very hard to make sure that there isn't a bigger response at leads to something even larger than what we witnessed before. what something even larger than what we witnessed before.— we witnessed before. what will the knock-on _ we witnessed before. what will the knock-on effect _ we witnessed before. what will the knock-on effect of- we witnessed before. what will the knock-on effect of all- we witnessed before. what will the knock-on effect of all of. the knock—on effect of all of this be on the original because, if you like, in terms of the hamas attacks israel's response to that?— response to that? this is whether _ response to that? this is whether all _ response to that? this is whether all intersect. - response to that? this is l whether all intersect. and response to that? this is - whether all intersect. and the us wants an end to the hostilities across the middle east, doesn't want its own forces to be attacked, it wants to end the war between israel and gaza but that is very hard to do, this is a moment, a strategic moment, a turning point in which the us does and what the response is an what plays out on the ground. has what the response is an what plays out on the ground. as we heard the _ plays out on the ground. as we heard the president _ plays out on the ground. as we heard the president say, - plays out on the ground. as we heard the president say, he - plays out on the ground. as we | heard the president say, he has decided on that response, what kind of timeframe would you expect to see when we might find out about that when it

might actually happen? i don't think the president _ might actually happen? i don't think the president made - might actually happen? i don't think the president made a - think the president made a decision and we have to wait several days for a response, i think the pieces are all being laid out, all operations being made, i would laid out, all operations being made, iwould be laid out, all operations being made, i would be surprised if it doesn't happen relatively soon, i suspect we will see this in several layers, it won't be one attack as it's beenin won't be one attack as it's been in the previous strikes by the united states on targets in syria and iraq, i suspect we will see several targeted, several rainy and militias that come underfire from several rainy and militias that come under fire from the united states. ~ ., ., ., ., , states. we heard from various converse _ states. we heard from various converse people _ states. we heard from various converse people over - states. we heard from various converse people over the - states. we heard from various converse people over the last| converse people over the last couple of days calling for a very firm, very robust response, it is an election year, to what extent will that be playing in the back of the president's mind? absolutely, this is a political— president's mind? absolutely, this is a political year and - this is a political year and political issue and everything paul arises in washington. and the role of the united states, the role of the united states, the strength of the united states will be debated politically among those in the heel and the wider american

audience. because people have to make a choice this year. will that be a secondary consideration though? the president and his advisers, many of whom on political, they are career diplomats, once the priority and their thinking there? ., , , �* there? the military isn't political _ there? the military isn't political either - there? the military isn't political either and - there? the military isn't political either and that| there? the military isn't i political either and that will make recommendations that they believe will contain iran or send a strong signal, this doesn't have to be the last response, if these attacks continue on the united states, on us forces, it invites an even bigger response the next time around and this is where you troop into a larger war because the momentum has been established and that's what the us is trying to contain, a strong signal and yet, not inviting a big water. irate strong signal and yet, not inviting a big water. we will wait to see _ inviting a big water. we will wait to see what _ inviting a big water. we will wait to see what happens . inviting a big water. we will. wait to see what happens now. robin wright, thank you so much forjoining us. robin wright, thank you so much forjoining us— turning to europe, and farmers

in france took part in mass protests across the country for a second consecutive day on tuesday. they blocked roads again with slow moving convoys of tractors, causing traffic jams on key routes into paris. the farmers are hoping to put pressure on emmanuel macron�*s government to do more to fight inflation and help them compete with cheap imports. similar protests have been held in other european countries including germany, holland, and poland. 0ur paris correspondent andrew harding spoke to one french farmer who is taking part. they haven't quite sealed off paris yet, but french farmers are still bringing in more reinforcements by tractor, blocking more roads, even engulfing a tax office with tyres — a protest against the excessive red tape that farmers say is stifling their industry. it's a big challenge for the french government, worried it's losing more ground to the far right. the prime minister, gabriel attal, today promising to address farmers' concerns.

