secretary of bbc news. the us secretary of state says there is still space for a deal with hamas after israel's prime minister rejected the group's ceasefire terms. a us drone strike kills an iran—backed militia leader in baghdad. when a bbc team reached the scene, protesters were shouting, "america is the biggest devil". and the islamic state says it carried out two bomb explosions in pakistan that killed nearly 30 people. the attacks came on the eve of national elections. thank you forjoining us. we begin in the middle east as israel's prime minister binyamin netanyahu rejected binyamin neta nyahu rejected hamas' binyamin netanyahu rejected hamas' proposed ceasefire terms on wednesday, saying, "total victory in gaza is possible within months." mr netanyahu added that negotiations with the group were not going very well and described the terms as

hamas laid out a process to release hostages in phases in exchange for palestinian prisoners and a period of time to allow a dram why the increase in aid to gaza. but they said that it had to have a permanent ceasefire. a senior hamas official says a delegation will head to cairo for peace talks with egypt and qatar. mr netanyahu's remarks are a blow to a sustained push by the us to reach an agreement — something the country's top diplomat, antony blinken, says there is still room for as negotiations continue. while there are some clear non—starters in hamas' response, we do think that it creates space for agreement to be reached. and we will work at that relentlessly until we get there. while the war continues in gaza, there are potentialflash points for a wider conflict, including on israel's border with lebanon from where our international editor, jeremy bowan, send this report.

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 — not just 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.

to getan to get an understanding of what "total victory" looks like for israel. we spoke to a spokesperson for israeli prime minister binyamin netanyahu. we believe that these two goals that we have the find for, the operation in gaza, after hamas dragged us into this war, following the october seven massacre, which is the release of the hostages and also the elimination of hamas. they're not contradictory. they go hand—in—hand. we believe that the military pressure, the heavy military pressure that we're exerting on the ground in gazais we're exerting on the ground in gaza is what created the conditions, for example, back in november, to reach a diplomatic framework by which we saw the release of some of the hostages. now, we want our stolen people back. there are 136 hostages in gaza. we believe that about 100 of them are still alive, and we want all of them back. we will continue to hit hamas terrorists on the ground in gaza very, very hard, as we

continue to pursue the diplomatic avenue. against the backdro - diplomatic avenue. against the backdmp of — diplomatic avenue. against the backdrop of violence _ diplomatic avenue. against the backdrop of violence and - backdrop of violence and diplomacy, a leading irish politician was on capitol hill on wednesday urging congressional leaders to get more humanitarian aid into gaza. foreign minister michael martin told the bbc about what he wants to see.— he wants to see. ireland's view ofthe he wants to see. ireland's view of the necessity _ he wants to see. ireland's view of the necessity of _ he wants to see. ireland's view of the necessity of the - of the necessity of the humanitarian ceasefire, the release of all hostages and unimpeded access to humanitarian aid. it's not going in at the scale that it should. what i've been struck by, to be fair, is the response has been, i think, a genuine desire to see an end to this conflict, to see a cessation of hostilities. no—one doubts the cat trophic —— catastrophic nature and the people on the hill agree that it is dire. and humanitarian aid needs to get in. there have been disagreements to the form. we

believe that unrwa is still central to aid in gaza and the west bank and jordan because of the sheer scale of unrwa in terms of schools and health services. but more broadly speaking, working with arab states and with the us and others, there are other bodies as well that we do need to really get aid into gazan civilians as quickly as we possibly can. people in ireland are appalled and shocked at the level of deaths and destruction, particularly young children losing their lives. meanwhile, a us drone strike has killed a senior kaitab hezbollah commander in baghdad. iraqi security forces say that the attack in the east of the capital killed three people in total, including a senior commander of the iranian—supported millia us officials say was behind recent attacks in us bases in iraq and syria. speaking to the afp news agency, a source from the group, named the dead mander as their commander in syria. it

