live from london, this is bbc news. the us says strikes on iran—linked targets arejust the beginning — as america's top diplomat heads to the region again. uk prime minister, rishi sunak, arrives at stormont to mark the return of power—sharing in northern ireland and will meet with irish taoiseach leo varadkar later for bilateral talks later. at least 112 lives — the president warns the figure is likely to rise. and taylor swift makes history at the grammy awards becoming the first artist ever to win best album four times.

hello i'm azadeh moshiri, welcome to the programme. we start this hour in the middle east. the united states military says it has conducted more air strikes on houthi missiles in yemen — it's the latest action targeting the group backed by iran. us central command said it struck missiles which were preparing to launch against ships in the red sea. the british prime minister, rishi sunak, said thejoint air strikes were in "self—defence", that houthis�* attacks on shipping had put lives at risk, and were having economic consequences. now all this has happened as america's top diplomat us secretary of state antony blinken embarks on his fifth trip to the middle east in the past four months. tensions with iran, which, again, supports the houthis, are rising. and washington has also accused tehran of having its "fingerprints" on the drone attack that killed three us soldiers at a military base in jordan last week. the white house has warned that its retaliatory air strikes on targets linked to iran, in iraq and syria, are just "the beginning, not the end" of its response. iran denies involvement, but its

affiliate the islamic resistance in iraq has claimed responsibility. live now to our middle east correspondent hugo bachega, who's in baghdad for us. thank you so much forjoining. antony blinken has several priorities here, how is it going to manage the balancing act? he is auoin to manage the balancing act? he is going to face _ manage the balancing act? he is going to face many _ manage the balancing act? he: 3 going to face many challenges on this visit, his first trip to the middle east since the beginning of the israeli war against hamas in gaza in response to the hamas attacks in october. he is facing the challenges related to the situation in gaza and also growing american involvement in hostilities in the region. at the top of the agenda will be those difficult talks for a deal in gaza that could see the

release of at least some of the hostages, who remain in captivity in gaza, more than 100 hostages that were kidnapped during the hamas attacks. at the same time, a pause in hostilities to allow more aid to get to civilians in gaza, much—needed aid for the palestinian population of gaza. at the same time he will be hearing concerns of some in the region that the latest american actions are, you know, resulting in even more violence. we have seen there have been american air strikes in have seen there have been american airstrikes in a have seen there have been american air strikes in a raining interest in iraq and syria over the weekend in response to the deadly attack on a us base injordan a week ago. also this american led campaign against the huthis who are also supported by iran continues. the americans say the strategy here is to try to reduce the ability the huthis have

to continue to attack commercial vessels in the red sea. these attacks have caused major disruption to international trade. it is a very complicated situation for the americans and i think the strategy here by the biden administration is to use calibrated attacks to send a message, but at the same time to try to avoid an escalation of this crisis and an escalation with iran. right. 50 crisis and an escalation with iran. riht. ., crisis and an escalation with iran. richt. ., , ., right. so far, the response from iran and its _ right. so far, the response from iran and its proxies _ right. so far, the response from iran and its proxies in _ right. so far, the response from iran and its proxies in the - right. so far, the response from iran and its proxies in the regionj iran and its proxies in the region has been muted. perhaps this could be an early indication that iran might have decided to de—escalate, rather than respond to those attacks. ., ., attacks. hugo, e mentioned the united states' _ attacks. hugo, e mentioned the united states' growing - attacks. hugo, e mentioned the - united states' growing involvement in the region, how has iraq reacted to the strikes in iran and syria? there has been some strong reaction from the iraqi government, the

authorities he saying the air strikes the americans carried out against these a raining supporter groups in the country where a violation of these rocky sovereignty. again, ithink violation of these rocky sovereignty. again, i think they are making the case here that negotiations need to take place for the end of the american military presence in the country. around 2500 american troops remain here in iraq, basically training the iraqi army. i think lots of people here are concerned about what is happening but i think people are still waiting to see what is going to happen next. the americans are saying the attacks that happened on the weekend with just the beginning of this response to those attacks that were carried out by a raining supporter groups. in other words, they say that more attacks are likely to come. i think many here are still waiting to see what is going to happen, not only in

relation to those american air strikes, but also the possibility of any retaliation from those groups supported by iran.— any retaliation from those groups supported by iran. hugo, thank you so much for— supported by iran. hugo, thank you so much for that _ supported by iran. hugo, thank you so much for that update. _ there is more from hugo and our other correspondence on our live page, so please do check. the british prime minister rishi sunak and the irish prime minister, leo varadkar, are in northern ireland to mark the return of the power—sharing government in the region. a short while ago, mr sunak arrived at the parliament buildings in stormont, belfast. he was accompanied by the speaker of the newly—restored assembly edwin poots and the northern ireland secretary chris heaton—harris. the assembly reconvened on saturday, exactly two years after the democratic unionist party walked out in protest against post—brexit trade agreements. charlotte gallagherjoins me now live from outside the stormont parliament buildings in belfast. charlotte, thank you forjoining.

