the oil giant bp becomes the latest company to stop sending ships through the red sea after a spate of attacks on vessels. as oil giant bp pours its oil shipments through the red sea, on verify, we look at how the israel gaza war is impacting this trade route. just hours before a un security council vote, the us defence secretary urges israel to do more to protect gazan civilians. so we will continue to stand up for israel's right to defend itself and we will also continue to urge for the protection of civilians during conflict, and to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into gaza. i'm lewis vaughan jones. i'm lewis vaughanjones. welcome to the programme. we're going to start to the israel—gaza war.

this is all because of rebels in yemen are firing attacking ships. these are houthi rebels that support hamas. this at one of the world's busiest shipping routes. bbc verify explains. a, busiest shipping routes. bbc verify exlains. �* ., ., ., , explains. a month ago, this was hi'acked. successfully capturing the galaxy leader cargo ship in the red sea. now, the group supports hamas and they say they're targeting all ships with ownership links to israel as well as any shipping going in or out of israeli ports. and the houthi group still has that boat. so we spotted it here on satellite imagery off the coast of yemen. now, this is the best image we have from satellite image provider planet.

and it was taken on wednesday last week. now, these attacks are huge problem for big companies because this region is crucial to global trade. so, the red sea is one of the world's most important routes for oil and fuel shipments. now, any ship passing through suez to orfrom the indian ocean has to come this way. about 17,000 ships and 10% of global trade passes through it every year. now, if you want to avoid it, ships have to take a much longer route and they have to go all the way down south, round south of africa and up again. and that's what several big companies like bp and maersk are going to have to do now that they've suspended their shipping through the red sea. over the last month, since the galaxy leader was successfully hijacked, there have been several attempts by houthi rebels to board ships like this one, the central park. now the attack on this one was repelled by a us warship and a japanese military vessel in the area. the houthi rebel group have also attacked others with drones and missiles. now have a look at this. this just shows you just how busy

the shipping route is today. and we'll have to wait and see what impact on this. this has on the trade and the precarious situation in the red sea, not only on the price of oil as deliveries are delayed, but also on whether their other products will make their destinations in time for christmas. we're going to take a look of the diplomacy there. lloyd austin has met his israeli counterpart and also prime minister benjamin netanyahu — with a focus on how israel plans to move to the next phase of the war. the un security council is expected to vote in the coming hours on a resolution calling for an "urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities". the us blocked a previous resolution that called for a �*humanitarian ceasefire'. over the weekend, the uk

and germany called for a "sustainable ceasefire". conditions in gaza keep getting worse. supplies are arriving, but as you can see in these these pictures, trucks crossing from egypt are quickly surrounded. aid agencies are reporting widespread starvation and desperation. lloyd austin, reiterated his country's support for the two—state solution. israelis and palestinians both deserve a horizon of hope. so the united states continues to believe, as we have under administrations of both parties, that it is in to move forward towards two states, two states, living side by side in mutual security. let's look at another situation we've been keeping

across in recent days. hundreds of civilians are trapped in a catholic church in gaza city, as israeli forces operate nearby. the catholic authority in jerusalem says two women were shot dead in the compound of the holy family church. israel's army said it found no evidence its soldiers were involved. the group has been seeking refuge in the church for more than 60 days. i spoke to the director of policy and impact of your opinion and i think there is increasing concern from the us and some of israel's other friends and allies that there isn't clarity about what happens next for gaza. so that will have been a large part of what was on the agenda for the bilateral discussions behind the scenes. and it seems that israel has been suggesting that there will be no hamas government, there will be no fatah government, there may be a very long military occupation. they've been talking publicly today about so—called voluntary

emigration for gazans. and i think these questions about the day after have been causing increasing concern. it's not too surprising that the us would publicly stand shoulder—to—shoulder with its ally. but you can see that the concerns are growing behind the scenes. interesting. what do you make of the un vote that we're expecting in, what, under four hours now? well, those draughting the resolution, which has been led by the united arab emirates, they will have been really trying to work out language that they might be able to use without the us vetoing it, because of course previous attempts to get a ceasefire through have run into the us veto. so they will be trying to figure out what could the us live with so that it could either support or at least abstain from a resolution.

