killing a senior leader of a pro—iran armed group. the drone strike on a vehicle in baghdad is launched in retaliation for the attack last month that kililed three us soldiers at a base injordan. in baghdad, angry crowds surround the burnt—out vehicle, chanting, "america is the biggest devil." also tonight — prince william thanks well—wishers as he speaks publicly for the first time since the king's cancer diagnosis. i'd like to take this opportunity

to say thank you also for the kind messages of support for catherine and for my father, especially in recent days. it means a great deal to us all. a major labour u—turn — the party is ditching its target to spend £28 billion a year on green investment after weeks of confusion about the policy. all of the schools in flintshire will be closed tomorrow as parts of wales and england brace itself for a flurry of snow and ice. and the story behind this award winning photo from the photographer who waited three days to take it. on newsnight at 10:30pm... labour's $28 billion a year election pledge for a green—fuelled future is itself to be powered on. is the shadow cabinet at war with itself on climate policy?

good evening. the united states has tonight launched a drone strike in the iraqi capital baghdad, killing a senior leader of an armed pro—iran group. three people were killed in the attack, including a commander of the group that us officials say was behind recent attacks on us bases in iraq and syria. in a moment, we'll speak to our international editorjeremy bowen, but first orla guerin is in baghdad for us tonight. you've tried to get close to the scene of this attack. what happened 7 this was an attack at 9:30pm. there were three audible explosions. we could hear them at our hotel. this is a time when people are out on the street in baghdad, when cafe is and restaurants are open. we got to the scene pretty quickly. there was a

security presence already there of iraqi police. we tried to approach the burnt out wreck to speak to people and ask them about what they had seen and heard and we were very quickly surrounded. there was a lot of anger and hostility in the crowd. people were telling us we will not —— were not welcome because foreigners were responsible for what happened, for the attack on the iraqi commander, and therefore we, as foreigners, were not welcome at the location. we were not harmed. we were able to pull back to an attack where even more security forces were arriving and members of iraqi swat teams. then a crane came into take away the wreckage of the car and the crowd started following. there has been calls tonight from shia paramilitary linens, pro iranians militia leaders for people to come out on the street and show their angen out on the street and show their anger. there have also been calls for retaliation, specifically one militia leader saying, "we want

blood for blood". us central command has said this was a necessary strike to protect american lives and they would not hesitate to take further measures in the future. but we have already had one very angry response from the iraqi military, saying this is a threat to sovereignty and safety and security of the country. it is hard to see how it can do other than increase the level of tension here.— other than increase the level of tension here. ., ., , tension here. thank you for bringing us the latest — tension here. thank you for bringing us the latest from _ tension here. thank you for bringing us the latest from baghdad. - jeremy bowen is injerusalem for us. put in context how significant this escalation is tonight.— escalation is tonight. clearly a serious escalation _ escalation is tonight. clearly a serious escalation although i escalation is tonight. clearly a l serious escalation although the americans are saying this is really about stability and sending a message to tehran. it all depends what happens when the inevitable retaliation, —— inevitable retaliation, —— inevitable retaliation occurs and whether they do get, as orla guerin said, blood for blood and whether that blood is american because that will then prompt another american response without doubt. the whole region is a

flame. here injerusalem, the american secretary of state antony blinken has been meeting the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. antony blinken has been trying to pull of a diplomatic miracle, if you like, to bring closer israel's position on a ceasefire in gaza and the position held by hamas. as well as that, there is concern about what is happening north of here in the board and with leven on, where there has been an increasingly intense war going on since the 7th of october, and israel says that if the pro—iranian group in lebanon, does not pull back from the border, then it will take even more action. i have been right up to that frontier. israel's border with lebanon feels isolated and empty. in metula, israel's most northerly community, the only residents left

are mobilised army reservists. here they're surrounded on three sides by hezbollah, iran's powerful ally in lebanon. one of the men, who didn't want his face shown, pointed to hezbollah�*s positions. and then to the north is half a mile, the border with lebanon. in the east of us, it is half a mile. definitely can turn into a big war, and a big war with hezbollah is not like hamas — a real army, very trained, greatly equipped, great intelligence and they have a lot of experience, real experience in syria. israel released video of their attacks on what they said were hezbollah positions. tens of thousands of civilians on either side of the border have been evacuated. the war there is intensifying. haven't seen you in a long time. yeah, a few weeks. but more urgent for antony blinken is a ceasefire in gaza.

