live from washington, this is bbc news. the us and uk lead coalition airstrikes on iran—backed houthi targets in yemen in the latest response to attacks on red sea shipping routes. it comes a day after the us hit targets in iraq and syria in retaliation for last weekend's deadly drone strike on us troops injordan. and, president biden secures an easy win in south carolina, where democrats held their first primary election of the year. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we start in the middle east, where the us and uk have led more coalition strikes against the iran—backed houthis in yemen. these pictures from us central command show american aircraft taking off for the raids. according to centcom, 36 houthi targets have been struck.

this is the third round of strikes led by the us and uk, and involved support from australia, bahrain, denmark, canada, the netherlands and new zealand. in addition to these latest joint strikes, us central command says it also launched what it calls defensive strikes against six anti—ship cruise missiles in houthi—held areas in yemen. in a statement, the us defence secretary lloyd austin says the action "sends a clear message to the houthis that they will continue to bear further consequences if they do not end their illegal attacks on international shipping and naval vessels. " we have also heard from the uk defence secretary grant shapps. in a statement he says: the raids follow us strikes in iraq and syria on friday. 85 sites were hit in retaliation for the killing injordan of three american soldiers by iranian—backed militants. these pictures, verified by the bbc, show the aftermath of friday's strikes in iraq. iraqi officials say that 16

people were killed and 25 injured in those strikes. iran has condemned the attacks as a strategic mistake that is against the sovereignty of iraq and syria. the un security council will meet on monday to discuss the us strikes, on the request of russia. for the latest, i spoke with our senior international correspondent orla guerin, who is in baghdad. we've seen now the us and uk have launched the third round of strikes against houthi targets in yemen. what is the latest you can tell us that's been happening in the region? yes, third round ofjoint strikes, the third round carried out over the next month or so. we're being told that once again the aim was self—defense — to prevent the houthis from carrying out attacks on international shipping. and we heard a few hours ago from the us that an earlier round of strikes had destroyed six anti—ship missiles that the houthis were, according to the white house,

about to use. we have seen strikes of this kind being carried out and it hasn't so far stopped the houthis from carrying out attacks on international shipping, but i think it is a sign of the times and of the instability in the middle east at the moment that we're talking about american strikes on targets in three countries over the past 2a hours. we have these joint strikes with the uk on the iranian—backed houthis in yemen and of course last night, we had the strikes by the us on 85 targets — once again iranian—backed militia, here in iraq and also in syria. those strikes were the first part america's response to the killing of three us service people last sunday. since then, the region has been counting the cost. there have been angry statements from the authorities here in baghdad accusing america fuelling instability in the region. there's been condemnation

from syria and from tehran, but interestingly, that's all — angry words but no action. there's been no action taken by tehran and, of course, america was a careful last night not to hit iranian soil. so after that first round of us strikes — and we have been told there will be more — it seems as if the fundamentals have not shifted. the americans are still signalling clearly they do not want a major escalation with iran and it seems like that tehran�*s position is the same. it does not want things to get worse and so far, at least, we haven't seen any major response by the iranian—backed militias here on the ground in iraq. they seem — for now, at least — to be lying low. at the same time, orla, we know it comes a time of tension in the region with israel's war on gaza. what you think the larger consequences of these strikes could be in the region? i think we really have to judge this day by day, and again, it's an indication

of what a dangerous moment this is in the middle east — that we really can't look beyond the next 2a hours. to some extent, it will depend on what america does next. is the second wave of strikes of the same kind of magnitude? i expect it will be, and that's pretty much in line with what was expected in the region, and let's bear in mind that america signalled some days in advance that there would be a retaliation. there was plenty of time for senior iranian figures to get out of harm's way and indeed for weapons and ammunition to be moved to safer locations, so i think the white house has made its point without inflicting a massive military loss of the iranian—backed militias and without, so far, it seems, provoking any kind of major response from them. that said, they may continue

and probably will continue carrying out attacks on us bases, as they have been doing — more than 160 attacks since hamas attacked israel on october the 7th, leading to the israeli assault on gaza. but i think running through all of this now for the americans is the hope that there can be a diplomatic breakthrough coming from antony blinken�*s next trip to the region. he's pushing hard to try to secure another cease—fire in gaza for one to two months which would see the release of all the remaining israeli hostages, those who remain alive, and the release of a large number, perhaps all, palestinian prisoners from israeli jails. we do not know if he will be able to secure that agreement but that is certainly the increasing focus of the white house because the belief is if there can be a ceasefire in gaza, it can try to take away the fuel for the fires that are burning around the middle east now.