comes days after us air strikes targeted other positions in iraq and syria. 0ur senior international correspondent is international correspondent is in baghdad and tried to get close to the scene of the attack. this was a high profile strike inside the capital. it happened at 9:30pm local time. there were three distinct explosions. they were audible from our hotel. we reached the scene pretty quickly. an angry crowd had gathered around the charred wreckage of the car which had been hit. now, we know that the american drone strike killed a senior commander of condition kaitab hezbollah — a powerful pro—iranian militia. us officials have blamed katiab hezbollah for the drone attack which killed three us personnel injordan. when we arrived, there was a lot of anger on the streets. people were chanting anti—american slogans. when we were seen, we were surrounded quite

quickly by angry protesters who said, "foreigners have done this, and you are foreigner, you are not welcome here." and they pushed back against the camera and we had to pull back against the security cordon. now, we were not harmed but it was a small example of the anger on the streets. we have seen tonight calls from pro—iranian militia for supporters to come out on the streets and to move towards the us embassy. we have also had an angry response from a spokesman for the iraqi army, saying that this will threaten security and stability here, and it's hard to see how it can do other than increase the tension in iraq. ina in a statement, the us said that it will "continue to take necessary action to protect its people and that it will not hesitate to hold responsibility all of those who threaten its force's safety." polls in pakistan are due to open in the coming hourfor a nationwide election. 128 million voters will choose members for the national assembly and a prime

minister on the eve of the election. two bomb explosions killed 28 people and wounded dozens more. the islamic state group has reclaim australia ralliesed responsibility —— has claimed responsibility. these are the images the pakistan government didn't want to have in the public mind before the election. two explosions at two election offices the day before the polls open. isis has now claimed responsibility for one of them. pakistan has seen an increase in militant attacks, and that comes on top of economic problems and political instability. but the question that's hung over these elections is whether they are free and fair. former prime minister imran khan is disqualified and injail — sentenced to 1a years. 0n the 9th of may last year, his arrest led to violent protests. since then, his party say they've seen a sustained campaign of harassment against them. key leadership have left, many supporters are in jail. but the party has kept going.

like yasmin rashid, now running her campaign from prison, charged with inciting violence on the 9th of may that she denies. her husband of 55 years visits her most days. it's nine months now. it's...not easy, i tell you, especially for our children who are not in pakistan. for them, it's a torture. her brother—in—law has been organising her campaign. you know, our people have been sometimes removed from the scene, sometimes at night their houses are being raided. we are not being provided a fair level playing field. the authorities deny any campaign against the party, calling the allegations baseless and absurd. many see a repeat pattern in pakistan's politics. ms rashid is running to win a seat from the three time prime minister nawaz sharif. his party is now seen

to be the one in favour. he was in prison last election when khan won. 0n the eve of the elections, pakistan is facing questions about its future. many fear the result will still not answer them. caroline davis, bbc news, lahore. for more on this story, we can speak to our guest who is a foreign policy fellow at the brookings constitution. very good to have you back on bbc news. thank you forjoining us. i first want to start with the) two bomb explosions. what does that tell us about the security right now with the elections taking place? the security situation in pakistan has been getting increasingly dire. and this, you know, is part of an increasing spate of attacks that began after august 2021 when the taliban took over in

neighbouring afghanistan. and certain groups, like the ttp, were emboldened by this. they have sancturies and sort of a logistical base in afghanistan, which they can operate from. the rise of the afghan taliban also emboldened the isis—k group, which is in opposition to the afghan taliban and has undertaken attacks both in afghanistan and in pakistan. so this is part of that. and in seeing the election come up, gives these groups an opportunity to attack at an even greater rate. and they've done so increasingly in balochistan in the southwest province in pakistan and qilla saifullah, which neighbours afghanistan. so we've seen the horrific violence, and as we said, the elections are ongoing in an atmosphere where people claim that they're rigged. what is your sense? how free and