how is the prime minister likely to be greeted at stormont? i how is the prime minister likely to be greeted at stormont?— be greeted at stormont? i think there is a lot _ be greeted at stormont? i think there is a lot of _ be greeted at stormont? i think there is a lot of happiness - be greeted at stormont? i think there is a lot of happiness at. there is a lot of happiness at stormont, particularly the fact it is back up and running after two years of instability and chaos. this is a moment many people couldn't see happening in the nearfuture, there has been hand shakes and photos with various politicians. people are pleased that politics is back up and running at stormont. however, money is a question. i am trying to look behind me because those cars, we believe one of them contains the irish prime minister, the taoiseach, lee over radtke. he is here today as well as rishi sunak. yes, he'sjust leaving his car now. he will be meeting politicians, different parties like rishi sunak has but will be meeting the executive and the first minister, michelle o'neill, the first ever nationalist first minister, they will be meeting her. the deputy prime minister and

the dup. he will be making his way into the building now. a moment for photos, handshakes and also discussions about the future of northern ireland. perhaps the future of northern ireland if there was a border poll. michelle o'neill says she believes there will be run in the next decade, she believes the island will reunite as one island and perhaps that will be a discussion. he is the meeting with the speaker of stormont, edwin poots, and then they will make their way inside stormont. good timing, we did think he was going to arrive soon, he has arrived on time. lots of people getting photos and videos as he comes into the building. it is as he comes into the building. it is a big day, as i said. it is a landmark day, historic day, the fact that politics is back functioning in northern ireland and of course, the first ever nationalist first minister in northern ireland. could ou ut minister in northern ireland. could you out into _ minister in northern ireland. could you put into perspective _ minister in northern ireland. could you put into perspective how- you put into perspective how historic this is, to have the first ever nationalist prime minister there, first minister? it

ever nationalist prime minister there, first minister?- there, first minister? it was a moment really _ there, first minister? it was a moment really that _ there, first minister? it was a moment really that many - there, first minister? it was a i moment really that many people didn't think would happen. the creation of northern ireland, it was always intended that people... people are shouting questions now at leo varadkar. he wasn't in the mid to answer any, wants to get straight to answer any, wants to get straight to business. back to what i was saying, a significant moment, many people didn't think we would have a nationalist first minister in northern ireland. when northern ireland was created, that was never the intention of people who set it up, it was supposed to be run by unionists, people he want northern ireland to remain part of the united kingdom. and now we saw in the last election, sinn fein, the nationalist party became the largest party. so an historic moment, we have two

women in charge, the first minister, michelle o'neill from sinn fein and emma little pengelly from the dt, a party that wants to remain in the united kingdom as deputy first minister. it is a landmark moment and people hoping for positive change, not another collapse of government. it has been two years without a functioning devolved government. issues like hospital waiting lists are the worst in the uk, public sector pay, and the last thing voters want to northern ireland is a repeat that we have seen over the last two years. so far politicians have not given any reassurances that they won't do it again. reassurances that they won't do it a . ain. ., ., ., again. charlotte, we will leave it there but she _ again. charlotte, we will leave it there but she will _ again. charlotte, we will leave it there but she will be _ again. charlotte, we will leave it there but she will be in - again. charlotte, we will leave it there but she will be in belfast | again. charlotte, we will leave it| there but she will be in belfast to give us updates as they come in. let's look at chile now. the authorities there say wildfires raging in the centre of the country have now killed at least 112 people. an official said there were still a0 active fires across chile. earlier, the president warned that the number of people confirmed dead was likely

to rise significantly. emergency teams have been struggling to control the fires, which have spread rapidly across the valparaiso region. the forest fires are thought to be the deadliest which have spread rapidly across the valparaiso region. the forest fires are thought to be the deadliest ever recorded in chile. the government is investigating whether some blazes which have spread rapidly across the valparaiso region. the forest fires are thought to be the deadliest ever recorded in chile. the government is investigating whether some blazes were started deliberately. henna hundal is a delegate to the un climate change conferences. she told us that these fires have been devastating. situations like these, the one known is that there is so much unknown and more information will be made available hour by hour. it was announced initially that there were 99 deaths accounted for, but now that number has risen to 112. there is an estimate of between 3,000 to 6,000 homes that have been destroyed. in the valparaiso region, which is a very important port city, officials have said that hundreds of millions of dollars�* worth of damage has been created. so, it's a devastating situation all around. there are reports of medical