but prime minister netanyahu doubled down, calling for total victory and dismissing the hamas response to the us ceasefire proposal. the us secretary of state still believes a deal is possible, and at the hq of the rivals of hamas, the palestinian authority, he repeated to president mahmoud abbas that america wants a palestinian state, which israel's leader opposes. he reminded israelis later that their suffering was no justification for killing palestinian civilians. that cannot be a licence to dehumanise others. the overwhelming majority of people in gaza had nothing to do with the attacks of october the 7th. the families in gaza whose survival depends on deliveries of aid from israel arejust like ourfamilies. they are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. gaza is the key to stabilising the middle east. this is the occupied golan heights, another potential flashpoint,

where the borders of israel, lebanon and syria meet. over on the syrian side, you can see ruins from previous wars. antony blinken warns this is the most dangerous moment for the middle east since 1973. without a ceasefire in gaza, the risks that a wider war will intensify remain very real. israel has heavily reinforced its northern border lands. this is a former syrian base occupied by the israelis since 1967. inside the ruin, the head of the regional council, a retired colonel, was preparing for the worst. if we go, to where are we going? to haifa? then they bomb us in haifa. then we go to tel aviv, then they bomb us in tel aviv. people prefer to move by night on the most exposed roads in northern israel, in places shielded by

blastproof concrete walls. don't think of this war on the lebanese border as a sideshow to gaza. it could become even worse. this is the most dangerous, the most unstable frontier in the middle east at the moment. what started as a low—level war back in october has been intensifying. but all sides know how much worse it could get — notjust causing great destruction in israel and in lebanon, but it's also got the capacity to ignite the region. the fate of the whole middle east, notjust israel's empty, evacuated northern towns, depends on breaking through the shock and hatred of war. so far, the diplomats are fighting a losing battle. jeremy bowen, bbc news, in israel. the prince of wales has spoken publicly for the first time since the king was diagnosed with cancer. he thanked the well—wishers

as he arrived at a charity gala dinner in central london. our royal correspondent daniela relph was there. returning to royal duty — tonight the prince of wales was at a fundraising dinner for the london air ambulance. and a first comment from prince william to the bbc during what is a challenging time for the royal family. your royal highness, how grateful are you for the public support you've received in recent weeks? i really appreciate all the messages, thank you. prince william is a former air ambulance pilot himself, so this evening's event had personal meaning to him. and there was a touch of top gun glamour, too. tom cruise, the star guest, and another experienced pilot in the room. the prince gave a speech to guests at the fundraiser, his first since his wife had surgery and news of his father's cancer diagnosis was made public. i'd like to take this opportunity

to say thank you also for the kind messages of support for catherine and for my father, especially in recent days. it means a great deal to us all. it's fair to say the past few weeks have had a rather medical focus, so i thought i'd come to an air ambulance function to get away from it all. laughter. while one prince was on public duty, the other, who arrived yesterday, is already on his way home. prince harry spent around 45 minutes with his father at clarence house after the king's cancer diagnosis. he didn't meet his brother, prince william, during his flying visit to the uk. the king is now on his sandringham estate in norfolk, away from the public gaze, where he'll spend much of the coming weeks. in the commons today, there was support for the royal family. i know the thoughts of the house and the country are with the king and his family. we wish his majesty a speedy recovery and look forward to him resuming his public facing duties in due course. prince william's first engagement back earlier today was at an investiture at windsor castle.

amongst those being honoured, the former lioness ellen white, england's record goal—scorer. that's two engagements done today, but the prince of wales's return to public duty will be a steady one. there are gaps in the royal diary with the king unwell, but the priority for prince william is supporting his wife through her recovery after surgery. it was a glamorous end to the prince of wales's first day back on royal duty. not all engagements are as glitzy as this one, but with the king and the princess of wales stepping back, the royal family needs the profile and the pull of prince william. daniela relph, bbc news, central london. now to a major labour u—turn tonight — the party's policy of spending £28 billion a year on its green investment plan is being ditched after weeks of confusion. our political editor chris mason is here. not officially announced, but that's what's happening tomorrow?