fair is this election?- fair is this election? well, there are _ fair is this election? well, there are a _ fair is this election? well, there are a couple - fair is this election? well, there are a couple of - fair is this election? well, i there are a couple of things. given the amount of pre—poll manipulation that has taken place, we can already say that this election is not free, nor fair. and the people manipulation has served to sideline completely one party — thatis sideline completely one party — that is the former prime minister imran khan's party, the pti. not only is he disqualified, not only have his party leaders resigned, but the party's name and symbol is not on any ballots in pakistan because of a judicial ruling that because of a technical problem, took it off the ballot. and so, people affiliated with those parties, candidates affiliated with that party are running as independents, which makes it very, very difficult when there are a whole slew of independent candidates running. it makes it very difficult for voters to actually identify who belongs to that party. so there are

huge barriers to the party. it had trouble campaigning. it wasn't allowed to hold rallies. that's sort of the run—up to the election. there are big questions about what's going to happen now today in pakistan. right, ifi happen now today in pakistan. right, if i canjustjump in there and just ask you about that. i mean, what exactly — and, of course, the leaders of pakistan at this moment said that this is a free and fair election and there is no rigging taking place. we should say that that is a response that has been received. but what are voters most concerned about? those who are heading to the polls? i about? those who are heading to the olls? ~ ., , ., the polls? i think voters are concerned _ the polls? i think voters are concerned about _ the polls? i think voters are concerned about whether i the polls? i think voters are i concerned about whether their vote will matter. this is part of a long pattern of the parties that are in favour with pakistan's military. last time, it was mr khan's party. this time it is mr sharif�*s party. being given a clear playing field on election day, and parties that fall out of favour

with the military are not given a level playing field. and so, you know, the voter actually wants to know whether his vote matters or not on election day. so if they turn up again today in pakistan, will their vote count? and i think that the other question is — is there going to be any attempt at suppression of the vote or a crackdown on certain voters on election day? so that's what they're going to be looking for. but when it comes to the playing field, i think they've already seen, again, what is part of a long pattern of the military establishment meddling in pakistan's politics. and that makes pakistan's youth lose faith in its democracy and its democratic process. it's important to note that about 44% of the electorate is under 35 years old. many of them are

going to be voting for the first time. they want to know if their vote counts.— if their vote counts. such an important — if their vote counts. such an important point _ if their vote counts. such an important point there - if their vote counts. such an important point there to - if their vote counts. such an l important point there to look at how young people will be casting their ballots. already, thank you so much forjoining us on bbc news tonight. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. now to a top story in the uk. prince's prince of wales thanked the public in the first comment since his father, king charles, was diagnosed with cancer. prince william returned to formal duties on wednesday. he had taken a break while his wife, princess catherine, recuperates from abdominal charity. one of the events was for the london air ambulance where he socialised with the likes of actor tom cruise. from the stage, he thanked the crowd. �* ~' ., a' the stage, he thanked the crowd. �* ~ ., .,~ , crowd. i'd like to take this opportunity _ crowd. i'd like to take this opportunity to _ crowd. i'd like to take this opportunity to say - crowd. i'd like to take this opportunity to say thank l crowd. 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. past few weeks have had a rather medicalfocus. so i thought that i'd come to an air

ambulance function to getaway from it all!— from it all! meanwhile, prince harry was _ from it all! meanwhile, prince harry was seen _ from it all! meanwhile, prince harry was seen at _ from it all! meanwhile, prince harry was seen at heathrow. harry was seen at heathrow airport seemingly on his return to the us after meeting his father. it's been reported that the two spokes for about 45 minutes. prince harry did not meet with his brother, prince william, during his visit to the uk. you're watching bbc news. here in the us, republicans in the senate have blocked new bipartisan legislation that tied tougher border restrictions to aid for ukraine and israel. after months of negotiations, the legislation could not secure the two thirds majority of senators it needed to pals. the final tally was 49-4 to pals. the final tally was 119—4 and 50 against. republican senate minority leader mitch mcconnell voted against it despite earlier voting for it. and donald trump urged them to vote against it. republicans claim that it doesn't go far