students being recruited to help serve in temporary field hospitals. so, there is a lot of devastation ongoing, and president boric has said that a disaster of this scale has not been seen since the 2010 earthquake that hit chile, so it's a really unfortunate situation. i think that the international community will be receptive to supporting chile as they try to battle these wildfires. we sawjust last month columbia was also dealing with their share of fires and their president actually put out a call for international aid and we saw chile at that time, peru and the united states and canada come to support. so, i think if and when president boric needs the help, there will be the international community to do so. voters in paris have approved a plan to triple parking fees for people from outside the city if they drive suvs in the french capital. the rules will affect internal combustion or hybrid vehicles weighing over 1.6 tonnes and electric vehicles weighing more than two tonnes. hugh scofield reports from paris. anne hidalgo, the socialist mayor of paris, has got what she wanted. she's got this vote in favour of a big, steep increase in parking fees for people who come into town with suvs. suv is a very, very vague notion.

but what it means is basically heavier vehicles and it's done on the basis of the tonnage of the vehicle. and there will be a list of vehicles which qualify for this higher fee and others that are less heavy, which don't. it was a vote. 55% of those who turned out were for this increase. so, quite a tight vote. 45% were against it. and on a turnout, which was tiny, and that's going to be key. this is the second time this has happened. a year ago, you may remember anne hidalgo, the mayor, organised a referendum very much like this on stopping e—scooters. and again, a tiny turnout. but she got what she wanted. she predicted that there would be enough people who were angry enough to turn out and vote in favour of what she wanted and she got it. she calculated again this time that most parisians would be in favour of this, and they are — or they don't care. so it means that coming up soon, this big increase will will be enacted. it means that if you come into paris with one of these heavier vehicles,

you'll pay up to 225 euros for six hours' parking. there's about £190. crucially, it doesn't affect people who live in paris themselves, who have suvs. they will have their on—street parking and that is unaffected. so it's not parisians themselves who'll be affected, but people from outside paris, the outskirts of paris, the banlieues, who come in bringing their suvs. and of course it is all about reducing emissions, sending out a signal that cars should not be big, heavy things, but should be getting lighter and to make the place safer, the city says, because these heavier vehicles do have a much worse track record in accidents. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news here in the uk. police are waiting for confirmation about the breeds of two dogs which mauled a woman to death in essex on saturday.

esther martin was killed at a house injaywick, near clacton. her daughter believes the animals which attacked her mother were xl bully dogs. a 39—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous dog offences. a report by medical research leaders has warned that urgent action is needed to tackle a decline in the health of children under the age of five. the academy of medical sciences says increasing obesity and declines in most childhood vaccination rates are the leading reason for hospital admissions of children. schools in england will be able to apply for grants to get electric vehicle chargers installed and then sell the energy back to motorists. the department for transport says the initiative could help boost revenue while encouraging drivers to make the switch from petrol and diesel cars. you're live with bbc news. the uk's africa minister andrew

mitchell has told the bbc there is "every danger" of famine in ethiopia unless action is taken to prevent it. his warning was echoed by regional leaders who said the world was ignoring a worsening crisis triggered by war and drought. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, travelled with andrew mitchell to get rare access to the northern region of tigrye. once again, hunger is stalking ethiopia. and, once again, women and children are suffering most. the babies in this hospital in the northern tigray region are all acutely malnourished. their mothers little better. sega is 23. herfour—month—old son has been malnourished since birth. her family's crops failed and there was no food to be had. "even when i was pregnant, i was not eating a balanced diet," she said. "i was not producing

enough breastmilk. that's why the baby has developed malnutrition. ijust didn't have enough to eat at home." we travelled north across the parched ethiopian highlands that have suffered from successive droughts that many attribute to climate change. this is not where the malnutrition is... there, with the african minister, andrew mitchell, we visited a clinic where anxious mothers queue to get their children assessed for malnutrition. so that's after nine weeks. that's still seriously malnourished. the nurses said the numbers were getting worse by the week. this is a largely forgotten crisis. it's hard for the media to get here — fighting makes some areas inaccessible for charities, and the world's attention is elsewhere. but, once again, women are queuing up with their children who are hungry, some are starving, desperately in need of help. mr mitchell promised £100 million more in uk aid to help millions of mothers like these get better access to health care. but, he said the international

