live from london, this is bbc news: the united states national security adviser says the strikes against the houthis in yemen will reduce their military capabilities, as us and british forces launch fresh airstrikes. chile's president says the number of lives lost in the deadliest wildfire on record in the country has risen to 64 and will increase further. a new sighting in the manhunt for abdul ezedi — accused of attacking a woman and her daughters with chemicals — the police have offered a £20,000 reward. and facebook marks its 20th anniversary, having risen from a network for students at a single university to one of the biggest internet platforms in the world today. and the grammy awards — celebrating the best of the music industry — are set to be dominated by female artists.

hello, i'm tanya beckett. the uk government has said iran will be held accountable for the actions of armed groups it supports in the middle east. it follows another round of american and british air strikes on houthi fighters in yemen last night, aimed at deterring attacks on merchant shipping in the red sea. they were supported by six ally countries as part of an international military coalition — as they continue attempts to stop the houthis targeting international shipping in the red sea. these raids in yemen follow earlier strikes by the us in iraq and syria on friday. 85 sites were hit in retaliation for the killing injordan of three american soldiers by iranian—backed militants. 0ur chief international correspondent 0rla guerin reports from baghdad. it is becoming a familiar sight — raf typhoon jets taking off last

night for a bombing raid on houthi targets in yemen. the third round of joint us—uk strikes. not an escalation, according to the defence secretary, grant shapps. not a deterrent, either, according to the iranian—backed houthis, who have been attacking international shipping in the red sea since this hijacking in november. they said today they are making a moral stand in support of palestinians in gaza. and more fires burning in the middle east. here, the aftermath of deadly us bombing raids on friday in iraq and syria in retaliation for the killing of three american soldiers.

in baghdad today, a fleet of ambulances carry those killed by the us — 17 fighters from militias backed by iran. officially, they are part of iraq's security forces, but in many ways, they are foot soldiers for tehran. the us strikes have caused anger here. the government saying they have threatened the security of iraq and the region. "a red line was crossed by targeting our forces," says falih al—fayyadh, leader of the militias. "this must not be repeated". and the chant from the crowd, "america is the greatest devil". they want us forces out. these men have come to mourn and to honour their dead — victims of american bombing raids.

but there is also a message in all this. it is a show of strength, a show of unity, and a warning to the united states — we are here and we are not going anywhere. but the mood was muted and there were no fiery threats of retaliation. iran does not want an escalation in the tit—for—tat. neither does washington. while the war rages in gaza, one false move could set the region alight. 0rla guerin, bbc news, baghdad. 0rla joined us earlier from baghdad to give us the latest on the reaction to this latest round of strikes. welcome america believes the best hope of containing the turmoil and instability of the region is getting some kind of deal done on gaza.

now, for that reason, the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is returning to the region for a five—day visit beginning in saudi arabia. he'll also stop off in qatar and egypt, israel and the west bank. what the americans are hoping is that there can be in agreement on releasing the remaining israeli hostages in gaza, those who are still alive, and a humanitarian pause. there was speculation that hamas might give its verdict on that tonight. it's now less certain. both sides have their own reasons for wanting to do a deal, but we don't know at this stage how far apart they may still be. the uk prime minister, rishi sunak, is visiting northern ireland this evening following the restoration of the devolved government. the stormont assembly returned yesterday — two years since it last sat after the democratic unionist party withdrew over brexit. 0ur political editor, chris mason, is in belfast. he told us more about this visit by rishi sunak. the prime minister has arrived here this evening. he'll be heading out to meet various folk, including, in the morning, meeting political leaders, the new first and deputy first

ministers at stormont, the home of devolved government here in northern ireland, or at least the home since yesterday with the restoration, as you were mentioning, of devolved government after two years of stasis. when you look back at the history of modern devolution in northern ireland, it has been punctuated by periods of suspension, it not existing, because any of the main parties to it can decide that they want to walk away, and with that, power—sharing — the clue is in the title — ceases to happen. but it has been revived in the last week after the democratic unionists, who would like to affirm northern ireland's place within the union of the uk, agreed to go back in after what they concluded were assurances about free trade within the uk are concerned. so power—sharing is back up and running and the prime minister here on something of a victory lap,

