this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughanjones and these are the latest headlines... a plane carrying more than 70 people has crashed in nepal, killing nearly everyone on board. police hunting for a gunman following a drive—by shooting at church in central london have released details of a car they want to trace. a seven—year—old was left critically injured. five others were taken to hospital. kaymer two maund together, and instead they were the victims of a senseless act of violence. —— to

mourn together. president biden declares a state of emergency in california after it has been hit by a succession of severe winter storms leaving 25 million residents under a flood watch. rescue workers in the ukrainian city of dnipro search for survivors of a russian missile attack on an apartment building. at least 21 people were killed. is there light at the end on the tunnel on train strikes in the uk? the transport secretary is optimisitc a deal can be reached with the unions. i think both the companies signed the rail unions are keen to reach an agreement but we have got to see if they can hammer out the detail but, that is for them to do. some breaking news this hour — a plane carrying more than 70 people has crashed in nepal, killing nearly everyone on board.

the plane was flying from the capital kathmandu to the town of pokhara — a popular tourist town. the crash happened as it was coming in to land. it was a yeti airlines plane with 72 people on board. this is footage that we have, believed to show the plane coming into land — and you can see it begin to turn off course — the plane was a twin—engine atr 72 aircraft. this is the footage we have of the aftermath. thought to be around two kilometres from the airport. rescue workers searching for survivors. around 200 nepalese soldiers there. and lots of people looking on. there are reports of some survivors. flying conditions in nepal can be difficult. eight of the world's 1a highest mountains are there and the weather can change suddenly. we don't know what led to this crash though. i'm joined now by phanindra dahal —

from bbc nepali — live from kathmandu. thank you forjoining us. bring us up thank you forjoining us. bring us up to date with the latest details. no this is the most tragic aircraft crash in nepal's history. officials have confirmed 68 dead, so far, and the search and rescue operations are still ongoing. there was an emergency cabinet meeting this afternoon, formed a committee that is reporting within the next 4—5 days. the government has declared tomorrow as a day of national mourning. still, the rescue efforts are under way here. the plane crash site is very difficult terrain, and

still, soldiers are deployed there. give us a bit of background if you can about flying conditions in nepal generally and what we know of the conditions yesterday. the generally and what we know of the conditions yesterday.— conditions yesterday. the winner this morning _ conditions yesterday. the winner this morning when _ conditions yesterday. the winner this morning when the _ conditions yesterday. the winner this morning when the plane - conditions yesterday. the winner| this morning when the plane took conditions yesterday. the winner - this morning when the plane took off from kathmandu was pretty clear. pokhara international airport was supposed to be a 20 minute flight but after 18 minutes from take—off from the airport, the plane lost contact with the airport. officials at the international airport in pokhara have said that they were expecting that the plane would land within the next 20 seconds, however, it changed its course, and some on

social media said that the plane was at one point upside down. so far, the cause of the crash is not clear. the picture will come out to the citizens. nepal has a poor aviation track record. this is the second major crash. and no nepali airlines can fly to europe, they are on a blacklist. . ~ can fly to europe, they are on a blacklist. ., ~ , ., can fly to europe, they are on a blacklist. . ~' , ., ., can fly to europe, they are on a blacklist. ., ~ , ., ., , blacklist. thank you for giving us the details _ blacklist. thank you for giving us the details on _ blacklist. thank you for giving us the details on that _ blacklist. thank you for giving us the details on that plane - blacklist. thank you for giving us the details on that plane crash . blacklist. thank you for giving usj the details on that plane crash in nepal. the metropolitan police says those behind yesterday's shooting in central london fired a shotgun from inside a moving car. it happened near euston station, where a memorial service for a young woman and her mother was taking place. a seven—year—old girl suffered life—threatening injuries and

five other people were also hurt, including a 48—year—old woman who has potentially life—changing injuries. superintendent jack rowlands has given an update on the investigation. the incident took place as mourners gathered outside the church, following a funeral. we believe the suspect discharged a shotgun from a moving vehicle, which was a black toyota chr, likely a 2019 model or similar. this was a shocking incident. people came here to attend a funeral, to be with friends and loved ones and to mourn together. instead, they were the victims of a senseless act of violence.

