you are very welcome. we begin the program with two new developments from the biden administration in dealing with events in the middle east. first, presidentjoe biden has approved sanctions on four israeli settlers accused of attacking palestinians in the occupied west bank. biden signed an executive order saying violence in the region had reached intolerable levels. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the vast majority of settlers are law abiding, but that israel takes action against law—breakers and there was no need for the measures by washington. violence against palestinians in the west bank has spiked since hamas launched an unprecedented attack on israel on october 7th. the united nations estimates about 370 palestinians have been killed in the west bank since then. here in washington, the us state department urged israel's government to do more to stop the violence against civilians. there is no justification

for extremist violence against civilians whatever the national origin, ethnicity or religion. concerns been raised about israel and palestinian counterparts about violence in the west bank and stresses that israel must do more to stop violence against civilians and hold accountable those responsible. the second development in us actions towards the middle east is the approval of plans for strikes against iranian personnel and facilities in iraq and syria. this is in response to the drone attack on sunday which killed three american soldiers injordan. our us news partner, cbs, says the action will be launched over a number of days. several iran—backed groups have increased attacks on us and israel—linked entities since the israel—hamas war began. us defense secretary lloyd austin called on iran to stop supplying weapons to houthi rebels in yemen. he added that although the us does not want a wider conflict, it reserves the right to respond to attacks on american personnel

in the region. so this is a dangerous moment in the middle east. and we will continue to work to avoid a wider conflict in the region. but we will take all necessary actions to defend the united states, our interests, and our people. and we will respond when we choose, where we choose, and how we choose. i discussed these developments with david makovsky, former senior advisor to the special envoy for israeli—palestinian negotiations and now director of the koret project on arab—israel relations at the washington institute. let's have a look at that move byjoe biden today, the sanctions on the four israeli settlers in relation to the attacks carried out in the west bank. what impact do you think that will have? it's a signal that the administration will not tolerate these attacks by those

vigilantes among the settlers who have been attacking palestinians since october 7th. i was over there and talked to senior us military officials and israelis, and arab leaders as well. there is an understanding that this cannot stand and i think the white house wanted to be clear that this is something that was a priority and it was time — interestingly, the president went to michigan which is the one state where he had some problems with arab americans. it was a signal to them too fat don't mistake support for israel during this war with the kind of blank cheque when it comes to settlers and i expect there will be more sanctions to come. is it a sign then, from what you're saying, perhaps the president's patience is wearing a little thin? that there's a break perhaps in the relationship with benjamin neta nyahu 7

the main event is the gaza war. the settler violence has gone down since october 7th, the us officials tell me that too, notjust ——the us officials tell me that too, notjust the israeli side, there's a fear that both at home abroad but the president's support for israel is being mistaken to say we will tolerate these attacks. i don't think those wider issues that need to be dealt with in terms of humanitarian aid getting on but the settler issue is an issue where they all agree that no—one should mistake that there is a zero tolerance policy. i don't see it as part of a wider break at all. this is something that needs to be dealt with and it has to notjust happen but it has to be seen to have been happening and that is why the us made move. you mention the perception

of the us abroad though, there are some who would say that it is us and president waiting for us action in the region as well in relation to the killing of those three us soldiers? fix, to the killing of those three us soldiers?— to the killing of those three us soldiers? a great question and i think— us soldiers? a great question and i think really _ us soldiers? a great question and i think really what - us soldiers? a great question and i think really what the - us soldiers? a great question and i think really what the us| and i think really what the us would like to see is some sort of a package deal. it would like to see a hostage deal with, that israel is doing with qatar and egypt and the united states, they have the cia, the massad, would like to see a deal that hamas starts releasing hostages in return for a 45 day pause. the us would like to pivot off that pauseif would like to pivot off that pause if possible, to get a more humanitarian aid in and also to try to restart a saudi— israeli breakthrough which is what they were doing before october seven. and to have a

message that says, look, here is the broader regional story, also make some sort of statement about a two state solution, if possible, that that would be part of that package. in the middle east you don't always get a lot of windows of openings. i think the administration wants to use this as an offramp to create some sort of diplomatic momentum in the region. that is the focus but it starts with a hostage deal.— the focus but it starts with a hostage deal. 0k, we will wait to see what — hostage deal. 0k, we will wait to see what happens - hostage deal. 0k, we will wait to see what happens in - hostage deal. 0k, we will wait to see what happens in the - to see what happens in the coming days. delighted to be with you, any time. around 900,000 children are thought to be internally displaced in gaza — that's according to the charity save the children. lama jamous, known as gaza's youngestjournalist, is among them. since the start of the war, she's been documenting herjourney and the stories around her, as they've unfolded. our reporter yasmin khatun