orla, thank you so much for your insights from baghdad tonight. joining me live is elise labott. she's a veteran global affairs journalist and author of cosmopolitics on substack. we are seeing these further target and get houthi targets. and iran and syria. —— iraq and syria. we have seen some critical voices particularly among republicans. obviously in an election _ among republicans. obviously in an election year _ among republicans. obviously in an election year those _ among republicans. obviously in an election year those calls, - an election year those calls, these criticisms, they are crowdpleasing, they sound good on twitter at the us has been very clear it doesn't want a hot, open war with iran. obviously there is a conflict, notjust obviously there is a conflict, not just with obviously there is a conflict, notjust with iran and its proxies but from across the region. the us does not want to go into iran go attacking the

territory and that would cause an open war. also, obviously iran is supporting with financial backing and military and weapons these proxies but the extent to which they are pulling the marionette strings, if you will, is really unclear someone less there was a smoking gun that iran was involved, it would more likely go after these proxies, it would, it could go after irgc, the uranian revolution regards, command and control facilities across the region, the elite force that is responsible for dealing with overseas operations. you might see it go after operations like that but i don't think you are going to see the us go inside iran and it is pretty clear and the iranians are also saying they don't want an open war. if we want to see a red line, if you will, that would be the red line, going inside to iranians

territory. line, going inside to iranians territo ., line, going inside to iranians territory-— territory. some of the critics sa in: territory. some of the critics saying the — territory. some of the critics saying the point _ territory. some of the critics saying the point of- territory. some of the critics saying the point of the - territory. some of the critics| saying the point of the strike during the trump administration that took out iranians general qasem soleimani. the fears were of escalation then but that didn't happen. what is different here and now? if you remember. — different here and now? if you remember, yes, _ different here and now? if you remember, yes, the _ different here and now? if you remember, yes, the trump i remember, yes, the trump administration did make a very decisive blow against qasem soleimani but he was not inside iranians territory. he was outside of uranian territory at the time. so i think you can assume that anything outside of you run could be very game but inside is a no—go zone. again i think this was a decisive blow. i don't think it would be a definitive one. what the us wants to do is have a conversation within itself —— have iran have a conversation within itself and say ok, do we really want to go this far? what happens if the us response? up until now, hundred

and 60 attacks against us forces, little in return. iran kept pushing and now it knows that the us is saying listen, you are coming very close here and we are going to beat you back so i think iran will think twice about using its proxies to hit the united states. i don't think those attacks. completely. it might tamp down but let's face it, this is not just about sending a message to iran, this is about degrading and defaming these proxies so they don't have the capacity to go against united states, to go against shipping lanes. this is where we see so many targets and so many different sites being hit. and so many different sites being hit-— and so many different sites bein: hit. �* ., ., ., being hit. and i also want to ask ou being hit. and i also want to ask you another _ being hit. and i also want to ask you another part - being hit. and i also want to ask you another part of- being hit. and i also want to ask you another part of the l ask you another part of the strategy, we anticipate at least, the secretary of state going over to the middle east again and trying to push for a ceasefire in israel gaza war. very much connected to the

strikes by irani and backed militias. tell us what you are going to see him try to do? think this is being be ashore in chief, the public diplomat. the secretary has done a lot of negotiations between all of the parties. i think what he is really doing is looking at the day after. what are we going to see? can we have movement on a two state solution? can we have the israelis agreeing that once the israelis agreeing that once the war is over we're going to certain discussions, we are doing a lot of work on a future palestinian government stop we know the negotiations on an actual ceasefire on the ceasefire for hostage trading is going on between the cia director bill burns and other parties. the israeli head of mossad, the cutlery officials and officials indirectly with hamas. i think what secretary antony blinken has really been focused on is aligning all of the countries in terms of the