it is in the skip and it will be formally thrown in there tomorrow. it has been their policy for about two and half years now. it was diluted last summer, the promise was pushed back to the second half of a first labour term and would only be delivered if it was deemed to be affordable but tomorrow, the number will be a goner and for good. although they claim the policy itself is still intact. i think we can expect a bit of scrutiny about how both of those things can be tricky. so what are they doing here? they have basically decided that that number was an albatross around their neck. they received more and more political attacks from the conservatives around that particularly from the prime is dead. there is an awareness within the labour party they have a perceived vulnerability on economic and ability and they would rather focus on that than keep getting hammered on that than keep getting hammered on the £28 billion. but to get to this point tonight they have been

through the most awkward set of weeks of being in a mess and a tangle on all of this, with senior figures pretty much openly contradicting each other. why? because there has been a lively debate internally about how to get to this point. the conservatives tonight say that labour don't have a plan and they are torpedoing their central economic policy for short—term campaigning reasons. it is a big moment. meanwhile, a row broke out at pmqs today? yes, the prime minister was accused of shameful behaviour in parliament because he madejokes about, or a joke about labour's policy on trans people. in the public gallery today was the mother of the murdered teenager brianna ghey, who was watching on. brianna was transgender. so we have got an awkward day for keir starmer coming tomorrow and are really awkward day for rishi sunak a year ago 16—year—old brianna ghey was murdered. in sentencing her killers, the judge said one of her murderers

was motivated in part by her being transgender. brianna's mum esther is trying to help teenagers with what is known as mindfulness — feeling calmer and less stressed. it is such an important thing to be taught — how to take care of your mental health, how to build resilience and also how to be more empathetic. all of these things are skills that you can work on and that you can grow. esther ghey was in parliament today, sitting here behind mps, to watch a debate on mindfulness. the interview on sunday was incredibly emotional. keir starmer. and went along to prime minister's questions too. as a father, i can't even imagine the pain that she is going through and i'm glad that she is with us in the gallery here today. that was the first rishi sunak knew of this, and the exchanges soon got into their usual stride as the prime minister claimed keir starmer is forever changing his mind —

and had a punchline about trans policy. tuition fees, childcare, second referendums, defining a woman — although, in fairness, that was only 99% of a u—turn. look at keir starmer�*s face as he considered his reply. of all the weeks to say that, when brianna's mother is in this chamber. shame. parading as a man of integrity when he has got absolutely no responsibility. around 20 minutes later, the prime minister pointedly returned to the issue, and said he admired esther ghey�*s bbc interview at the weekend. i thought demonstrated the very best of humanity in the face of seeing the very worst of humanity, and she deserves all our admiration and praise for that. as it happened, i had the chance to talk to the chancellor this

afternoon, who wanted to criticise what he sees as labour's ballooning spending plans — but i asked him about this too. the prime minister has used a line about trans people as a political punchline in the presence of a grieving mother. chris, that is not what happened, and you know that. what happened was... she was in the chamber in parliament... let's be clear... ..and the prime minister has used that line. chris, that is not what happened. what he was saying was that keir starmer cannot make his mind up about the big issues of the day. should the prime minister apologise? i've answered that question. so he's not going to? i've answered that question. that, then, is a no. enter next the equalities minister kemi badenoch, who criticised keir starmer and said a murder should not be trivialised by political point—scoring. brianna ghey�*s mum had a preplanned meeting with keir starmer here this afternoon. a meeting with the prime minister is being arranged. brianna's dad, peter spooner,

said tonight rishi sunak�*s remarks were degrading, dehumanising, and he should say sorry. chris mason, bbc news. police searching for the man suspected of carrying out the chemical attack in south london a week ago say he had been in a relationship with the woman who was attacked. she remains in hospital, too ill to speak to detectives. meanwhile, the huge manhunt continues, as our home editor mark easton sent this report. slowly but surely, police are moving closer to finding out what's happened to abdul shokoor ezedi. this is the latest cctv sighting of him caught on camera three and a half hours after last wednesday's chemical attack at 11pm, close to the river thames in westminster. the investigation has now been upgraded to an attempted murder inquiry. police say ezedi lured the woman and her two young children to meet him in london. they all got into ezedi's car and had been driving before the corrosive chemicals were thrown into the woman's face.