but, watching his speech, dairy farmer arnaud basse is unconvinced. "he knows how to talk, but we need action", he grumbles. arnaud spends hours every day trying to keep up with new regulations, often linked to european union climate initiatives. "too much time behind a desk, not enough time in the fields with our cows", he says. arnaud's farm has been in the family for six generations but he says a third of dairy farms in the region have gone bust in the past decade. he blames cheap imports, unpredictable prices, and says it's become impossible to plan for the future. across france — indeed, across europe — farmers have a huge range of complaints, but they boil down to a sense of unfairness that, in a fast—changing world, they're being left behind,

overregulated and underpaid. and so, another night of protest. arnaud hasjoined with his tractor. the farmers are hoping for a breakthrough at eu talks on thursday in brussels. until then, the blockades continue. andrew harding, bbc news, northern france. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a top story in the uk. a devolved government in northern ireland could return to work as early as this week. that's after the democratic unionist party endorsed a deal to restore power sharing. the party had walked out in 2022 over trade checks between northern ireland and great britain. the deal opens the door to sinn fein�*s michelle 0'neill taking the role of first minister. 0ur political editor chris mason is at westminster and has more on what comes next. tomorrow, we get the detail of this new deal in a so—called

command paper and a debate as well in the commons, the law will be changed on thursday, meaning as soon as friday, the potential restoration of a sinn fein first minister. the white house has welcomed the development. a national security council spokesperson told the bbc that although legislation needed to be published, they looked forward to the full restoration of the institutions in line with the belfast/good friday agreement. you're live with bbc news. the bbc has released around 3,000 emails linked to its handling of the journalist martin bashir, who became famous after his interview with princess diana in 1995. an independent inquiry in 2021 found that mr bashir had been deceitful and faked documents to secure the interview. the corporation has now been compelled to release thousands of pages of correspondence revealing how it dealt with it all.

0ur media correspondent, david sillito, has been reading the emails. they include an e—mail to the director—general calling for an independent enquiry, and also has a discussion about a crucial missing note from princess diana and also communications with martin bashir, possessions about his health and also we hear from him, his view that this was essentially all about professional jealousy. essentially all about professionaljealousy. the heart is this is a freedom of information request with suspicion that the bbc was withholding vital documents in the run—up to this. the journalist behind it, and he wept, before for the release i believe the e—mails is usually that information was kept from him. a as any documents not released to journalists were made available in the subsequent enquiry. it is worth noting the corporation has spent thousands on a court case trying to resist the release of further documents, say they are

largely irrelevant or legally privileged. david sillito there. let's turn to some other news around the world. the us military has confirmed that an f—16 has crashed off the coast of south korea. the incident occurred near the city of gunsan. according to an airforce statement, the aircraft suffered an in—flight emergency over the yellow sea and the pilot ejected the aircraft. the pilot has been recovered and is in stable condition. it's the second crash of a us f—16 aircraft in just over a month in south korea. the international monetary fund has lifted its expectations for global growth this year. the group now says the world's economy will grow 3.1% in 2024. that's better than previously forecast. the imf also says the chances of a global recession are fading. the group's chief economist said the global economy has shown remarkable resilience, adding that we are now in the final descent to a soft landing. at least 19 people have died and more than 20 were injured in a traffic collision in northwest mexico.

the incident took place between a passenger bus and a truck early on tuesday along a coastal highway that connects two beachfront cities. the area is a popular tourist destination for us and canadian citizens who fish in the area. the legal tv drama suits has set a new streaming record here in the us. according to media analysts nielsen, the show was watched by a total of 57.7 billion minutes on netflix last year. that beat the previous record, set by the office. suits ran from 2011 to 2019. itjust beat bluey, which came in second place, which is co—produced by the bbc. now to an unusual discovery on the east coast of canada. a shipwreck has washed up on a beach in newfoundland. it's thought to have been built in the 19th century, but the ship's story is still a mystery. our news reporter courtney bembridge has more. on a remote snow—covered beach in newfoundland should delete to have been built