community had to do more. there is clearly a risk of famine if we don't now take action. and there are serious indicators of the danger of famine. but, if you ask me, "is there a famine taking place now in ethiopia?" i say, "no," and we have the power to stop it. but if we don't take the necessary action now, then there is every danger that a famine will engulf this war—torn country, which has suffered so much already. but is it a famine? aid workers are cautious. regional leaders have no doubts. the one thing i know is that thousands of people, who would otherwise have been able to feed themselves are not in a position to feed themselves, and they are succumbing to death because of starvation. whether you call it famine or a risk of famine ora potentialfamine — for me, it's purely academic. what transpired in 1985, for example, would pale in comparison if we fail to address the kind of unfolding famine that's

staring us in the eye. michael buerk: dawn, and as the sun breaks . through the piercing chill of night on the plain outside korum, it lights up a biblicalfamine. this is what he's talking about. the famines of the mid—1980s reported so powerfully by michael buerk for the bbc. but the government in ethiopia disputes such comparisons, saying the country is a victim of climate change. there is a drought, no famine. the government is responding very seriously, but at times we call on all the stakeholders to do their share. these people at least have something. they come here to get food aid from the united nations, each clutching a qr code with all their details. enough to get some oil and a scoop of wheat and lentils. there's food enough for now, but aid workers say stores are emptying fast.

the problem is that about a million people in tigray are internal refugees, living in camps like these, with little hope of returning to homes still occupied by armies. in ethiopia, you have several overlapping crises at a time, so we have drought, people recovering from a two—year conflict, rising inflation, an upsurge in the cases of disease. and all of this togetherjust pushes people further into hunger and malnutrition. so if we don't get food assistance to people right now, the situation will worsen. without more support, the future for these children could be bleak. james landale, bbc news in northern ethiopia. to el salvador next. nayib bukele has claimed victory in the presidential election, even though no official results

have been released. he has been credited with sharply reducing the murder rate. last year, it fell to its lowest in three decades. but he's faced criticism over human rights violations and the methods used to tackle violent crime. here's our latin america correspondent, will grant he's claimed victory, that it's a huge margin. he's saying that he's got somewhere in the region of over 85%. and now that the partial results are coming in, it looks like with a quarter of the votes counted, he does have somewhere in the region of 1,100,000 votes in his nearest challenger, just 9a,000. so with his estimate of somewhere in the region of 85% of the vote, he's probably not wrong once all of the votes are tallied. he's also saying that they've taken the legislative assembly, the national assembly, by a huge margin, all but two seats, he's saying. that, one, we definitely need to wait on all the official results to be in from all over the country. but certainly it looks like it's been a very, very good night for him. el salvador has been plagued by two main drug street gangs for many, many years.

the ms13 and the 18th street gang controlled whole swathes of the country, entire communities here in san salvador, submitted the population to intimidation, murder, rape, constant gang violence, internecine violence between the two gangs and all of their different splinter groups. sometime in 2022, mr bukele launched what he calls the state of exception, and it was a huge clampdown — some 75,000 people have been arrested. in amongst them, according to human rights groups, are many thousands of innocent people, people who had no clear affiliation to gang crime. but certainly it has changed the face of el salvador. gang crime is at a negligible level now. and of course, as we've seen in the vote, the populace and the electorate are very, very thankful for that, that radical and quite draconian method of dealing with the gangs.

millions of barrels of oil... there is a loophole that allows for russian oil to be refined in other countries, then sold to the uk. the government has denied there have been any imports of russian oil since 2022. this one's for the swifties out there. taylor swift made history at the grammys overnight as she became the first artist to win album of the year for the fourth time. it was also a big night for other female performers, with miley cyrus and billie eilish both taking home top prizes. our correspondent emma vardy was in los angeles on the red carpet and sent this report. it is the 66 grammy awards are coming to you live from los angeles where they have just overcome the