that might mean another so—called humanitarian pause, but maybe an open—ended one. so, rather than saying the word ceasefire, which the us is still not not keen on, it might be about doing something temporary to slow down the fighting, to reduce the bombardment and importantly, to get aid in because there are growing worries and growing warnings that the deprivation from food, fuel, etc. from food, fuel, etc, is going to lead to many deaths — notjust as a result of the bombing, but because of hunger, because of disease and so on. and we know that few hospitals are now functioning in gaza, are now functioning in gaza. we're just getting a report through from the reuters news agency — hamas official in beirut, saying we are open to qatari egyptian initiatives on a hostage exchange that would stop the war in gaza. given comments like that, given the language at the un, given the conversations between the us and israel, do you think a pause or a ceasefire or anything is actually realistic

in the coming days? there may be another chance to negotiate on the hostages. that is what enabled the previous humanitarian pause to happen. there are ongoing discussions mediated by qatar and of course inside israel. there is a quite significant protest movement led by families of the hostages who have been particularly shocked that, in recent days, three hostages were accidentally killed by israeli soldiers. they had escaped from hamas activity and then they were killed by their own side in a terrible accident. so there is a growing public pressure in israel to pause the fighting and focus on the diplomacy. but how long that lasts really depends on finding some kind of political way forward is what is going to happen to hamas. — what is going to happen to hamas?

is there a way to get another palestinian leadership in there? itjust seems that israel, the us and palestinians are incredibly far apart. the problem is that diplomacy in this area has been neglected for 15 years. there hasn't been a functioning peace process since 2008. so, now that people do want to reactivate the peace process, it's almost impossible to do that overnight because so many bridges have already been burned. thanks to jane kinnaman there. 0ne country closely affected by what happens in gaza is its neighbour, egypt. there, official results from egypt's presidential election say abdul fattah al—sisi has won a third six—year term in office with just under 90% of the vote. he called the result a rejection of what he termed the "inhumane war" in neighbouring gaza. 0ur correspondent sally nabil is in cairo. she says the struggling economy is the major challenge facing president sisi. everybody here knows that president sisi is not facing any sort of competition whatsoever.

it was more or less a one—man show or a one—horse race. this is what we've heard from so many people before the elections. he was being challenged by three low—profile politicians. but it's notjust about who's going to win, it's about the key challenges waiting for the president. above all, it is the economy that is on everyone's mind here. inflation rates are hitting nearly a0%. a lot of egyptian families are struggling to make ends meet. we've been talking to people over the past couple of weeks. i remember one housewife telling me i haven't bought meat in three years, "i haven't bought meat in three years because i can't afford it any more". and people are pretty apprehensive that tougher times might be lying ahead because the economy is not doing well at all. is not doing well at all, and all the economic prospects for this country are pretty grim.

thanks to sally for that. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. bring you different stories from the all the you need people stroke him and talk to him. he sits out there all day sunbathing with his friend. he's pining for him as well. they're special to the ladies that bred them, special to me, special to a lot of people around here who like to see them. i lot of people around here who like to see them-— to see them. i haven't seen the duck. to see them. i haven't seen the duck- we've — to see them. i haven't seen the duck. we've been _ to see them. i haven't seen the duck. we've been working - to see them. i haven't seen the duck. we've been working here| to see them. i haven't seen the - duck. we've been working here since monday— duck. we've been working here since monday morning. we've seen mallards and canada _ monday morning. we've seen mallards and canada geese and swans, but not your duck _ and canada geese and swans, but not your duck. i�*m and canada geese and swans, but not our duck. �* ., , ., your duck. i'm not sure whether or not it's been _ your duck. i'm not sure whether or not it's been done _ your duck. i'm not sure whether or not it's been done as a _ your duck. i'm not sure whether or not it's been done as a malicious l not it's been done as a malicious thing. _ not it's been done as a malicious thing. but — not it's been done as a malicious thing. but he _ not it's been done as a malicious thing, but he needs— not it's been done as a malicious thing, but he needs to _ not it's been done as a malicious thing, but he needs to come - not it's been done as a malicious. thing, but he needs to come back. he's not_ thing, but he needs to come back. he's not here _ thing, but he needs to come back. he's not here any— thing, but he needs to come back. he's not here any more. _ thing, but he needs to come back. he's not here any more. nice - thing, but he needs to come back. he's not here any more. nice to. thing, but he needs to come back. i he's not here any more. nice to see him every— he's not here any more. nice to see him every day —