the latest from the met police there. our correspondent at the scene, celestina olulode, gave us this update. i am stood a few minutes away from euston station. it is a very busy station, one of the busiest in the country but this is also a really residential area, and people, in the last hour or so, keep coming up to the police cordon behind me and asking questions about what's happening, what has been happening and what happened yesterday, and people are still very shocked about what has gone on. i spoke to a catholic priest, fatherjeremy trood, who held a church service at saint aloysius church behind me and here is what he said. we had a memorial mass for two of our parishioners who died very tragically of natural causes in november, and this was the opportunity for their family and friends to get together and to celebrate their life and remember them and to mourn them and to pray for them,

and that mass had just ended, people were beginning to leave the church, i was still inside the church when there was this enormous bang, and people leaving the churchjust rushed back in and said there had been a shooting. it was a very strange, loud, prolonged noise that i heard. i tried to make sure that everyone was safe. it was very unclear what was going on outside, so i was able to go out one of the other exits and go round the corner and see what was going on and i saw that there was somebody who was lying on the pavement, obviously injured, and almost straightaway, paramedics arrived and the police very soon afterwards. it happened very quickly. there were people inside the church with what appeared to be superficial cuts. nothing very great. very soon, they were

taken to hospital. people here are stilljust trying to piece together what happened. we havejust spoken to a resident who didn't want to talk on camera, and she said she heard the gunshots, and she saw a young girl lying on the pavement. another woman, a mother, who didn't witness the incident, she lives in the block behind me, she said, what if this had happened to me? "what if this had happened to one of my kids?" so, really, people herejust want to find out how this incident could have happened in broad daylight at 1:30pm, and just want to know, crucially, if the seven—year—old will be ok. thanks to celestina for that. president biden has declared a state of emergency in california and ordered federal aid to be sent

to the state as it reels from another powerful winter storm. around 25 million residents remain under a flood watch as the storm moves steadily southwards. our west coast correspondent sophie long has been out with volunteers in santa barbara and sent us this report. frantic efforts to protect homes from further flooding. if we didn't get this done today, we would have lost our house. jeff bailey's wife and young children evacuated. he stayed to protect their home. it's been hard. my wife has been bringing them over at the top of the hill, and i've been giving them hugs and kisses and telling them how much i love them. but, you know, we all have to process it. sorry, i have for some reason become emotional. so yes, we're safe, we're surviving, and we'lljust keep going forward. across california, after three weeks of almost continuous, catastrophic downpours,

rain is the last thing people here need, and yet it keeps coming. widespread flooding is getting worse and roads are disintegrating. emergency services could only watch as this one collapses into the valley below. we joined the santa barbara bucket brigade, a local volunteer force formed after a mudslide killed 23 people here five years ago. what happened here? this is the road to my mom's house. she can't get home, so we've got a big rock to clear out. all hands on what has become a treacherous, slippery deck. i'm not worried about our house. it's not going to go - anywhere, and it's safe. and it'sjust everybody else, and all the... - you know, i mean, if we don't protect the road, we're - going to lose more of the road here — people can't get out. i you can see the impact of the heavy deluges here. this road has been completely cut off.

people cannot access their homes. the rains have now started again, after a brief period of respite, and there is concern that more is going to come down. the threat of mudslides means they need to move quickly. the next stop is steve's house. that was a pretty hairy drive, by my standards. so, this tree i planted 26 years ago. it was this tall, and it's the only tree to survive this. the whole thing just slid down. this is about 200 feet wide. you kind of get overwhelmed with a series of emotional things, which go from hope to pride to fear to, you know, despair — to all that stuff. but at the end of the day, you know, we're a resilient lot up here and we know what to do, so this is what we're doing today. a saturated california can only wait to see what the next storm brings. sophie long, bbc

news, santa barbara. at least 21 people are now known to have been killed in a russian missile strike on an apartment block in the central ukrainian city of dnipro. dozens of others were injured when part of the nine—storey building was reduced to rubble. rescue workers are still searching for people buried in the rubble after working through the night. it follows a wave of new strikes targeting ukraine's power infrastructure — james waterhouse has more. in the grand scheme of this war, there had been a relative reprieve from russia's long—range missile and drone strikes. two weeks. new year's day was the last time we saw it happen. but we knew this one was significant just from the amount of time we had to spend in the shelter. we were down for a few hours and as ever, you resurface to images of where the devastation has been most acute. saturday was about dnipro, where we saw a residential block completely destroyed by a missile strike. rescue teams are continuing to sift through