dewan has been speaking to her. this is lama jamous. at nine years old she's acquired a huge following on social media, posting snippets of her life in gaza and her aspirations to become a journalist. we caught up with lama, whojoined us from gaza, close to the rafah crossing. lama, what made you want to do this? translation: i want to document the struggle we are going - through so the world can see it. all we wish is to go back to our school, to seek education. even our school became for displaced people. lama's father has been helping the nine—year—old document herjourney, navigating the changes around her as the family were displaced from their home in northern gaza. she told us so much in her life has changed, though her dream is to continue the work she is doing now. translation: | wish

when the war - ends i can turn into a great journalist and work so i can grow more and more. as lama continues to find comfort in sharing the stories of her community, her portfolio just keeps on growing. yasmin khatun dewan, bbc news. at least two people have been confirmed dead and and at least 165 people have sustained burns and other injuries after an explosion at a gas plant in south—east nairobi, kenya. a government spokesperson said gas cylinders were being refilled when the fire broke out just before midnight on thursday. a local official confirmed that the fire was caused by an explosion at a gas filling station. the kenya red cross posted on x that it had evacuated 271 individuals to different health facilities in nairobi. it said another 27 people were treated at the scene.

others were able to escape the blast and have been speaking about the moment of the explosion. about the moment of the exlosion. ~ ,, �* about the moment of the exlosion. ~ ,, ~ ., , explosion. translation: iwas burdened by — explosion. translation: iwas burdened by an _ explosion. translation: iwas burdened by an exploding - explosion. translation: iwas burdened by an exploding gas l burdened by an exploding gas cylinder as i try to escape. it exploded right in front of me and the impact knocked me down and the impact knocked me down and the impact knocked me down and the flames engulfed me. i was lucky i was strong enough to get away. was lucky i was strong enough to get away-— to get away. many are already questioning — to get away. many are already questioning why _ to get away. many are already questioning why such - to get away. many are already questioning why such a - questioning why such a hazardous plant was allowed to operate close to residential areas. in france, farmers' unions have called for the suspension of nationwide roadblocks after the government promised more financial assistance. that comes as farmers from across the european union have taken their protests to brussels, blockading roads and burning tyres, as eu leaders met for a summit there. farmers across the region have been protesting against government regulations and cheaper imports from countries like canada and ukraine. our europe correspondent bethany bell was outside of the european parliament in brussels while the protests took place and sent this report. here in brussels the protesters brought their protest right up

to the doorstep of the european parliament and they have been lighting tires, bales of hay on fire and the air is quite thick with acrid smoke. i spoke i's young farmer who came here all the way from northern italy, a man who makes wine, and he said it was really unfair that there was so much eu red tape and that european farmers were being held to very high standards at the same time as cheap food products from non—eu countries are flooding the market. he said that really had to change because without farmers, he says, there is no food. of course, this is a matter of concern for the european leaders who have been meeting here in brussels today, not far from the crisis per se but for financial aid to ukraine. we but forfinancial aid to ukraine. we have but for financial aid to ukraine. we have heard from

concessions from farms, we understand that the french prime minister wants to control food imports to check for more traces of pesticides. but whether those concessions are enough is the big question here. bethany bell reporting from those protests a little earlier. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a top story in the uk now. police in london say an alkaline substance was used in an attack on wednesday on a mother and her two girls as they sat in a car. officials say the injuries to two of them could be "life—changing". a total of eight people were treated in hospital. that includes officers on the scene and neighbours who tried to help. the bbc has been speaking to eyewitnesses. just heard the commotions when it all kicked off, obviously didn't want to come out and get involved because were even down the end but... what did you hear? just screaming and shouting.

you didn't get involved but a lot of people did and tried to help, what are your thoughts towards those people? heroes. the attack is believed to be targeted. police say they are looking for a 35—year—old male, who was last seen at a tesco store on wednesday night in north london. the suspect has a "significant injury" on his face. police have advised people not to approach him, but instead to call the authorities. you're live with bbc news. the european union has voted unanimously for a $54 billion aid package to ukraine. this decision comes after hungarian prime minister viktor orban vetoed the package in december. eu leaders said they were determined to provide sustainable military support to kyiv in its war against russia. european commission president ursula von der leyen says the aid package sends a strong message to russian president vladimir putin. the new funding promise

comes as aid from the us, the largest provider of military support for kyiv, is being held up by congress. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy called this a strong signal of european unity and a sign that, with its allies, ukraine can withstand any challenge. iam i am grateful for your decision on the financial instrument for us, for our people, for ukraine. ukraine facilitated with 50 billion euros for a four year period, this is a clear signal that ukraine will withstand and that europe will withstand. there is huge relief here in kyiv that this news has passed, that hungary is on board. all the responders stressing the fact this is a united european response. the symbolism of that is important ukraine as well as the fact it means that the funding is now approved.