for more stories and across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. the european union has formally announced it suspects x, previously known as twitter, of breaching the bloc�*s rules in areas including countering illegal content and disinformation. the digital commissioner thierry breton set out the alleged infringements in a post on the social media platform. he said that x, which is owned by elon musk, was also suspected of breaching its obligations on transparency and in the design of its user interface. i spoke to leslie hallam, course director for the psychology of advertising masters programme at lancaster university. i think for some time, such media has presented problems around the world. it's been a bit of a wild west out there, with very few rules.

to a large extent, i think the major companies platforms have done a reasonable job. companies platforms have done a reasonablejob. i think companies platforms have done a reasonable job. i think there was some discontent with that when elon musk took over twitter as it was then. along with changing the name, i think the rule book was torn up to an extent. as a result, i think there's been a clap between him and his agenda and his agenda, x. in the interest of democracies... lastly; his agenda and his agenda, x. in the interest of democracies. . ._ interest of democracies... why do ou sa interest of democracies... why do you say that? _ interest of democracies... why do you say that? do _ interest of democracies... why do you say that? do you _ interest of democracies... why do you say that? do you think... - you say that? do you think... nothing is concluded yet, i should say. this is the beginnings of proceedings. but do you believe there is good grounds for what they're investigating, things like harmful content or disinformation? i'm by no means a legal expert,

so... but i think there is a fair case to be answered that some of the content as reported in the media, twitter especially calling the situation in gaza and the hamas attacks in the echoing of that by elon musk himself. i think their event causes for concern. i don't think this law is in direct result of that. i think what we're seeing is them flexing their muscles and seeing what they can do and should do to intervene in what seems to be quite a bat access. you do to intervene in what seems to be quite a bat access.— quite a bat access. you did touch on elon musk quite a bat access. you did touch on eton musk in _ quite a bat access. you did touch on elon musk in the _ quite a bat access. you did touch on elon musk in the takeover _ quite a bat access. you did touch on elon musk in the takeover there. i l elon musk in the takeover there. i want to ask you about what you make of the changes that elon musk has made. it of the changes that elon musk has made. ., , , ., made. it would seem in the short term it's been _ made. it would seem in the short term it's been fairly _ made. it would seem in the short term it's been fairly disastrous i

made. it would seem in the short term it's been fairly disastrous in | term it's been fairly disastrous in business terms. it's certainly shed contributors to twitter, to x and they've lost a lot of revenue. it really doesn't sit very well with some of the core ground values of the major advertisers. the dangerous thing for advertisers to put their names against ads which run alongside some extreme right—wing views is that there is an effect. they will be targeted by those users as well. they're going to inevitably pull away. it's not clear, it's still not clear whether they will actually be a viable operation in the quite short—term. their revenues

are incredibly restricted and i think elon musk�*s personality — very forthright and he's expressed his views about the plight of advertising in uncertain terms — and he's by no means been... best way to put it. he's by no means been... best way to ut it. ., ., , ., ., put it. thanks to leslie hallam there. there are reports from ukraine that some front line military operations are having to be scaled back because of a shortage of artillery shells. there is continuing doubt over funding from international allies. but the deputy defence minister has told the bbc he is confident that funding will carry on. general ivan gavryliuk told abujalil abdurasulov that ukraine is making plans to increase its domestic military production. translation: the problem of ammunition shortages, i particularly with artillery rounds, will not go away. in the short term, ukraine has decided to address this issue by increasing the production of kamikaze drones. that will compensate the lack of artillery shells. besides, we're ramping up domestic production of ammunition next year, we have an agreement with the netherlands and they plan

to provide two billion euros in support. as for the us, the congress is supposed to approve new funds. they haven't gone on a winter break yet and are staying to solve the issue. so we're confident that our partners will continue to assist ukraine. the us has condemned north korea's latest test firing of an inter—continental ballistic missile — describing it as a violation of un security council resolutions and a threat to its neighbours. the japanese prime minister also condemned the launch, saying it threatened peace and stability in the region. 0ur correspondent in seoul, jean mackenzie, is following the developments. it's always hard to know for sure the motive behind a north korean weapons test. but on this occasion, it could be because of a meeting between the us and south korea on friday. officials from both countries met in washington to update their contingency plans for how to respond to a north korean nuclear attack. now, the us is more and more drawing south korea into its nuclear planning, and this is something pyongyang doesn't like.