so there's not a great deal that i can release to you at the moment about exactly the movements that evening just before the attack. we do know that they were arranging to meet and that they did get in the car, and that the attack took place in the car, as you will have seen from the cctv. police say ezedi and the woman had been in a relationship which had broken down. the bbc has learned that last july ezedi stayed at this newcastle hotel with a woman and two children. the attack happened in clapham at 7:25 last week. ezedi then got a tube heading north to kings cross, arriving just before eight. he visited a nearby supermarket and bought a bottle of water. cctv reveals significant injuries to the right side of his face. he returned to king's cross, took the tube south to victoria and then headed east to tower hill tube station. there are then various sightings of him heading west, walking along the river thames from tower bridge to southwark bridge, blackfriars bridge, and now the latest sighting close to vauxhall bridge.

so we now know that ezedi was walking along the banks of the thames for at least an hour. he was on his own in a strange city. he had a facial injury. so was he heading somewhere where he thought he could be hidden? or did he decide to take his own life? the victim of the attack is still sedated in hospital and unable to answer the many questions police would like to put to her. officers have spoken to the children involved, but this evening, exactly a week after the attack, scotland yard renewed its appeal to the public for any information. they've also made a plea to ezedi to give himself up, advising that his injuries could be life threatening and that finding him is only a matter of time. mark easton, bbc news, scotland yard. the synthetic opioid fentanyl is behind a growing public health crisis in the united states. 50 times stronger than heroin, it was responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths

in the country last year. much of it is being smuggled across the us—mexico border by gangs from where will grant sent this special report. there are no quiet nights for tijuana's fire brigade. called out to a local bar, there is no blaze here, but as some of the only available paramedics, they are tackling another crisis sweeping the city like wildfire — fentanyl. these two men, their lives fast slipping away, may not have even known they were taking it. cheap and highly addictive, mexico's drug cartels now cut it into recreational drugs like cocaine. the paramedics administer narcan, the most effective drug to reverse a fenta nyl overdose, if, that is, it is not already too late. fenta nyl overdoses are now simply part of daily and nightly life in tijuana, part of the fabric of a city descending fast into the grip of full—blown drug epidemic.

yet it is a crisis whose very existence has been denied by the country's president. having claimed mexico neither produces or consumes fentanyl, president lopez obrador now says he will introduce a new law to make taking fentanyl illegal. people on tijuana's front lines fear that that's too little, too late. last year, the state forensics service found a staggering one in three bodies in the city's morgue contained fentanyl. in the united states, the biggest illegal drug market in the world, fentanyl is now a nationwide crisis. coast—to—coast, borderto border, us cities are increasingly in its vice—like grip. the drug claimed 70,000 lives in 2022 alone. not all victims were regular drug users. in el paso, in texas, elijah gonzales was 15, studious and sporty, when he accidentally overdosed on one pill of the widely available prescription drug xa nax.

he had no idea, but it was a counterfeit, fentanyl—laced pill from mexico. it was his first time experimenting with drugs with his best friend and his best friend's sister. within a year, all three had died the same way — three lives snuffed out by fentanyl. a lot of parents tell me, "oh, my son is in football, my son is in band, and my son is not in that crowd." i go, "neither was mine, and i had no idea." so i think it starts at home, it starts in the school system, i mean, just all the way around. are you angry at elijah? no. i'm not angry. i have never been angry, not even at the person who gave my son drugs. i forgave her. i am just angry that it happened to me. i am angry atjust the situation itself. el paso sits just over the borderfrom ciudad juarez, one of mexico's most dangerous cities. injuarez, i met kevin, a 17—year—old drug trafficker

and cartel hitman. he showed me how his gang uses tunnels to smuggle fentanyl across the us border. i asked kevin if he felt any remorse over the deaths of us teens like elijah. translation: no, it is all part of a chain. - it is like the guns. they send weapons south, we send fentanyl north. everyone is responsible for their own acts. hey, wake up! back in tijuana, it took three doses of narcan, but the paramedics brought one man back from the brink. his friend, however, died right there on the barroom floor. his mother arrived to devastating news. her son is another victim of this potent narcotic, his death a footnote in the polarised debate over the us—mexico border. will grant, bbc news, tijuana. the convicted paedophile and former pop star gary glitter has failed in a parole board attempt to be