because ukraine has been stressing all along that this is notjust about stressing all along that this is not just about supporting this country, it is about the broader cause of european security that ukraine is fighting for europe as well, against russia's attempts to change the world order by force. war cost a lot of money and it is notjust about getting missiles and ammunition and shells and tanks from the west, it is about hard cash because the government needs to keep doing what a normal government in a normal country would do. that is, paying state sector salaries, would do. that is, paying state sectorsalaries, paying sector salaries, paying pensions, aboutjust sectorsalaries, paying pensions, aboutjust keeping pensions, about just keeping the pensions, aboutjust keeping the heating on. the price is high and ukraine needs help with the money because everything else, all its other income, is going to the war effort directly. this is important money in particular important money in particular important as the american funding for ukraine at the moment is being blocked by domestic politics there. another thing the are responsive and ukraine has been underlining is about this is money which is guaranteed for

several years. money which is guaranteed for severalyears. it money which is guaranteed for several years. it gives ukraine some stability as it looks to the future and looks to continue to fight a war that frankly two years ago people in ukraine did not believe was even possible. throughout its invasion of ukraine, russia has been accused of taking children in their thousands. only a handful have been returned. last year, the international criminal court ofjustice issued an arrest warrant for vladimir putin over the deportation of ukrainian children — a war crime under international law. but despite that, ukraine says russia has continued taking ukrainian children. for more on that process, i spoke to dmitro lubinets, he's ukraine's parliament commissioner on human rights. if we can start by talking about the issue of ukrainian children that have been taken to russia, at this point, how many children do you think are in russia and do you know where they are? exactly. now we have confirmation of about 19,546 children that were deported by the

russian federation. i know that the number is much more bigger, but the main challenge for me — how it's confirmed that ukrainian children are now in the russian territory because russia never give us any information about our children. i want to send a clear message to everyone that russia deports ukrainian children from 2014 — ten years — and the centre of europe, the russian federation, kidnaps ukrainian children openly, publicly... and, of course, russia, as you say, doesn't deny that it has ukrainian children there but it says that it is caring for them in these camps and so on. how are your efforts to try and get them back for ukraine? for today, we have new initiatives from our international partners.

for example, we organised international cohesion of representatives of countries for returning ukrainian children. the first meeting was on 8 december in kyiv. i support that we will have new initiatives from the united states of america, from the biggest strategic partner on this case. we can't stop the russians alone, but we can do it together. we should unite our efforts of returning ukrainian children. 0k. if we could move to talk about prisoners of war, we saw a prisoner swap this week. we also saw an aircraft downed last week. have you been able to get the names of the ukrainian prisoners of wars that were said to be on that aircraft, or recovered their remains? i am the person who exactly takes participation on this

procedure, of exchanging prisoners of war, returning ukrainian children from russian territory and returning civilian hostages. yes, i know all the details. i cannot say a lot publicly, but for today we did not receive officially the list of ukrainian prisoners of war who were on these planes. in my position, we, for today, we do not have enough details that we can confirm that 65 prisoners of war of the ukrainian army were on this plane. we as a country, we want an official criminal investigation with our international partners. for the next day after this accident, i sent two official

letters from my institution, one to a united nations organisation and another to the international committee of the red cross. i emphasised that ukraine are ready for open investigation on this case. we do not want to cover anything. we can give any information from the ukrainian side, but we demand that russia will open all information that will allow experts from international organisations to visit this place where this plane fell down. just on that point, talking about being open with information, russia says that ukraine shot that plane down. can you say ukraine did not? again, for today, we want to receive all details.

we are ready, openly, to check with international experts the details of this plane. after that i can confirm this information or not confirm. but have you been able to check with your own military as to whether missiles were fired in that region at that time? for today i can say that i can't confirm that this plane was brought down by the ukrainian army. just on the news for today then — the $50 billion a package for ukraine — how critical is it to your country, to the war efforts, that the us congress follow suit and agrees to a package here? we appreciate the decision of the european union, the european commission. it will be fruitful for us,

for our country, but it is not enough for us. we are waiting and we support that americans, senators and congressmen will vote for the same decision to open a new programme of assistance of the ukrainian country by military and finance issues. we need it. you know we are in a very bad situation in ukraine. i visited the frontline before new year's day. i spoke with our military soldiers and i visited exactly an area on the frontline, now the hardest position in ukraine, and all militarists said to me "we are ready

"to continue to fight but we don't want to simply "die without weapons." we fight and we are ready to fight. we are ready to continue to fight and we are even ready to die for willing to be an independent, democratic country, but we don't want to die without weapons, so please assist us. if someone from decision—makers will see this video, please simply understand us. we are fighting for you too. 0k. dmitro lubinets, the ukrainian parliamentary commissioner for human rights, thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. thank you very much.