if you like, because it is an achievement, i think, of both domestic and international statecraft, that after this two—year pause he has managed to, in negotiation with the democratic unionists, get things going again. and after that two—year pause, as you've described it, northern ireland has been really unable to move forward in any way. and the question perhaps rishi sunak is going to be faced with is a budgetary one? yeah. 0h, absolutely. and that is often the case, but particularly after a period like this, notjust of the political stasis, but also the circumstances in which that has happened in the last couple of years. so we've had, haven't we, the pandemic, we, the pandemic, soaring inflation, cost of living pressures, and onto that has been plonked political stasis, and you have seen in northern ireland the obvious consequences of that. so a couple of weeks ago here strikes dubbed the biggest in 50 years, tens of thousands of public sector workers on strike saying

that they were paid not enough compared with peers across the irish sea in england, scotland and wales. alongside that, plenty say that the health service here is in crisis. now, part of the attempts by the government in london to get power—sharing up and running was a promise of £35 billion for northern ireland if the executive and the assembly were re—established. and i was speaking to the northern ireland secretary, chris heaton—harris, who is in the government at westminster and oversees northern ireland. he said now things are up and running, that money will be released. i think what we're going to see in the next period of time is an element of expectations being managed by the political leaders here. the first minister, michelle 0'neill, the deputy first minister as well, from the dup in saying, look, we're glad to be up and running — and the vast majority within the assembly are —

but it won't happen overnight, things will take time to improve even with that dollop of cash. and by the way, as you were hinting at in your question, plenty of politicians here say that the funding formula from westminster needs looking at, which is political speak for "send more money". police searching for the suspect in a chemical attack on a mother and her daughters in south london on wednesday have confirmed a new sighting of suspect abdul ezedi on that same evening. they've released new cctv pictures of him shortly after the attack and are offering a reward of £20,000 for information that could lead to his arrest. simonjones reports. where is abdul shokoor ezedi? 0n the fourth day of their manhunt, police have released these cctv images of him at a tesco in north london. he has serious injuries to his face. this isjust over an hour after a mother and her two children were attacked.

that took place at 7:25 on wednesday evening on lessar avenue in clapham. police say mr ezedi then took the tube to king's cross underground station, where he was seen just before 8:00. he was next caught on camera at the tesco in caledonian road at 8:42. he went into king's cross underground station again at precisely 9:00pm. and officers have now revealed the last confirmed sighting was just after 9:30 when he comes out of tower hill tube station opposite the tower of london. the metropolitan police is offering a reward of up to £20,000 for information leading to the arrest of abdul shokoor ezedi. 0fficers believe there are people who know where he is who are yet to come forward, and they are warning that anyone assisting him to evade capture will face arrest. hello, it's the police. is anyone home? five properties have been searched, including this one in newcastle, where mr ezedi was thought to be living. two empty containers with warnings on the labels were found. tests are ongoing to see if they held the substance used in the clapham attack. that liquid was found to be a very concentrated corrosive substance. mr ezedi is originally from afghanistan. members of the afghan community

in london have made this plea. 0ur appeal to abdul ezedi is for him to hand himself in to the police as soon as possible. it was a horrific crime on the streets of london against a woman and two girls, and we hope that the public will also cooperate with the police. the woman injured in the attack remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital. simon jones, bbc news. in the last half an hour, police in bristol have charged a sixth individual in connection with the deaths of teenagers mason rist and max dixon. a 17—year—old boy, legally protected from identification due to his age, faces charges for the murders. he becomes the latest person charged and remanded into custody in connection with the teenagers. a new cancer vaccine is being trialled on patients in the uk.