freed from prison. the 79—year—old was jailed in 2015 for 16 years, for sexually abusing three schoolgirls. he was released in february last year, but returned to prison less than six weeks later after breaching his licence. a gp has appeared in court charged with attempting to murder a man in his 70s, following a report of poisoning. thomas kwan, who's 52 and from teesside, was remanded in custody by magistrates in newcastle. the alleged victim was not a patient of dr kwan, who's understood to work at a medical practice in sunderland. the amount you need to live a moderate lifestyle in retirement has risen by more than £8,000 in the space ofjust a year — that's according to a new study. women may have to work 19 years longer than men if they are to retire with the same pension pot. our chief economics correspondent dharshini david has been looking at the figures.

thank you, sophie. few of us want to think about pensions. for some, saving more may feel an unaffordable luxury, but this is a wake—up call. the estimates suggest that the income needed for a moderately comfortable retirement has risen from £23,000 to over £31,000 in a year. this is just guidance based on focus groups, but it underlines some recent seismic changes — unavoidable ones, the surge in food and energy costs, and secondly, tweaks in lifestyle since the pandemic. we want to socialise and travel more. grandparents are increasingly helping with childcare, or buying homes. so how much do you need? well, if you make do with a couple of takeaways a month, a £50 weekly shop and a domestic mini—break, a single person can get by on £111,000, a couple £22,000. for what the research calls a "moderate" lifestyle, which includes running a car and a holiday in europe, then

it's at least £31,000. upgrade that to include more travel and frequent meals out, and you're looking at £43,000, oralmost £60,000 per couple, per year. so how do you fund all this? well, if you qualify for a state pension, that is rising in april to £11,500 a year thanks to the triple—lock formula. but what about the rest? pension options differ hugely, as do individual circumstances. but as an illustration, you may need a pension pot of close to £500,000 to fund that moderate lifestyle. so how are we doing? we are on track to having the minimum, and we are on track to having some of the good things, but probably if we want more good things, we should try and put more money away. or, an option that will be true for many people,

they might find they have to work longer into their 60s to make sure they have an income. some say the government and employers could do more, especially as women in particular fall behind. it's easy to put off thinking about it, but the sooner you take action, the brighter the future may look, and the earlier you may be able to retire. dharshini david, thank you. the families of hundreds of babies — who they say were harmed in the womb by a pregancy test drug in the 19605 and 70s — say they are heartbroken after being excluded from a scheme trying to get financial help for victims of a number of medical scandals. the drug is called primodos. it was given to more than a million women in the uk. families claim it led to birth defects and miscarriages. our health correspondent sophie hutchinson is here. they've been campaigning a long time for help, and it looks like they're not going to get it?

yes. while ministers decide whether to give financial assistance to the women who have been victims of pelvic mesh, the children who are the victims of an epilepsy drug, the primodos families say they are devastated they are not part of it. as you say, primodos was a pregnancy test in the 60s and 70s but was withdrawn from the market one parent said it left their babies with physical abnormalities. these families were part of a major review in 2020 along with mesh and victims of the epilepsy drug, but when the victims' commissioner was asked to set out a redress scheme it did not include them. one woman who has campaigned for these families for 50 years said they have been airbrushed, it feels as if we do not matter. the patient safety commissioner said the scheme should be a blueprint for families like the primodos families. sophie hutchinson, thank you. there are fresh weather warnings in place tonight for snow and ice

across parts of the counrty. the met office says travel disruption is expected too from early in the morning. our correspondent tomos morgan is in mold in north wales for us. tomos, what more can you tell us? the graters have been out in force on the roads, the warning signs have been out on the dual carriageway is under all schools here in flintshire are due to be closed tomorrow as a precaution for these wintry conditioners. so where these amber warnings will be taking place tomorrow, between 8am and mid afternoon across much of north wales and north—west shropshire there is due to be an amber warning for snow and ice, from mid to dash from midday until early evening there is an amber weather warning for heavy snow from the pennines and the peak district and there could be between four and six inches of snow in both areas, up to ten inches on higher ground. the met office has said there will probably be some travel

disruption tomorrow