so, north korea had criticised the meeting and had threatened to retaliate. and this is a pattern that we are seeing play out, and have been over the past year here on the korean peninsula, where the north tests and refines its weapons, and south korea and the us bolster their defences in return. and it means that both sides are now caught in this cycle of escalation. this test is a concern for the west and the us. but also those here in the region, south korea and japan. not only because this particular missile has the potential to reach all the way to the us mainland, but because, through these weapons tests, north korea is able to make progress on its nuclear weapons programme. at the moment, it is able to test almost without consequence, through these weapons tests, north korea is able to make progress on its nuclear weapons programme. at the moment, it is able to test almost without consequence, because russia and china on the un security council are vetoing any attempts to add further sanctions on to north korea. we saw today, while the us

and south korea were quick to condemn this launch, north korean officials were actually in beijing, meeting the chinese foreign minister, who then went on to express his support for north korea just hours after this missile test. with these deepening ties between pyongyang and beijing, pyongyang and moscow, we are seeing the balance of power shift here. so, it used to be north korea asking the us to talk, because it wanted the sanctions lifted. now it is the us that wants to engage north korea, because the longer this stalemate goes on for, the more time north korea has to make progress on its weapons. thanks to jean for that. emergency services in northern australia have rescued hundreds of people trapped by flooding after record levels of rain over the past week. in the state of queensland, people were stuck on roofs as rising waters cut off entire areas. tourists in cairns were also left stranded after their flights were cancelled. here's sophie raworth. this was the airport in cairns where, for the first time,

floodwaters left aircraft semi—submerged, after more than two metres of rain in the past week. the torrents of water have flushed all kind of things through residential streets, including crocodiles. this one captured by wildlife officers, after it was spotted near a petrol station. it's important that people recognise that any of the drains and estuaries around the place, with the amount of floodwater we have had, could contain an estuarine crocodile in it. and it's notjust crocodiles that disorientated. kayakers went to the rescue of this cold and exhausted wallaby... atta boy. ..spotted in a flooded field. it had been searching for dry land. they managed to scoop it up and carry it to shore. a quick kiss, before they say it hopped away to safety.

the chief executive of sellafield has hit back at claims of cyber breaches and lax safety standards at the nuclear site in cumbria. in an exclusive interview for bbc news, euan hutton denied reports in the guardian newspaper that it systems had been hacked by groups linked to russia and china. he also dismissed concerns that ageing and decaying theo leggett reports. sellafield is europe's most hazardous nuclear site, a sprawling complex of ageing facilities. large quantities of highly radioactive wastes are stored here, as well as plutonium, a toxic material that could be used to make weapons. security is intense, so allegations that its it systems have been hacked are extremely serious. the chief executive insists they are entirely unfounded. we've got absolutely no evidence to suggest that our systems have been hacked in the fashion that you've mentioned there, and indeed was mentioned in the paper, by a state actor at all.

you say there's been no evidence of a hack in the way mentioned by the newspaper. is there any evidence of a hack full stop? no. we've got very robust, multi—layer protection systems that would indicate if anything like that had happened. that isn't the only accusation being fired at sellafield. it's also alleged that crumbling and decaying old facilities like this are simply unsafe and could present a risk to the public, or even trigger a nuclear disaster. this vast, open—air pond contains hundreds of tonnes of used nuclear fuel and radioactive sludge that's accumulated over decades. the challenge now is to keep it safe because it's an old facility, while at the same time carrying out the long process of decommissioning it. the question is, is that process being done fast enough? sellafield insists it is. work to clean and empty the pond is well under way, using a variety of robot submarines. this building, meanwhile, is a rubbish dump for decades' worth of nuclear scrap.