enough. but some democrats think that they go too far. chuck schumer is expected to tee up another vote. it would secure funds for ukraine and israel, but not for border securitiment and while congress remains divided over aid to ukraine, the war continues. the ukraine, the war continues. the ukraine says large scale russian missile and drone strikes targeted cities across the country on wednesday. the attacks claimed the lives of at least five people and wounded dozens more. these images are from an apartment complex in kyiv, which was hit. it's also where our correspondent filed this report. this is nor disaster site after a huge wave of missiles were fired right across this country, and it has destroyed so many apartments in this block of flats. there was a fire for hours after the missile was intercepted by ukrainian air defence and its fragments felt here. and people have described the moment to me

where early this morning, they were woken by a massive exing —— explosion. it were woken by a massive exing -- explosion-— -- explosion. it was 5:55, and the explosion _ -- explosion. it was 5:55, and the explosion lifted _ -- explosion. it was 5:55, and the explosion lifted us - -- explosion. it was 5:55, and the explosion lifted us up. - -- explosion. it was 5:55, and the explosion lifted us up. it | the explosion lifted us up. it lifted us out of our beds. it was so stressful. at first, you don't realise what's happening. i'm just taking it all in. and that's when the tears appear. translation: it's a miracle we're — translation: it's a miracle we're alive. the whole house shook — we're alive. the whole house shook it _ we're alive. the whole house shook. it was so scary. my _ shook. it was so scary. my god _ shook. it was so scary. my god - _ shook. it was so scary. my god — why don't they put the fire out? — my god - why don't they put the fire out? ~ y., ., ., ~' my god - why don't they put the fire out? ~ ., fire out? when you look at scenes like _ fire out? when you look at scenes like this, _ fire out? when you look at scenes like this, it - fire out? when you look at scenes like this, it really i scenes like this, it really brings home the fact that the danger from brings home the fact that the dangerfrom russian missile danger from russian missile strikes dangerfrom russian missile strikes is still extremely real. you know, almost two years into this full—scale invasion. that was sarah rainsford reporting from kyiv. now to other news from around the world now:

the us attorney general says a justice department probe into president biden's handling of classified documents has been completed. they said that the results will be released soon. garland appointed a special counsel after aides found sensitive documents used after the term as mr biden said that he co—operated with the investigation. us military officials say they've located a missing marine hospital in the california mountains similar to the one shown here. the fate of the one shown here. the fate of the five marines travelling on board is unclear, but the officials said that the rescue operation is ongoing. the marines were on a training flight near san diego on wednesday. the missing helicopter was found about 45 miles from its destination. the un's humanitarian co—ordinator says the leaders of the two warring factions in sudan have agreed to meet for talks on the delivery of aid. martin griffith said at least 25 million people are in need of assistance and the un has had limited access. it's appealing

for more money to fund humanitarian operations. more than nine million people have been displaced in ten months of conflict between rival military leaders. and sweden's public prosecutor closed an investigation into the sabotage of the nord stream gas pipelines saying that the jurisdiction did not apply. three of the pipelines between russia and germany were blown up russia and germany were blown up under the baltic sea in 2022. the prosecutor said that there's no evidence that swedish citizens were involved or that swedish authorities used it. investigations continue, and the kremlin called the swedish decision "remarkable". the image of a young polar bear asleep on an iceberg has won the wildlife photographerer of the wildlife photographerer of the year people's choice award. this stunning picture of a young polar bear sleeping on an iceberg — captured by the british amateur photographer — neema sari kani was the people's choice —