day after and gaza, and possibly now, now that we see other countries are involved in these attacks against the houthis, possibly lining up a coalition of states that will be supportive of one another to go after these proxies. always good to get your perspective on the story. good to get your perspective on the sto . ., ~ ,, good to get your perspective on the sto . ., ~ i. good to get your perspective on thesto. ., ~' . the story. thank you so much forjoining — the story. thank you so much forjoining us— the story. thank you so much forjoining us tonight. - you can stay up to date with all the latest on the us strikes on our website at bbc.com/news. you see the live page there with all the latest information coming in. but turning to other news now: the sitting president of namibia, hage geingob, has died, according to the presidency�*s official account on x. he was 82 years old. president geingob was namibia's third president, elected in 2014. onjanuary 19, the namibian presidency announced mr geingob would begin cancer treatment, after a routine medical screening led to the detection of cancerous cells. mr geingob was a prominent figure in namibia's liberation struggle, and promoted economic development good governance.

he was a die—hard football fan, attending many games. his passing was announced in the last couple of hours by namibia's vice president. the country was already set to hold presidential elections in november. in northern ireland, the devolved government has been restored two years after it collapsed. and it has chosen its first irish nationalist leader. michelle o'neill was elected first minister. her party, sinn fein, hopes to one day unite northern ireland with the republic of ireland. sinn fein became the biggest party during elections two years ago. it is also two years to the day that the assembly at stormont last met, after the main unionist party, the democratic unionists, walked out of the power—sharing agreement over post—brexit trading rules. our political editor chris mason reports from belfast. good morning, stormont! stormont�*s back up and running today, we've been running the past two years. limbering up and under way — park runners here first thing, pounding around the stormont estate.

and the politicians are back, too. whoo! and it's notjust you guys rattling around here now. no, there's going to be a few others rattling around. so there's going to be quite a number in the house, i believe, today. but they're welcome tojoin the park run. good to see them back? erm... we'll see. to be confirmed, still. so you thought you'd run at stormont today because the politicians are back? yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. hopefully, a wee bit more conversation, going forward. arriving here not long later, today's headline—maker, michelle o'neill, walking towards a place in northern ireland's history as the first nationalist first minister. the assembly is back, and now with a first minister who speaks in english and irish. she speaks irish. today opens the door to a future, a shared future.

i am honoured to stand here as first minister. michelle o'neill pledged that she would work for everyone in northern ireland. with all those colleagues of a british, of a unionist tradition who cherish the union, this is an assembly for all — catholic, protestant, and dissenter. on northern ireland's violence murder, known as the troubles, a notable apology for all deaths. we must never forget all those who have died or been injured or theirfamilies. i am sorry for all the lives lost during the conflict, without exception. history can at once be national, however defined, and deeply personal. and this is an historic day. and it does represent a new dawn. for the very first time, a nationalist takes up the position of first minister. that such a day would ever come was unimaginable to my parents�* and grandparents�* generation. northern ireland's first

and deputy first ministers have equal legal powers, but sinn fein won more seats than the second—biggest party, the democratic unionists, at the last elections. so the dup take the deputy position. michelle is an irish republican and i am a very proud unionist. we will never agree on those issues, but what we can agree on is that cancer doesn't discriminate and our hospitals need fixed. there is widespread support here for the return of devolution, but it's not universal. some unionists think the dup should not have come back because some eu rules still apply in northern ireland. of all those attempts to spin defeat as victory, this is a climb—down of monumental proportions. the business of governing, deciding, scrutinising resumes again here. chris mason, bbc news, in belfast. let's turn now to the us presidential race.

our news partner cbs projects president biden as the winner of the south carolina democratic race. it's where democrats voted in their first primary of 2024 on saturday. biden posted on x saying: the results are hardly a surprise — in a campaign speech this morning, the president was already turning his attention to the general election in november. this is notjust a campaign, this is more of a mission. we cannot, we cannot, we cannot lose this campaign for the good of the country. and i mean that from the bottom of my heart. it's not about me, it goes well beyond me. it goes about the country. for more on this, i talked with hyma moore, a political strategist and principal at cornerstone — a bipartisan government relations firm. hyma is former chief of staff and advisor to the chairman of the democratic national committee. hyma, great to see you and great to have you on.