unthinkable, rain. as the storm battered la, inside the arena at the awards rain down for female artists. miley cyrus picked up two, giving the crowd a little more than they bargained for.— bargained for. thank you all so much, i bargained for. thank you all so much. i don't _ bargained for. thank you all so much, i don't think— bargained for. thank you all so much, i don't think i _ bargained for. thank you all so much, i don't think i have - bargained for. thank you all so - much, i don't think i have forgotten anyone. but i might have forgotten underwear, goodbye. billie anyone. but i might have forgotten underwear, goodbye.— underwear, goodbye. billie eilish. and the barbie _ underwear, goodbye. billie eilish. and the barbie movie _ underwear, goodbye. billie eilish. and the barbie movie took- underwear, goodbye. billie eilish. and the barbie movie took home | underwear, goodbye. billie eilish. | and the barbie movie took home a winter night with billie eilish given song of the year for her hit from the soundtrack. # are used to flow, now ijust fold out. # are used to flow, now i 'ust fold out. ., ., # are used to flow, now i 'ust fold out. ., , ., , # are used to flow, now i 'ust fold out. ., ,, ., it out. taylor swift for midnight. it is ta [or out. taylor swift for midnight. it is taylor swift _ out. taylor swift for midnight. it is taylor swift keeps _ out. taylor swift for midnight. it is taylor swift keeps breaking i is taylor swift keeps breaking records, she made history by becoming the only artist to win best artist four times, we were in for an unanticipated announcement. my unanticipated announcement. iii brand— new unanticipated announcement. iii brand—new album unanticipated announcement. m1:

brand—new album comes out unanticipated announcement. m1 brand—new album comes out april the 19th. brand-new album comes out april the 19th. 1 , ., ~ brand-new album comes out april the 19th. 1, ., ~ , ., 19th. cue the hysteria. a strong showin: 19th. cue the hysteria. a strong showing for— 19th. cue the hysteria. a strong showing for women _ 19th. cue the hysteria. a strong showing for women in _ 19th. cue the hysteria. a strong showing for women in the - 19th. cue the hysteria. a strong showing for women in the big . showing for women in the big categories is a significant moment for the grammys, which has faced criticism for overlooking some female artist in the past and this year is a memorable one for female artists across several generations. this was a moment many fans never thought they would see, joni mitchell performing for the first time at the grammys at 80 years old. a remarkable comeback after almost losing her life to a brain aneurysm. with major wins and powerful performances, this was a grammys in which women wear well and truly centrestage. ce ntrestage. emma vardy, bbc centrestage. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. there is more from emma and other correspondence on the red carpet, but stay with us here are bbc news.

hello again. for many of us, it was a mild weekend but as we go through this week, the temperature is going to drop closer to where we would expect it to be at this time of year. now, today, we've got this weather front. it's been with us for a while. the met office has a yellow weather warning out for rain across parts of northern and western scotland. it expires this evening at nine o'clock and by then we could have had as much as 170 millimetres of rainfall — flood warnings in force. behind the rain we've got cold air, so the showers increasingly turning wintry. but ahead of the weather front, there's a lot of cloud around. and in the west, we're looking at some light rain and some drizzle, but mild for many, brisk winds today and cold as we push up towards the north—east. now through this evening and overnight this rain heads south, eventually getting into northern ireland and into northern england. there'll be some showers crossing the north of scotland, which will be heavy with hail and thunder. and for england and wales, it still is going to be a windy night, quite brisk winds and also fairly

cloudy but mild in the north, comparatively colder. so into tomorrow, then. then the weather front continues to sink southwards. you can see from the squeeze on the isobars that it still is going to be quite windy across southern areas. and we've got the rain sitting across northern england, southern scotland and northern ireland heading into wales. as the cold air behind it digs in, we could see some wintriness on the hills here, and behind it, increasingly through the day, the wintry showers will be falling at low levels across parts of scotland. but there will be a lot of bright weather here, whereas in the south, although it's milder, it is going to remain fairly cloudy. now on wednesday, it looks like that weather front will clear but it will come back later in the day to the south—west. there will be a lot of dry weather around and again some wintry showers. these are the temperatures, two in lerwick to nine in london. but the milder air where we've got the cloud and the returning weather front. and it's that that's going to give us some complications in the forecast

wednesday into thursday. we've got this area of low pressure pushing north, rain in the south, but it looks like we could well see some snow as well. this could change, i can't emphasise that enough, but it looks like the south will have a blustery day with the rain, but snow could well fall across parts of wales, parts of england and northern ireland eventually getting into southern scotland, but drier in the far north.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the us says strikes on iran—linked targets arejust the beginning as america's top diplomat heads to the region again. uk prime minister rishi sunak arrives at stormont to mark the return of power—sharing in northern ireland and will meet with irish taoiseach leo varadkar for bilateral talks later. chile's deadliest forest fire on record claims at least 112 lives — the president warns the figure is likely to rise. as we've been hearing, power—sharing in northern ireland finally resumed on saturday for the first time in two years. a short while ago, mr sunak arrived at the parliament buildings in stormont, belfast. he'll be meeting the the irish prime minister, leo varadkar,

and we're expecting this to happen shortly. there are a lot of issues to sort out including sector pay