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george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> i'm caitríona perry in washington and this is bbc world news america. thousands attend the funeral of the deputy leader of hamas in beirut as fears of increased violence grow. a warning about potential supply chain issues as more commercial ships avoid the red sea.

i shrink for recent graduates in china as they face an economic -- and opportunities for recent graduates shrink in china as they face economic downturn. hello and welcome to world news america, i am caitríona perry. antony blinken is headed to the middle east to visit israel, the west bank and several countries over the next week. the state department says during the trip he will see an immediate increase in aid to gaza as they continue dealing with the humanitarian crisis. the foreign secretary of england's says this is to avoid large outbreaks of disease. more reports of dozens of deaths as israel continues the military operation in gaza and in lebanon people gathered for the funeral of the deputy leader of hamas who was killed earlier this week in an explosion.

hezbollah has blamed the attack on what it says was flagrant israeli aggression and israel has not commented but the explosion is creating concern about violence spreading in the region. our middle east correspondent file to this report. reporter: crowds gathered in beirut for the deputy hamas leader assassinated in an attack in beirut on tuesday. some gathered placards with his face, and others waived hamas and palestinian flags and this assassination was a blow for hamas but also gave the lebanese allies, hezbollah, because it happened in an area of the route that is a hezbollah stronghold so this has raised fears of wider regional conflict but there have been indications that israel and hezbollah are willing

to take steps to avoid escalation in the confrontation. we heard from the israeli defense minister who says israeli authorities are determined to change the situation to allow the return of thousands who have been evacuated because of constant attacks by hezbollah and also said there was a short window of opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the crisis and those comments followed a speech by the influential leader of hezbollah, who described the assassination that happened here in beirut as a flagrant israeli aggression but did not make any threat to act against israel. he is expected to address his supporters again friday and any

response from hezbollah will likely be measured to avoid a strong israeli response and potential catastrophic conflict for lebanon. >> three israelis who were considered to be missing since the hamas attack october 7 are now recognized as being held hostage in gaza. this brings 132 the number of people still held hostage. 100 of the approximately 250 taken hostage during the attacks have been released. the families of those still held continued to campaign for their release nearly three months after being taken. a 35-year-old is one who is still being held and his stepmother joins us now. thank you for joining us here on bbc news. i know these moments cannot be easy. it has been 90 days since your stepson was taken, having locked away his pregnant wife and two daughters and gone back outside

to defend his community. do you have any information about how or where he is? >> we do but it has been many weeks since we have had any information. the majority of the hostages taken were from areas where he lived and my family. many who were released in november, we did get proof of life from them, some of them had seen him. but november was the last time we have had any word. my daughter-in-law gave birth to a beautiful little girl 3.5 weeks ago. her name means dawn in hebrew

and we are playing -- praying every day that he can hold his little girl soon. >> it must be very tough for you and his wife and his two daughters and the little baby he has yet to meet. a large number of his friends and neighbors who were taken that day have been released, but he is a man of fighting age who had himself fought against hamas that day in the attacks and he was not released. how are you preparing yourself of the possibility that it might be some time before he is released, given what we have seen with past hostagetaking by hamas? >> just to clarify, he is not a soldier. he is a father, a business owner, someone who works for an international ngo in israel. i just want to clarify that.

regardless, how can we prepare for something like that? all we can do is demand that we have our family home. that all of the hostages are released. we need a deal. we need a deal now because until we have a deal, we have nothing. until they are home, we have nothing. 90 days is three months. we know from the other hostages who have come back, it is three months of our loved ones living in darkness and starvation. we know the majority of the hostages are wounded or ill, because or they have illnesses and do not have their medication. it is unnatural to think they would be there one more day. >> your stepson is and is really an american citizen and you have met with president biden to get help for their release. what is your view of how

benjamin netanyahu is handling the push for the release of the remaining hostages? >> look, i am not a politician, i am a parent. i will say that we understand that all of the players, the united states, qatar, egypt, israel, people are working to try to move this forward immediately, we hope. hamas seems to be the problem and we are just asking for everyone to do more. we have had a wonderful experience with the president biden administration we know they are doing everything they possibly can, pulling every level -- lever available. we have to keep saying do more to everyone. >> some hostage families have been explicit in their criticism