but a leak unseen and inaccessible is letting radioactive fluid but a leak, unseen and inaccessible, is letting radioactive fluid seep into the ground. this mechanical grab is being used to retrieve the waste for storage elsewhere, but it's a process that will take years. sellafield denies it's a problem that's been swept under the carpet. we are straining every sinew to accelerate, safely, what we have to do to stop the leak, and the best way to do that is to remove the waste safely so we can get there as soon as we can. 70 years of the nuclear industry have left sellafield with a difficult and dangerous legacy. bosses here insist they have nothing to hide, but the latest controversy illustrates one of its biggest problems — a sore lack of public trust. theo leggett, bbc news. we're going to head to france and the miss france competition. it was won by a woman with short hair for

the first time. eve zheel won. there has been plenty of reaction. jon donnison explains. say bonjour to the new miss france. you might think that in 2023, showing a beauty contest on prime—time tv is controversial enough. but this year, a new talking point seems to have been talked up. "the crown sits nicely on my short hair," quips 20—year—old eve gille. and in interviews, she's persistently reminded that she's the first ever winner with cropped locks. translation: i don't want to be known just as a miss _ with the short hair. it's always been that to be a miss, you have to fit in a certain box, but not at all. you just have to be yourself. but eve's coiffure has not pleased everyone, and the fact she didn't win the public vote, but was only the first choice of the judges,

has led a small number of people on social media to accuse the organisers of wokeism for not for not choosing a woman with long hair. but on the champs—elysees today, nobody we spoke to agreed with that. it's very mean, but i, i find her super pretty. i don't agree at all with people, with what people are saying. i i don't understand why they're like body—shaming her, because she won. - here in the uk, beauty contests on mainstream tv have long been consigned to history. consigned to history, and perhaps the real question is why more than seven million people and perhaps the real question is why more than 7 million people in france chose to tune in at all. john donnison, bbc news. now it's time for the weather with ben rich. good evening. monday was a pretty cloudy day for many, with some splashes of rain, but northern areas of the uk did get

to see a little bit of brightness. that was the scene for a weather watcher in the highlands earlier on. now, as we look through the rest of this week, we will see further rain at times and it will become very windy. there is the chance that some of us will see a little bit of snow in the run—up to the christmas period. now, this is the earlier satellite picture. you can see this pipeline of cloud streaming in from the atlantic. this is our next weathersystem, really. that will bring some quite heavy rain across parts of wales and england as we head through this evening and tonight, turning really wet, particularly through the second half of the night. northern england staying a little bit drier, and certainly for northern ireland and scotland, we'll see some clearer skies, a few showers blowing into the northwest of scotland, some of those wintry over higher ground. cold enough here for frost and some ice, mild further south where we start tuesday with clouds and outbreaks of heavy rain. that rain will trundle its way south eastwards through the day, so brighter skies will follow. a scattering of showers blowing in, particularly across the western side of scotland and into northern ireland. some of those showers wintry over high ground in scotland. it will be windy here. temperatures a little bit lower than they have been today — 5 degrees in lerwick and 10 degrees

in london by the middle part of the afternoon. but into wednesday, we see another frontal system pushing in from the atlantic. this one is a warm front, and so it will reintroduce some milder conditions. but with extensive cloud cover, it will be quite misty and murky in places, i suspect. bits and pieces of rain, it will be windy, but temperatures in many spots back up into double digits. and then we look ahead to thursday with a deep area of low pressure passing to the north of the uk. lots of isobars on this chart. it is going to be a very windy day indeed. and behind this cold front, we'll see some colder air returning — real see—saw conditions this week in terms of the feel of the weather. in the cold air, i think we'll see some snow showers across parts of scotland, even to relatively low levels in the north, where gales will combine with those snow showers to give blizzard conditions. further south, it stays mild, and so what falls from the sky will be rain, but it is going to be a windy day wherever you are.

and then, looking towards christmas itself, it stays pretty unsettled. there will be rain at times and it may be cold enough, particularly in the north of the uk, for some snow here and there. bye— bye.

hello, i'm christian fraser, and this is the context. so we will continue to stand up for israel's bedrock right to defend itself, and we will also continue to urge the protection of civilians during conflict and to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into gaza. israel will not control gaza in any civilian way. we will conduct any needed operation, military effort in order to secure our future. israel's troops were reminded by their boss yesterday- of the rules of war — - when to fire, when to stop. orders for soldiers, - questions for politicians. the un security council was scheduled to hold a key vote

tonight on whether to demand a humanitarian pause in fighting