in the 1800s. very little is known about its history and officials are now trying to piece that together and consider what remains. the biggest mystery of all is how it ended up here. but it is thought this could have something to do with it. these pictures are from last september when hurricane fiona battered the canadian eastern coastline. these pictures show the damage it left behind. here is another aspect seen from the air. these pictures showing before and after the storm. you can see the extent of the coastal erosion. now this could have been what dislodged the ship from where it had been lying. at the time, hurricane fiona was described as a historic storm, but no one could have predicted the history it would unearth. iconic performer and broadway legend chita rivera has died

at age 91. according to her daughter, ms rivera died in new york after a brief illness. 0ur reporter rachel mcadam looks back on her life. # all the time there is... known as the triple threat, chita rivera was a comic, dancer and actress, reportedly hailed by critics for the roles on broadway. trained in music and ballet from a young age, she was dancing on the new york stage before she was 20 and kept at it all the way into her early 805. the first two appear in the role of anita in the 1957 original production of west side story, it made ms rivera a star and earned her the first of many tony award nominations. after the enormous success of the leonard bernstein musical she would go on to work with other legends like choreographer bob fosse, again being the role

in the 1975 smash, chicago. she was awarded the presidential measure of freedom, the highest honour the us can give a civilian. speaking some years afterwards and still performing she said "i wouldn't know what to do if i wasn't moving or telling "a story to you or singing a song." "that is the spirit of my life and i really am so lucky to be "able to do what i love." for more on this, i spoke in the last hour with patrick pacheco, co—author of chita rivera's new york times best selling autobiography: "chita: a memoir." firstly my condolences to you and all of the other friends and family who are grieving today. thank you for talking to us, i know it must be difficult. she is best known of course for her performance in west side story but tell us a little about her life as a performer. it is good to be with you and

to talk to you about this extraordinary woman, this singular entertainer, who touched hearts around the world. anybody who ever met her will never forget her, because she was, as you said, this entertainer, who was a composer's best friend, because she connected to every lyric. she was a director's best friend because she was daring and will try anything, she was a writer's best friend because she was open—hearted and honest, and she was particularly gracious and generous with all her co—stars and anybody from the chorus to the main star who worked with her, because that was just who she was. she always sort of thought of herself as a member of the chorus, to some extent, and it wasn't until her second tony award when, at the age

of 60, when she starred in kiss of the spider woman, that told me in the course of writing with her that she considered herself a star. fred ebb of kander and ebb who wrote many shows for her, including the visit, the rink, and spider woman once told her, chita, you have to act like a star if you want to be treated like a star and she said "i wasn't really interested in being treated like a star." but she finally came into her own at the age of 60 when she won her second tony award, that was just who she was. extraordinary. and in one small way her life sort of imitated life art a little in the making of west side story i believe? yes, well, the main thing of course is that she didn't even know that she was going to go up for the role of anita. she was just happy to be in the chorus, and leonard bernstein invited her to his studio to play her oh boy like that, and she was so thrilled and so excited that she was in

leonard bernstein's studio, and that he was playing this thrilling music and all she could think of was, "chita, don't throw up "on leonard bernstein's piano, please," because she was just that excited. once she was cast, it is when she became a triple threat. before that she told me dancers danced and singers sang, and it was in the course of that monumental show, collaborating with those monumental geniuses, arthur lawrence, leonard bernstein, stephen sondheim at 27, only 27, arthur lawrence the writer, that she absorbed all this stuff. she was forever, even earlier than that, standing in the wings, watching elaine stritch, watching and she just absorbed it all. and was forever grateful for the people that she met on her way up.

bea arthur and everybody that she always gave credit to. extraordinary contribution to the arts indeed. thank you so much, patrick, forjoining us to talk to us about ms rivera. that is it for the moment. thank you for watching. stay with us here on bbc news. 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 higher 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 of just 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 up 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. 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?