smoking rubble and twisted metal. there are people calling out for help, using lights on their phones to let rescue teams know where they are. more than 20 people have now lost their lives. we're told many more are missing. and this just shows that while russia is continuing its tactic of trying to hit infrastructure sites, so places like power stations, to deprive people of energy in the middle of winter, it is civilians, normal people, who find themselves in harm's way. this was an attack that struck targets right across ukraine. around 60 missiles, we are told, were launched, as well as rockets from from mobile launchers. the air defence systems took some out, but not all. and it shows that the defences are far from watertight, which is why president zelensky is continuing to call for more on that front in terms of air defences as well as more weapons themselves.

and he's also condemned the attacks and, in a hint at how far he is from any kind of peace deal or wanting to negotiate, he said the only way to deal with russia in this regard is on the battlefield. speaking on bbc breakfast this morning, the chair of the defence select committee, tobias ellwood, said the government was focusing too heavily on issues like equipment rather than considering a strategy for ukrainian success. we can'tjust keep gifting different variants of equipment, across europe, supply chains... it is not sustainable. in my view we should be developing a ukrainian arms factory, an assembly line in eastern poland so it can procure its own military kit, ammunitions for the long—term, that would be a strategic objective we could all agree on. that was tobias ellwood. we don't know how much he has the ear of that was tobias ellwood.

we don't know how much he has the ear of the british prime minister, but rishi sunak has promised what he called a "gear change" in the country's support for ukraine. there are no plans to build weapons factories in poland. however, a government statement has now confirmed that the uk will be the first country to send western tanks to ukraine, ia of the challenger ii models, to be precise. to tell us more, i'm joined the bbc�*s europe regional editor, paul moss. took us through this uk government statement. it took us through this uk government statement. . ., , �* ., statement. it confirms britain will be sendin: statement. it confirms britain will be sending the — statement. it confirms britain will be sending the challenger - statement. it confirms britain will be sending the challenger tanks, | statement. it confirms britain will i be sending the challenger tanks, 14 be sending the challenger tanks, ia of them, not the dozen first thought of, and we will be sending soft propelled artillery. i think it is the reasoning behind this that is more interesting than the statement itself which was expected, this suggestion all the gear change. the statement says russia is on the back foot, suffering from low morale and resupply issues. it argues this is a

window of opportunity to really make a difference, to push russia back. and it puts pressure on britain's allies to do more and to do it now. it is quite a leading role for britain and as prime minister. the panellist will seek to demonstrate the uk power as an international catalyst with influence across nato, the g7 and elsewhere. prime minister rishi sunak says he will send his foreign secretary to the united states and canada to coordinate support, and the defence secretary to germany and estonia, making it clear he wants britain to have a central role. d0 clear he wants britain to have a central role.— central role. do you think other countries _ central role. do you think other countries will _ central role. do you think other countries will listen _ central role. do you think other countries will listen to - central role. do you think other countries will listen to rishi - countries will listen to rishi sunak? it countries will listen to rishi sunak? ., , �* ., . sunak? it doesn't matter too much whether they _ sunak? it doesn't matter too much whether they agree _ sunak? it doesn't matter too much whether they agree with _ sunak? it doesn't matter too much whether they agree with the - whether they agree with the reasoning for the simple fact that the us, france, germany, none of them wanted to be the first to send thanks to ukraine, they have sent heavily armoured infantry vehicles but it is not the same thing. the czech republic said it would send