the drug has been developed by moderna, the pharmaceutical giant behind one of the covid—i9 vaccines, and is aimed at people with advanced melanoma, lung cancer and other solid tumour cancers. experts believe that, if it's effective, it could lead the way to treat a range of cancers. votes are being cast in el salvador�*s election, with president nayib bukele expected to win another landslide victory. the campaign has been dominated by the president's war on gangs. he's credited with slashing the country's homicide rate and making el salvador one of the safest places in latin america, but critics have described his two—year crackdown on street gangs as draconian. 0ur latin america correspondent will grant, who is in el salvador�*s capital, san salvador, has more. voting is well under way in el salvador and an atmosphere of genuine calm on the streets. there have been very few reports, if any, of irregularities coming in so far.

i'm in a voting station where manuel flores, the candidate for the left wing fmln party, is going to cast his vote. he comes from the traditional left, if you like, in this country. but it's very unlikely that either he or any other candidate is going to make any genuine impact on president bukele�*s chances at re—election. nayib bukele has made it the crux of his campaign to say that he needs a second term in office to continue his harsh crackdown on the gangs in this country. it's a security platform that he's standing on, and it's one, according to many voters that i've spoken to here, that is resonating with the electorate, that they say they want to continue the crackdown on the powerful street gangs. that said, human rights organisations have continued to underline that they believe there are thousands of people in jail who shouldn't be there, who have been arbitrarily arrested under this security policy. if he does achieve a second term in office, there will be other things for president nayib bukele to focus on, particularly the economy.

but all of that is to come. today people are simply casting their votes and the likelihood is that we will see a second term in office for president nayib bukele. will grant there. emergency teams in chile are battling to control wildfires that have killed at least 64 people. rescue teams have warned that more bodies will be found. more than 1000 homes have been destroyed. a state of emergency is in place in central and southern parts of the country — where many people have been told to evacuate. the chilean president, gabriel boric, said he would make "all necessary resources" available. for more on this we are joined by mimi swaby, our news reporter who specialises in latin america. what is the latest on these fires? the president

has warned — latest on these fires? the president has warned that _ latest on these fires? the president has warned that there _ latest on these fires? the president has warned that there are _ latest on these fires? the president has warned that there are more - has warned that there are more bodies to be found at they get into more remote regions. burnt wreckage is of cars have blocked some roads, delaying aid into those areas, and while teams have got into some areas, they have found multiple bodies in the street. we also understand that the situation is complicated and that the worst areas affected are still the coastal tourist cities of valparaiso and vina mar. with 90 active fires are still raging across the area —— vina del mar, they cover at least 43,000 hectares and the death toll rises, the interior minister carolina toha has said this is the worst disaster chile is facing since an earthquake in 2010, which killed more than 500 people. that gives you an idea of the severity and ferocity of the situation which the government and military which are now aiding rescue

teams are still struggling to contain. , , ., contain. these wildfires are increasingly _ contain. these wildfires are increasingly a _ contain. these wildfires are increasingly a problem - contain. these wildfires are increasingly a problem in i contain. these wildfires are - increasingly a problem in north america, we know, australia, we have been hearing about. what about chili? it been hearing about. what about chili? , ., ., been hearing about. what about chili? ., ., ., chili? it is not uncommon to have wildfires -- _ chili? it is not uncommon to have wildfires -- chile, _ chili? it is not uncommon to have wildfires -- chile, especially - wildfires —— chile, especially during summer months. 0n the back of a heatwave, many people died and hectares were banned. it seems wildfires are becoming more prominent and venturing into new areas, notjust forested areas, but more urban ones like we are seeing in the case currently. it has also been that in recent weeks, not even in recent years, that areas of south america, including patagonia only a few weeks ago in argentina have been battling against unusually fierce wildfires. that is partly due to the weather phenomenon called el nino. although, in this case, there is suspicion that some of these fires, police some of these fires were actually started on purpose. so in

addition to a state of emergency being declared to try to really quell and contain those fires, as is operations and identify bodies, there are also investigating the possible arson that started some of these incidents.— these incidents. thank you very much. there's growing international concern over the political situation in senegal after president macky sall called off this month's election citing a row over the eligibility of candidates. 0pposition party supporters set up barricades around the capital dakar, and clashed with police. they were met with tear gas — and several people, including a former prime minister, were reportedly detained. so how did senegal reach this point? meghan 0wen explains. this is senegal�*s president, macky sall, announcing just a day before campaigning was due to start that he was postponing the country's election. but why? well, a constitutional council have made the decision to bar several hopeful candidates, including high—profile politician 0usmane sonko from the opposition.