of the israeli prime minister of the idea of the sustained bombing campaign in gaza, the large-scale last of life, we know that hamas ministry says more than just puts it as a humanitarian crisis. when you think of your stepson and his safety, what is your view on that and his situation? >> all i can say is it is a tragedy of such enormity, it is impossible to even wrap your head around, even now. no one should be deprived of food, of medicine, of life, of the ability to lead their life in freedom, whether it be our hostages who are captive, or the palestinian people. >> secretary of state antony

blinken is beginning another trip to the region and he will meet the prime minister. what is your view to them in the days ahead? >> i hope they move forward a deal immediately. and i hope the secretary can use his leverage with the prime minister and the prime minister will use his sense and they will come to a deal immediately so we can bring all of the hostages home. i have to underscore this. three months is too long. not one more day longer. that is all we can hope for. >> indeed. thank you so much for talking with us. i'm sure these moments are not easy for you and your family but we do appreciate you speaking with us on bbc news. >> thank you for having me.

>> u.k. -- u.k. maritime trade, -- operations as a military vessel in the mediterranean sea was attacked, the 25th attack of a commercial trip since mid-november and that part of the world, the most of them happening in the red sea. houthi rebels keep attacking ships in solitary of what is happening in gaza and most shipping companies are avoiding that route, adopting to take a safer but longer way around, which takes roughly nine days more. consumers are warned that products could be delayed. carriers have already diverted to $1 million in trade over the last few weeks. katie wilson takes a look. reporter: the string of attacks on vessels by houthi rebels in the red sea means delays and increased shipping costs for businesses in the u.k.

>> the difficulty is valentine's day is no good to a customer and consumer on february 15. reporter: on this map you can see the difference avoiding the red sea makes to the majority of goods coming to europe from asia. they use it to reach the suez canal, through which 30% of shipping volume passes. the alternative route is around cape of good hope. that can take 10 days longer. this video shows the movements of the container ships in the few days after the first attack in november. compare that to the past three days. you can see just how many are now taking the longer route. today next became the next major retailer. >> hopefully it will be resolved in the next month but if it is

not, there will be a slightly reduced choice in terms of what we see and may be longer delivery times because it will take longer to come from the factories in the far the stores in britain. >> the u.s., britain and other countries have warned forces in yemen they will face consequences if attacks continue, saying they are a direct threat to freedom of navigation. >> it will become a bigger crisis and have a more negative effect on ships and trade. >> global shipping has been rocked by other crises in the past few years. a container ship was stuck in the suez canal in 2021 and the pandemic caused extensive supply chain disruption. to help big of a headache this latest problem becomes will depend on how long the threat to

this trade route continues. >> a regional branch of the islamic state taking credit for a deadly explosion in a ran earlier this week. they are holding a -- iran earlier this week. iran is holding a day of mourning and the u.s. says they are in no position to doubt the responsibility of isis-k, the group seeking to merge eastern iran with afghanistan. the u.s. is accusing north korea of supplying russia with ballistic missile launchers to use in the war against ukraine. john kirby told reporters of intelligence that shows russian forces fired a missile towards ukraine last week and another several days ago. he said washington would raise the issue at the un security council.

>> russia has become increasingly isolated on the world stage and has been forced to look to like-minded states for military -- military equipment. one of them is north korea. >> the u.s. says it believes russia is trying to get ballistic missiles from iran and negotiations are advancing. a court in argentina suspended changes to labor laws issued by the country's new president who wants to lose the laws on employment contracts and parental leave without the approval of argentina's congress, controlled by the opposition. the appeals court blocked some of the -- some of the changes while they decide if that move is legal. he was elected with 55% of the vote in november and argues radical reforms are needed to avert social catastrophe in

argentina. he faces stiff opposition from trade unions to say changes a road basic protections for workers and are calling for a general strike later this month. there have been frequent protests in the street since he took office but 63% of argentine support his efforts to shrink the state and a 65% back a ban on protesters blocking the streets. millions of young people in china are struggling to find a job as the country's economic downturn leads to high unemployment for youth. more than one in five youth are jobless in china but it is difficult to know the real figure after the country stopped releasing statistics. fixing the crisis could be one of the biggest challenges facing the government in 2024. our correspondent spoke with young people in china who

graduated last year who are struggling to find work. reporter: china's economic miracle helped to build cities. ♪ while those who played a key part in the rise enjoy reliving the past, a new highly educated generation is struggling to find work as the miracle falters. joy is the first person in her family to get a university degree, third of her class. she has taken a job in sales. not her dream career, but she is determined to make the most of every opportunity. do you think it is more difficult now than when your parents were growing up to get a job? >> yes. the fact is, there are lots of jobs. the problem is whether you are