old soviet era tanks so everyone is waiting to see you go first. britain has stuck its head above the parapet and said it will send thanks to ukraine. forwhatever and said it will send thanks to ukraine. for whatever the reason, whether they believe in this window of opportunity or not, that could prompt other western allies to do exactly the same and let's be honest, britain's ia thanks will not make a huge difference on the battlefield. ukraine was always hoping that where one let others follow. we had the chair of the ukrainian foreign affairs committee saying that they needed 300 tanks. the company that makes the german leopard bank says they cannot make them very quickly, and to refurbish old ones, you could take until next year to do so, even if the order was given. year to do so, even if the order was riven. ~ , ., ,, year to do so, even if the order was riven. ~ , ., ~' year to do so, even if the order was riven. ~ , ., ~ �* ., year to do so, even if the order was iiven, . , ., 4' �* ., given. why do you think britain has made this announcement _ given. why do you think britain has made this announcement now? - given. why do you think britain has| made this announcement now? you could take the _ made this announcement now? hm. could take the statement at face value that the british government really does believe in this window of opportunity to push russia back. this is the merit for britain and other countries to send equipment,

and to send it now. there is a more cynical reading of that statement. there are politics going on. rishi sunak is often compared unfavourably to borisjohnson who is seen as this globalfigure. he made a much publicised visit to ukraine and was seen embracing mr zelensky. boris johnson has announced that he will go back to ukraine even though he is no longer prime minister. some you that rishi sunak is saying that i, too, can cut a dash on the international stage. too, can cut a dash on the internationalstage. i too, can cut a dash on the international stage. i believe it to the viewers to decide which of those they think the case. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. more than 80,000 demonstrators have protested in the israeli city of tel aviv for the second consecutive saturday against proposed changes to the judiciary. the protesters — who included a cousin of the prime minister

benjamin netanyahu — called the reforms "an attack on democracy". banners referred to the new coalition led by mr netanyahu as "a government of shame". the world health organisation is urging china to provide detailed information about the level of covid infections in the country. 60,000 covid—related deaths have been reported injust over a month, but the chinese government has been accused of not releasing the full details of the pandemic. the peruvian government has declared a state of emergency in several regions, as demonstrations against the interim president take place. it gives greater powers to the armed forces to help federal police maintain order. rallies have taken place in a number of cities, with protesters calling for the resignation of the interim president, dina boluarte. iran is facing international condemnation after the execution of a british—iranian national. former defence minister, alirayza akbari, was arrested in 2019 for alleged spying — which he denied. iranian state media announced his execution on saturday.

in response britain has sanctioned iran's prosecutor general, saying tehran must be held accountable for its appalling human rights violations. mr akbari's nephew, alireza akbari, has been speaking to the bbc. it is horrible. it is just not something that anyone wants to go through, no family wants to experience that. it is a violation of human rights. it is a violation of human rights and basically it undermines somebody�*s right to life, you know, taking somebody�*s life away without leaving the choice for them. the uk's transport secretary mark harper says he hopes a deal can be reached this week between rail companies and unions to avoid further strike action. the uk has recently been rocked by industrial action causing mass disruption to the railways, with fears that more walkouts would further weaken demand in travel and the wider economy. the minister added that there was still detail in negotiations that needed hammering out.

here he was speaking to the bbc�*s laura kuenssberg a little earlier. i hope that there will be a deal. i am not going to put an artificial timetable on it. as soon as you start putting artificial deadlines on things, you tend to end up with a bad deal, but look, both the companies and the rail unions are keen to reach an agreement but we have got to see if they can hammer out the detail, but that is for them to do, but i facilitated an offer. i brought both sides together with the rail minister. he is going to have regular meetings to make sure that we have got a good process and it is for the two sides to hammer out a deal and try to get to somewhere where they can agree. the labour leader sir keir starmer also spoke to laura kuenssberg, saying he has �*concerns' about gender legislation in scotland. the recently passed legislation lowers the age people can apply to change their gender to 16, removes the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria for a gender recognition certificate, and reduces the time an applicant needs to live in their acquired gender.

but the labour leader was clear that he disagrees with the principles behind some of those changes. our political correspondent david wallace lockhart has the latest. and keir starmer was asked about this this morning, this legislation that was backed by scottish labour msps at holyrood, and specifically said he didn't think i6—year—olds should be changing gender, and went into a bit more detail about why he has "other concerns" about the bill. there are all sorts of different definitions in relation to self—certification. as far as the scotland provision is concerned, i do have concerns about the age of transition reduced now to 16 and we have put forward amendments in relation to that, and also the primacy of the equality act, which is very important. explain to our viewers, scottish labour msps in the

scottish parliament backed that system in the last couple of weeks. they supported it. were they wrong to support it? that was a matter for scottish labour. i am telling you what the position is in relation to the whole labour party. we know the uk government is considering using power has in scotland act of potentially blocking this scottish legislation. it believes it may affect uk wide equality law, that is something the scottish government is adamant that this bill does not. keir starmer was asked about the labour position if that legislation was blocked. remember that scottish labour msps did vote for this. he said he would wait to see what the government would say about that. he would not commit either way whether he would back it or not. that was something put to the uk government minister on the airwaves this morning, mark harper, and he spoke about how the government is getting more legal advice about making a decision and whether or not they will block it.