now, this decision is being investigated by lawmakers because there are questions over its impartiality. sall himself is not hoping to stand for re—election and he has yet to announce a new date. but many opposition members are not happy with the decision. translation: never in senegal's political history have we seen - a situation like this. it's a dangerous precedent. to be able to postpone a presidential election on the eve of its start is unprecedented. translation: he's trying to pull off an electoral holdup. _ what's that? it's a constitutional coup, and we won't accept it. other opposition mps have also started a legal challenge against the decision, but the concern is also international with the eu, france and the us calling for an election as soon as possible. ecowas, the west african body, also posted this letter on x expressing their concern

over the situation. now, senegal is a rare example of democratic stability in western africa. we've seen coups in countries such as niger and burkina faso, so this decision to postpone the presidential election for the first time will add to rising political tensions in the country. facebook is marking its 20th anniversary today. it has grown from a network for harvard university students to one of the biggest online platforms in the world, but has come under increased pressure from regulators and rival companies. it helped usher in the era of social media but has also triggered concerns about fake news, the mental health of young users and the foundations of democracy. from silicon valley, our technology correspondent james clayton looks back at a turbulent two decades. for me, there are two chapters for facebook over the last 20 years. the first is more than a decade's worth of exponential growth.

people signed up in their droves. it was almost impossible to find someone who wasn't on facebook, and the platform was relatively uncontroversial. but then the next chapter began to develop, a very unwanted chapter for facebook. they don't care whether or not what they do is legal as long as it gets the job done. first came the cambridge analytica scandal, which involved the misuse of data to micro—target voters in both the brexit referendum and the 2016 us presidential election. and then there was the frances haugen scandal, the whistleblower who said that facebook was putting profits over safety, particularly over young women and girls. only this week, mark zuckerberg was asked to apologise to families who said their children had been harmed by social media. no—one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered. two years ago, mark zuckerberg changed facebook�*s name to meta.

now, officially, that was because he wanted it to better reflect his vision of a company that was going to build a metaverse. but, unofficially, the brand had become toxic. in making this piece, we wanted to film next to meta's famous sign. sir, you can't be filming. no recordings? no recording. that is what meta is now, it is a lot more nervous of the media than it used to be. meta now, of course, is a lot more than just facebook. it owns whatsapp, it owns instagram, and it also has its own vr headset. and that's where mark zuckerberg thinks the future lies — in vr. he believes that the world is shifting from a place where people connect online to a world where people want to connect virtually. the problem, though, is that mark zuckerberg has already spent tens of billions of dollars building the metaverse, and there's very little evidence to suggest that people really

want to spend much time in vr chatting to their friends. the world is kind of appealing, and that's mark zuckerberg's major problem. he might think that the vision of the future is the metaverse, but it makes all of its money through social media, and that makes trying to predict what meta's going to look like in even a year's time or two years' time pretty difficult to do. the president of namibia, hage geingob, has died. he was 82 years old. he'd been in hospital receiving treatment for cancer. mr geingob was a member of namibia's liberation movement — and was the country's first prime minister after independence from apartheid south africa in 1990. the grammys are taking place in los angeles this evening. this year's nominations are dominated by female artists and it is expected to be a good night for taylor swift — who has no fewer than seven nominations in the song of the year category, a record—breaking number.