willing to lower your expectations. these jobs do not have good future prospects and offer low salaries and you are easily replaceable. that is why most people would rather stay at home and choose one of these jobs. reporter: some disillusioned graduates posted photos on social media, suggesting their degrees were worthless. others lay on the ground, laying flat, it is called, a term used by young people opting out of the competition of modern life. as the number of young unemployed people keeps rising, the chinese leader came up with an idea. for decades, young people have gone to big cities to study and find a job. he wants them to come back, get employed here and revitalize the economy's the problem is young people are finding it is not that easy. many jobs in the country are lower pay and require fewer

skills. even in the city, at this job fair in beijing, there is a skills gap. most openings do not need a masters degree. he wants the next generation to eat bitterness, a way of saying just suck it up. but after enduring years of strict covid lockdowns, many young people will want a hard life. this person has a marketing degree from a university a few hours away from beijing. she now has a job in customer service. she and her boyfriend both want to work but the pandemic also change their outlook on life. >> my parents are less educated. the places they visited are few and unlimited. they never left their home province. but we want to see the outside

world and think about what we really dream of. reporter: studying hard no longer guarantees a glittering career in china. the post-covid generation is adjusting expectations and finding its own way through the job market. leaders will have to fight to get a grip on this crisis in the next year in case it festers into a more troublesome generational discontent. >> lets lookouts some other news from around the world. tens of thousands protest against a deal made between ethiopia and tensions are rising in the region following the agreement to allow ethiopia access to the red sea, a seaport they lost access to during a civil war. in return, ethiopia will give somaliland recognition despite

ethiopia being called on to respect somalia as integrity. rishi sunak says his working assumption is that a u.k. general election will be held in the second half of the year. this follows speculations that britain's general election would kick off the spring. his conservative party is well behind the opposing labour party . authorities in iowa are investigating a high school shooting this morning that killed one and injured five. the person who died was a sixth-grader. police say the gunman was a 17-year-old high school student and police believe he acted alone. today was the first day of class for perry high school after the holiday break. microsoft announced the first change to the windows keyboard in nearly 30 years. the copilot key is the latest effort by the company to incorporate ai features into the product, such as summarizing text and virtual meetings. the new keyboard will be

available in february and will be included in upcoming service devices that can be used across the microsoft web and apps. a global superstar from decades ago is making a comeback, but not how you think. elvis sang his last note in 1977 but now he will perform in a new stage show made possible by ai. ♪ reporter: elvis never played the u.k. while he was alive but 46 years after his death, plans have been announced for a show in london. what the organizers say will be a convincing 3d computer-generated event. is it entirely created by computers? >> the ai learns the movements and face structure and everything about elvis and then

generates a computer model which will enable us to produce a new performance of elvis. reporter: using hours of home video and performance footage, the program is studying his look, his movements, and his expressions to re-create elvis. but this is far from the first holographic performance. ♪ reporter: this early version of a digital whitney houston. we have also seen a ghostly buddy highly -- buddy holly and roy orbison back on stage but the real highlight was abba's avatar show in london. >> this is really, really weird. [indiscernible] the technology they have is astonishing.

♪ reporter: the attraction of holograms is obvious. case announced a farewell tour in 2000 -- kiss announced a farewell tour in 2000. and now there is avatar kiss. >> some sad news from the world of cinema. glynis johns, who was mrs. banks in the original mary poppins movie, has died at age 100. she was a tony award winning stage and screen star who appeared in dozens of films. johns introduced the world to this on time classic send in the clouds during the original broadway run of a little night

music. in a statement her manager says her passing marks the end of the golden age of hollywood. remember, you can find all about the days news on bbc.com/news and you can see what we are working on at any time by checking us out on your favorite social media platforms. i am caitríona perry. thank you for watching bbc world news america. stay with us here. take care. goodbye. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

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geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the “newshour” tonight, the future of ukraine's fight against russia hangs in the balance amid a combat stalemate and questions over u.s. support. geoff: new documents from house democrats detail how donald trump's businesses received millions from foreign governments while he was president. amna: and palestinians report being arrested and mistreated by israeli forces because of their social media posts in the wake of the october 7 hamas attacks.