let's turn to some other news around the world. officials in turkey say police have freed seven workers held hostage by a gunman at a proctor and gamble plant in istanbul. the local governor told reporters that police staged a raid when the lone gunman took a bathroom break. no—one was injured in the nine—hour siege. the gunman has been detained and is unharmed. the first parent to go on trial in the us for a mass shooting carried out by their child has tried to place the blame on her husband. jennifer crumbley told jurors that the gun she and her husband purchased for their son was not her responsibility. her son is serving life in prison for killing four classmates in michigan in 2021. he was 15 years old at the time of the attack. and finally — the monkey that escaped from a wildlife park in the scottish highlands has been found. the japanese macaque, otherwise known as a snow monkey, escaped from the highland wildlife park on sunday. its capture comes after someone spotted the monkey eating food from their garden.

iain macinnes sent this report. this was the moment the highland adventure for honshu came to an end. the macaque had been on the run for five days. relieved. very relieved. part of the team who were able to go and get him. he'd been spotted in this garden just a few miles from the park. the macaque wasjust right at the window, looking in at me. and what did he look like? did he look happy? he looked a little bit sad. he wasn't worried, i don't think, but looked a little bit sad. he's now been checked over by vets here at the highland wildlife park. he's actually in fantastic condition. he doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects whatsoever. i guess we have all of the peanuts in the bird feeders to thank for that. these guys don't realise what a stir their little pal has caused, but i'm sure they'll give him a good welcome back now he's done monkeying around. iain macinnes, bbc news.

no monkeying around here. we have got to go. that's all from the team here in washington. i'm caitriona perry. thank you for watching. you can keep date with everything on our website. do take care. hello. full uk forecast in a moment. first of all, i thought i'd reflect on storm ingunn that came across the north atlantic wednesday and hit sweden and norway wednesday night, bringing what looks like being record—breaking winds, sustained winds of 122 miles an hour, parts of norway, and 116 miles an hour in sweden. unimaginable strength of the winds. there were even stronger gusts. the gusts that we recorded were even much stronger than those that hit southern england in the great storm of 1987 — one of the most powerful storms i've ever seen, storm ingunn. now it's the lovely end to the day on thursday, fine sunsets many of you spotted caused by the clear skies illuminating the cloud out west. but it is the cloud that's going to be winning the battle, i suppose, over the next few

hours, progressively turning quite cloudy, a few patches of drizzle around, some rain into western scotland, but very mild air, again flowing in off the atlantic. we see high pressure to the south, weather fronts to the northwest where it will be windy. gusts of wind reaching 50 odd miles an hour across northern scotland, where it'll be damp and drizzly across western areas. elsewhere, a lot of cloud to start the day. but given it's quite windy, i suspect we will see some sunny breaks breaking through across parts of east scotland, to the east of the pennines, probably eastern parts of wales, and maybe eastern side of both antrim and downs. so you might see some glimmers of sunshine. either way, it will be a very mild day. the air gets a little bit cooler across northern areas on saturday, say cooler, temperatures coming a bit closer to average, sunshine and showers working in here. again, it's quite blustery. england and wales having the thickest of the cloud with some patches of light rain coming and going. temperatures 1a degrees, again, well above average for this time of the year. the average in london is nine degrees.

for sunday's forecast, again, we've got the mild air with us, but thicker cloud this time, so probably a higher chance of seeing some damp weather at times. the far north of scotland, again, quite blustery with some showers working in here. for most of us, temperatures again on the mild side, ten to 1a degrees pretty widely. but then after this mild run of weather, might be something of a shock to the system to see the weather turns a lot colder next week. and for some of you, that means a return of seeing some snowfall. now it's a little bit less certain just how cold it gets further southwards across england and wales. but it could be that we see some snow. for the time being, the models are picking up thick cloud with outbreaks of cold rain at times.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk with me, zeinab badawi. the conflict in sudan that broke out last april has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. about 11 million people have been forced to flee their homes and more than 13,000 have died. the fighting continues between the sudan armed forces, which is headed by general abdel fattah al—burhan, the de facto president of sudan, and his erstwhile deputy general, mohamed dagalo — better known as hemedti — who heads the rapid support forces militia, the rsf.

my guest is the former prime minister abdalla hamdok, who is playing a significant role in the negotiations. he has signed a deal with hemedti, so does this mean the rsf has effectively won the war? hi, zeinab. abdalla hamdok in abu dhabi, welcome to hardtalk. nearly half of sudan's 49 million strong population is in dire need of humanitarian assistance. aid agencies can't get to them. diseases are rife. what are you and others trying to do to help them?