the currents president's age, concerns about his standing amongst black voters — how big are these stumbling blocks for president biden? i think all of these things will be very important for the president. when you look at what he said this week and what vice president harris has said this week in south carolina, they're taking this election very seriously. here's the reality — former president trump is also up in age and can be seen in some of the same light so i think the president understands that this will be a liability in some ways but he's trying to figure out a way to use it as a sign of experience — he's been around for long time. it was said before, we know joe and joe knows us, and i think he's going to try to bring that back to the table and try to take the age off as a big liability. that will be tough among youngervoters, hyma. but it's notjust south carolina. looking at some of the polls, joe biden is not particular popular among democrats as well. how is the dnc dealing with this? when you get to these election

years, these polls come out in rapid succession and it is hard to really look at the numbers as one singular poll. the dnc has been working for the last four years to make sure that president biden's message is resonating. i think the reality is there are some issues of reservation right now, so the dnc, the democrats across the country, the local state parties, are trying to figure out the best direct way to deliver this message. at the end of the day, there are some really great things the president can point to, all across the country, particularly in the battleground states that will be very important to him. jobs have risen, people say anyone who wants a job has a job and that is a big deal. so you'll see him talking about that a lot more. you'll see democrats' governors, mayors, all the surrogates around the country, having that conversation a little more more directly. the point is, on the economic messaging, the jobs numbers are strong. until now, however, americans haven't seemed to trust president biden over the former president, in particular on the economy.

how do you think we will see the strategy change on messaging on the economy in particular? one of the things folks have realised is the bidenomics messaging hasn't worked as well or as quickly, but the reality is, there are real, tangible things the president can point to that have changed people's lives. and i think the country is in a better place than it was four years ago. we remember the chaos of donald trump, of former president trump, we remember covid—i9, we remember all of these things and so i think the president is going to want to remind us what it was like four years ago and then talk more about how he's going to finish the job. he believes he's not done and he believes he can do a lot more but he has to go get out there and get the votes. you will see him out there a lot more campaigning directly with voters. we know that is one of his strong suits and he is going to take the message directly to these states. and you will see it sharpening more and more, as we get closer

to the election. we heard that we will see a lot of the president out on that voter line. one more question about a specific voting group — there are real concerns about arab american voters, as well, particularly over the president's handling of the israel—gaza war. it is something we also heard from black voters, of course. we saw protests in michigan during the president's visit there. we have not really heard him address that directly. how do you think the campaign is going to try to address some of these issues? i think you are absolutely right. this is going to be a huge issue for this election, on both sides, and one of the things the president is trying to do, on one hand he is actually trying to get in there and do some of the work that's going to alleviate some of the pressure of these conflicts, and, secondly, he is going to have to articulate what he has been able to do over the past few months, to just lower the temperature, and really try to do his best to makes the reality — i believe and the president believes that this conflict has to end and i think he will start talking about that a little bit more. but it is a tough issue

and he knows that he's going to have to present a case to americans and the global audience in a way that allows people to see that he is concerned and he is working hard and working on both sides to bring this to a close. one more question, hyma. looking at the head—to—head match up with the former president, donald trump, if he is the nominee. if you look at those polls, sometimes donald trump is a point or two ahead, sometimesjoe biden is a point or two ahead. as the campaign ramps up, what do you think the main strategy is going to be? pointing out what the donald trump presidency was like four years ago? yes. here is a reality — president donald trump's campaign is very strong and he is getting stronger, i believe. but the reality is still the reality. donald trump when he was president was a president of chaos and we were not in a better place when he left the white house, and so president biden and vice president harris are going to use that as a key linchpin in their

messaging to voters over the next few months. and there are real things that they can point to that show that evidence. but here is the thing, like i said before, donald trump's campaign is in a really strong place, as you saw iowa, new hampshire, and as you will see in south carolina in three weeks. he is in a much better position than he was even in 2016. so president biden cannot take this for granted. and vice president harris. they have to get out there and share this message more directly and they have to be a little more direct with the people about why their lives are different than they were four years ago. hyma, good to have your take on the story. thank you forjoining us. thank you. scientists and engineers with the british antarctic survey have arrived in antarctica to test a new scientific drone. it's been designed to fly in harsh weather and could travel to the remotest parts of the continent but it's been designed and tested in the uk. it's hoped it will eventually be able to show how climate change is affecting the areas of the antarctic that humans haven't been able to explore. our climate reporter georgina rannard has been in north wales to see the drone