and much excitement as tracy chapman will making a long—awaited return to the stage with her 1988 hit fast car in a duet with luke combs, whose cover is now a big hit. emma vardy reports. # talk to myself four hours... women in pop are having an excellent year, dominating most of the main categories at music's biggest night. it's hard to imagine a more successful 12 months for taylor swift. after her record—breaking eras tour, anti—hero, all about self—loathing, is a favourite to win song of the year. it makes her the most—nominated songwriter ever in the category. but she faces tough competition, with olivia rodrigo, miley cyrus and sza also battling it out for record of the year. though their songs have a variety of styles, many critics agree that what these female artists have in common is an ability to write

deeply personal and touching lyrics. that's something billie eilish is also recognised for, with her hit for the barbie film. but does this mark a turning point in the music business, which is still seen as a heavily male—dominated industry? i think the grammys can be a bit delayed. i think they can get it right but not necessarily at the right time. i even think the fact that this year it's all women dominating, a lot of people could argue that women have been dominating pop music for several years, so to see thatjust happen in 2024 also feels a bit late. while women are expected to sweep the board in the big categories this year, more than ever before, there's also a whole host of awards for the work that happens behind the scenes, and it's here where there are far less women involved. when it comes to the music producers and sound engineers, the industry is still overwhelmingly male. another challenge facing the six—decades old grammys is that, in the era of streaming,

live television audiences for award ceremonies have decreased. so do awards still matter to music fans? i think most fans don't need an awards show to tell them who's popular but i think poeple still like tuning in. people like a little bit of drama, people want to root for their favourite artist and be mad if they don't win and start a conversation online. so i really do think the grammys still matter and hold relevance. whether or not people tune in on tv, they're still going to be engaging in whatever happened online. it's a night set to be a celebration of female voices and while much of the music industry is still a man's world, it won't feel like that on stage tonight. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. the record for the most grammies, read, is actually beyonce, who got 32. the second was a hungarian british conductor 131. none for me,

unfortunately! this is bbc news. hello. it's been a mild weekend for most of the uk. it is going to become much colder by next weekend. the cold air, as you can see, sitting to the north across the northern isles, and that will gradually sink southwards this week. as it does so it could potentially coincide with low pressure and give us some disruptive snow. and that's what we're keeping our eye on at the moment. it's rain that's the main concern. this conveyor belt of cloud, as you can see here, running into scotland is going to give a lot more rain before it's finished. in fact, throughout the rest of this evening, really quite wet across western, central and southern scotland, pushing a little bit further northwards as we go through the night, and as it engages in that cold air in the far north of scotland, some mountain snow. but it is possible that we could have as much as 170 millimetres of rain during this rainfall event, and hence a real risk of flooding and the reason for the warning.

but it's much milderfor most parts further south, 8 to 10 degrees celsius. still, that cold air with us in the northern isles. so a little bit of frost and ice here, a little bit wintry. but again, that rain is still with us throughout the course of monday. very misty and murky around the coast and the hills in western areas, elsewhere. but it might be that there'll be a few brighter spells breaking through because, again, it's a strong and gusty wind that's blowing for the most part during the day on monday. temperatures, though, still on the low side across the northern isles, whilst elsewhere it is mild — temperatures well above the average for this time of year, which is 5 to 8 degrees. now, as we go through monday evening and overnight, that weather front may well start to push further southwards, allowing that colder air and the risk of frost with some ice following the rain to establish itself across scotland. but elsewhere it stays mild, it stays windy and pretty cloudy, with wetter weather coming into southern scotland, northern ireland, northern england by the end of the night and for the start of tuesday. to the south of that, still mild and largely dry but murky over the hills, and that rain makes its way

southwards during the day, could give a little bit of snow over the high ground of northern england and northern ireland as that cold air starts to dig in. but there's a lot of uncertainty thereafter. even if this weather front clears away temporarily, we could see these next areas of low pressure spinning up into that cold air, giving us rain and wind, but also potentially some disruptive snowfall as well. so a lot of uncertainty midweek on, please stay tuned to the forecast. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the houthis in yemen say the latest american and british airstrikes on the country will not go unpunished. the third round ofjoint strikes hit 36 iran—backed rebel positions in the latest response to attacks on red sea ships. the capital, sana'a, was among the locations targeted. chile's president says the number of lives lost in the deadliest wildfire on record in the country has risen to 64 and will increase further. gabriel boric declares a state of emergency and makes "all necessary resources" available to tackle the situation. police hunting the man suspected of a corrosive substance attack on a mother and her daughters in south london are offering £20,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. the mother of the murdered teenager, brianna ghey,