among a roll—call of fabulous pictures. i'm stilljust i'm still just totally ammed and shocked and incredibly humbled and it's such an important competition for anyone who is into wildlife photography and i never thought that i would get anywhere near this day. i'm still trying to take it all in. it was an ice breaker up exploring the north in the middle of covid. it was the only boat operating so we had the whole boat to ourself. the skies opened and we were able to spend eight hours with the barelies. i couldn't believe it. it wasjust magical. unbelievable. this image wasjust magical. unbelievable. this image was just before midnight. having the bear hunting through theice having the bear hunting through the ice flows and just looking for food. the ice flows and just looking forfood. and then the ice flows and just looking for food. and then sort of, i guess, itjust got tired at the end of the day. clambered and clawed out a shelf to support him and went for a nap. i don't think that i would ever find an opportunity to see anything like that again. it was truly phenomenal. congratulations again to the amateur photographer. before we 90, amateur photographer. before we go, one of the most read

stories from the website. a french model builder had his hopes dashed when his attempt at the world record for a matchstick eiffel tower was disqualified. he spent eight years building a 23—foot tower that's more than seven metres but officials from the begin he is world records told him that he used the wrong kind of matches. he had contacted the matches. he had contacted the match manufacturer to get a supply of matches without the familiar red sulpher tips. easierfor building but familiar red sulpher tips. easier for building but not particular nickly real matches. he told world cup reporters that part of the dream had vanished. but there could be a sill lining. he hopes that his model will go on display for the paris olympic games coming up the paris olympic games coming up injuly. let's hope that thatis up injuly. let's hope that that is the case. thank you so much for watching our show. we'll be back at the hope of the hour with more news. stay with me on bbc news. hello there.

there is some snow in the forecast over the next couple of days, but it's certainly not going to be everywhere. most of the snow — the disruptive and heavy snow — will be mainly for northern parts of the uk and particularly over the hills, where there'll be some drifting as the easterly wind picks up. and that's going to bring some travel disruption, particularly for transpennine routes. now we're seeing colder air move across most of the uk, but things are a bit milder towards the south and southwest, and where we've got that boundary, we've got this weather front here, and that's bringing wet weather up from the southwest, and as it hits the colder air, so this is where we're going to see it turning to sleet and snow. and the coldest air early on thursday morning is certainly going to be in scotland. we'll have a frost for a while in northern ireland and northern england. and we've got this amber snow and ice warning from the met office for thursday covering north wales, northwestern parts of shropshire, also the peak district and the southern pennines. and you can see it's mainly over the hills, but there could be a lot of snow over the higher ground. it's going to be more

likely rain as you head further south across wales, the midlands and southern england. but as you move that wetter weather into the colder air, so we've got the threat of some snow mainly over the hills of northern england and also northern ireland, perhaps heading into the far south of scotland by the end of the day. could be some sunshine for the rest of scotland. chilly day, of course, with that wet weather, although it does turn much milder across the south, as that first band of wet weather moves through, briefly turning drier, but more rain coming into the south and more snow over the northern hills of england into southern scotland as well. now, this area of low pressure is bringing all the wet weather. it is pushing milder air northwards, but we've still got the cold conditions on friday in scotland. so this is where we're more likely to have some sleet and snow. there'll be a cold easterly wind picking up. could still be some snow over the northern pennines, but on the whole, across the rest of the uk, it's going to be too warm for snow. we're more likely to have some rain from time to time as temperatures are starting to rise. but it's still cold in scotland. but even here, temperatures are going to be rising on saturday.

the colder air is really only in the far north of scotland, so there could be some sleet and snow here. otherwise there may well be some sunshine, may well be some showers. these are more likely to be of rain. temperatures are rising in scotland and reaching double figures across much of england and wales and also northern ireland.

prices continue to drop in china. what does it say about the state of the world's second largest economy? plus — disney's cost cutting strategy pays off. the house of mouse unveils its quarterly results and the biggest move yet in the gaming sector. hello and welcome to asia business report. we begin in china where prices have continued to fall for the fourth month injanuary. the consumer price index dropped to 0.8% last month from a year earlier. producer prices also slipped 2.5%. earlier i discussed the risks of economic weakness in china with asia specialist olivier d'assier and he told me the latest price data from the world's second largest economy is looking rather grim. i think they're much worse than expected, right. so almost twice as bad as expected and probably explains why we have

some trading restrictions put on the market three