put through its paces. scientists are fighting to understand how climate change is altering antarctica. decades ago they travelled by foot and poon ago they travelled by foot and poor, before taking to the air. but now they need technology that works whatever the weather. this could be the answer, a new drone tested, not in antarctica but in snowdonia. and there we have 700 litres... that when he? can we open it? well, it is like opening a car boot. pretty much. most of the centres will be fitted here. increases safety because you do not have a pilot on board. it means you can bring the aircraft are more remote location. designed to withstand harsh environments and challenging conditions. researchers have used drones before. but this autonomous

drone can fly i's thousand kilometres and uses a fraction of the fuel a traditional plain users, so it is also betterfor the planet. also going to antarctica is scientist on dominic tom jordan. he has mapped the constant before but needs more data. he will use radar on the drone to draw picture of what is on dominic under the ice sheets, to predict how fast they could melt. the spiky bits in the middle are a mountain range about the side of the european alps. looking around you can see other areas that look suspiciously smooth, actually they are not smooth at all. these are gaps in our knowledge, gaps in the map. it's just that no—one has ever been there to make those measurements. but this code will not stop the ice melting but the knowledge it gives us will help us prepare for our planet's future. georgina runner, bbc news, north wales. thank you for watching a show

and we have the latest information and analysis from a correspondence there. am sumi somaskanda in washington. stay with us. hello. cloudy, windy and mild pretty much covers sunday's weather forecast in most parts of the uk. we do have this wriggling weather front which will bring rain for some, particularly in the western side of scotland. but with that front edging a little bit further northwards, it will introduce milder air for more of us. but with that extensive cloud cover, it will be quite misty and murky for some coasts and hills. a bit of rain across north—west england, parts of northern ireland, but more especially, this western side of scotland, the rain becoming heavy and persistent. eastern scotland with a bit of shelter from the winds, while here, we mayjust see a little bit of sunshine. but it is going to be a windy day for many of us. very windy in the far north. gusts of 60 miles per hour, for example, in shetland, where temperatures will only climb to four degrees. but elsewhere, further south, highs of 13 or 14 degrees — well above the average

for early—february. and then during sunday night, the rain keeps on coming in western scotland, hence this met office yellow weather warning. the wettest locations over higher ground could see 170 millimetres of rain. some snow mixing into the north of our weather front, where it engages some cold air. very mild, though, further south, as we start monday morning. through monday, we'll continue to see these outbreaks of heavy rainjust waxing and waning across the northwest of scotland, with some snow across the far north. but to the south of that, it stays mild, it stays quite windy, it stays very cloudy, with some mist and murk and some spots of drizzle. temperatures up to around 13, maybe 1a degrees once again, but always colder to the north of our weather front. just two degrees there, in lerwick. and by tuesday, well, that frontal system looks set to push a little bit further southwards. so rain for northern ireland, northern england, perhaps into north wales. to the south of that, still cloudy, a bit murky, very mild. to the north of our weather front, well, some sunny spells, a few wintry showers in the far north and something just

a little bit chillier. now, this weather front just wriggles around through the middle part of the week. it will bring further outbreaks of rain. later in the week, it does look like these various frontal systems will eventually push southwards and that will allow some colder air to dig its way across more parts of the uk. it is going to take a while for that colder air to spread southwards, but it does look like, as we get through the end of the week and into the weekend, it will turn colder for all of us. yes, there'll be some rain, but for some, there may also be some snow.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. when dame sheila hancock arrived at drama school in 1919, she was an outsider — not to london, where she'd grown up above her parents�* pub just before the war, but to an acting establishment that was very male, very posh, and university educated. but she has refused to let other people's expectations hold her back. at 16, she backpacked around europe. and at 83, she conquered a mountain. she is an obe, cbe, and a dame. she would go on to be a pioneer on stage and screen, rewriting the rules for comedy, women and the working class.

but it was her best—selling books about love and loss