there are conflicting rights here. there are trans people who have suffered discrimination and who want their rights respected but equally, i have listened carefully to the concerns many women have had about worries that they have got about risks to their safety, and i heard brian cox there just talking about some of the thingst rowling has said, some very reasonable things that people are entitled to say, as she had been treated very badly in response and i think this discussion is best if we talk about it thoughtfully and carefully which is why the government is not rushing to a conclusion but waiting to see the detailed legal advice, and will then take a careful, thought—through decision, which we will announce. mark harper saying that the government is not rushing into a decision, but the deadline is wednesday so they don't have much time, if they decide to block it using section 35 of the scotland act that would be

significant because it has never been done in the history of evolution so the uk government has a big, potentially controversial decision to make this week. iam i am lose vaughanjones. this bbc news. —— lewis. hello. well, at last it's feeling a lot more like winter again and maybe windy out there adding to the chill today. but the colder air is set to get even colder over the next few days. as i said, though, windy, making it feel colder at the moment, particularly across england and wales. gusts of wind a0, 50 miles an hour. it's that which helped a band of rain and patchy rain that is, hail, sleet and snow push into wales, the midlands and east anglia for the afternoon. still a few heavy showers through the english channel, but actually not as many as we saw this morning. away from that, a lot of dry weather to come. some rain returns to the west of northern ireland later. snow showers in the north of scotland. here your afternoon highs four to nine celsius, around where we should be for the stage injanuary, but as i said, made to feel colder

in the south for a time, given the wind. now, through tonight, some sleet and snow again on the hills of southern scotland, northern england and to the north of scotland. but some heavy rain pushing through the english channel, some sleet and snow on the northern edge of that for the downs and the wealds, but there's a small risk that could become more extensive across these areas and with a greater chance of some hill snow and some travel disruption with some more minorflooding across southern parts into tomorrow morning. so it's a low risk at the moment. for the time being, it's going to be widely cold across the country tomorrow morning. risk of ice, widespread frost, —8, —9 in scotland. the rain, sleet and snow mix hopefullyjust in that southeast corner, but bear in mind, it could be a bit more extensive as we start the morning. gradually clearing, a few wintry showers still in east anglia through the day. the odd isolated one further west. many of you on monday, though, having a dry day, lots of crisp winter sunshine, more snow flurries in the north of scotland and a cold feel, temperatures actually struggling to get much above freezing for one or two. that will lead us into an even colder night through into tuesday, a chance of a little area of low

pressure just pushing southwards and eastwards clipping devon and cornwall overnight into the morning, could leave some snow here over the hills, pushing then into france. a lot of dry and sunny weather around again, but we're exposed to that north to northwesterly airflow in these northern and western parts of the uk, further sleet and snow showers. many, though, will be dry. temperatures again only around two to five degrees. the colder weather then continues through the middle part of the week, further wintry flurries for some, but later on, something milder and wetter gradually will push in from the west. but the main story, i think, for the week ahead is that it's going to be colder than we've been used to so far this year with widespread frost by night, and ice, too. take care.

this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughanjones and these are the headlines... a plane carrying more than seventy people has crashed in nepal, killing nearly everyone on board. officials say there are some survivors who are now receiving hospital treatment. the aircraft came down while landing at the tourist town of pokhara. a 7 year old girl has life threatening injuries after a suspected drive by shooting outside a memorial service in london. police have described it as �*shocking' and �*senseless'. president biden declares a state of emergency in california after it has been hit by a succession of severe winter storms leaving 25 million residents under a flood watch. at least 19 people have died and thousands have been forced to leave their homes.

rescue workers in the ukrainian city of dnipro search for dozens