more than 100 people have been killed following an earthquake in northwest china. hundreds more are injured. details of the devastation are starting to trickle in. the us defense secretary pushes israel to be more surgical in its strikes on gaza, even as the violence continues. the us isjoining with ten other countries to protect shipping in the red sea following recent attacks by houthi rebels. hello. i'm caitriona perry. you are very welcome. we begin with a developing story out of china where at least 111 people have died and more than 200 injured after an earthquake hit the gansu-qinghai border region in the northwest of the country. those numbers are from chinese state media,

though there have been varying reports on the number of casualties. the us geological survey says the quake had a magnitude of 5.9. chinese state media is also reporting that some water, electricity and road networks are damaged. a second quake struck neighbouring xinjiang hours later on tuesday. the damage from that 5.5—magnitude strike was not immediately clear. in a statement, chinese president xi jinping said: he has ordered full rescue efforts to gansu, one of the country's poorest regions. we'll bring you more details as they come in. now, international pressure is growing for israel to ease its military campaign in gaza. on monday, the us defense secretary was the latest to add his voice during talks with prime minister benjamin netanyahu and israel's war cabinet. the department of defense says mr austin underscored the need for concerted efforts to protect civilians and urged israel to plan for transitioning to the next phase of operations. his israeli counterpart said

israel would not control gaza in "any civilian way" after the war. protecting palestinian civilians in gaza is both a moral duty and a strategic imperative. 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 to gaza. hamas says at least 110 palestinians were killed in israeli air strikes on sunday at the jabalia refugee camp in northern gaza. there's been no direct response from israel, but it insists it's targeting terrorist infrastructure. lucy williamson is in jerusalem with more. and a warning — you may find the images in this report distressing. they say there's nowhere safe in gaza. the children's unit at this

hospital hit by a shell yesterday. doctors and parents who once raced to get wounded children in here now scrambling to get them out. the epicentre of the dust and panic, children's bedroom on the second floor. translation: ~ , ., ., translation: we were seated on the bed when _ translation: we were seated on the bed when something _ translation: we were seated on the bed when something exploded j the bed when something exploded and the ceiling fell on us. i couldn't do everything —— anything. debris fell on us and we couldn't see anything. i just grabbed my daughter and escaped. i don't know what happened to the others. this was the 13-year-old's - happened to the others. this was the 13—year—old's bed. she was the is—year—old's bed. she was the is—year—old's bed. she was sitting there when an unexploded shell punched through the ceiling and then the wall. it killed her without ever exploding. her leg can be navigated after a previous attack that also killed her parents. translation: i parents. translation: .,, , parents. translation: , translation: i lost my family and i lost my — translation: i lost my family and i lost my leg. _

translation: i lost my family and i lost my leg. my - translation: i lost my family and i lost my leg. my dream i translation: i lost my family and i lost my leg. my dream is| and i lost my leg. my dream is to become a doctor and three children. —— treat children. fix, children. —— treat children. a senior figure pointed to calls for a ceasefire and said the us was responsible for deaths in gaza. , ., ., ., , gaza. they are totally responsible _ gaza. they are totally responsible for - gaza. they are totally responsible for those | gaza. they are totally _ responsible for those massacres and those taking place at the hand of the israeli occupation army in gaza through the us unconditional delivery of the weapons to killjustinian �*s without any form of accountability. —— palestinians. accountability. -- palestinians.- accountability. -- palestinians. . ~ palestinians. the defence chief has been meeting _ palestinians. the defence chief has been meeting israel's - has been meeting israel's government today. the us stop short of calling for a ceasefire, but says it is keen to bring the current heavy fighting to an end. america's commitment _ fighting to an end. america's commitment to _ fighting to an end. america's commitment to israel - fighting to an end. america's

commitment to israel is - commitment to israel is unwavering, no individual, group or state should test our resolve. we will continue to provide israel with the equipment that you need to defend your country, mr prime minister, including critical munitions, tactical vehicles, air defence systems. israel's troo -s air defence systems. israel's keeps were _ air defence systems. israel's troops were reminded - air defence systems. israel's troops were reminded by - air defence systems. israel's i troops were reminded by their boss yesterday of the rules of war. when to fire, when to stop, orders forsoldiers, questions for politicians. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. hamas, which has been designated by the uk and other western governments as a terrorist organisation, has released a video showing a group of three elderly men who are being held as hostages. this is a still from that video. the men in it are between the ages of 79 and 8a. one of them urges the israeli government to reach a deal for their release, saying they are living in harsh condition. prisoners of war and hostages are protected under international humanitarian law,

so the bbc does not broadcast the full details of material, which may have been filmed under duress. israel defense forces spokesman daniel hagari has called it "a criminal, terrorist video" that shows "hamas's cruelty towards innocent, very elderly "civilians who are in need of medical care." palestinian sources tell the bbc that negotiations for the release of more hostages have not yet started between hamas and israel. the director of the cia, bill burns, is in poland meeting the head of israel's mossad agency and representatives from the qatari government in a new push to free israeli hostages in gaza. earlier, i spoke to gershon baskin, the middle east director of the international communities organization, who has been involved in negotiations in this region. thank you very much forjoining us. what difference does the accidental killing of these three israeli hostages by the israel defence forces make to

any further hostage negotiations that may take place? it negotiations that may take lace? , ., ., . place? it is a tragic event that took _ place? it is a tragic event that took place, - place? it is a tragic event | that took place, naturally, place? it is a tragic event - that took place, naturally, the families of all the hostages, those who have come back and those who have come back and those still in gaza took to the street immediately following the killing of those three young men. it is another notch up young men. it is another notch up in raising the pressure of the public on the israeli government to make a deal with hamas, and i think the immediate result is what we saw today, a meeting of the head of them aside, the cia and the prime minister of qatar taking place in warsaw. it seems the israelis, for the first time everin israelis, for the first time ever in dealing with hamas, may have actually put down a proposal of their own for another dealfor proposal of their own for another deal for releasing additional hostages. what do ou think additional hostages. what do you think of _ additional hostages. what do you think of that _ additional hostages. what do you think of that sort - additional hostages. what do you think of that sort of- additional hostages. what do you think of that sort of deal| you think of that sort of deal might look like? what would the starting point for that be? if we see the israelis are not ready to make the deal they are making, which is all for all, releasing all palestinian

business in exchange for all israeli hostages, then probably what the israeli are trying to figure out how to do is give back the remaining women hostages, there are an estimated 15 young women between the age of 20 and 30, hope they are still alive, and the senior citizens, the elderly, the wounded and the sick hostages, hamas released a videotape of three elderly men way up in their 70s this evening, there are psychological pressure on israel. there are 7600 prisoners in israel, amongst them are many elderly people, some of them who are serving prison terms for very many years, and i expect that israel is probably proposing to houthi —— hamas to release elderly hostages for elderly prisoners, something of a kind of a deal with a large enough numbers of prisoners being released that hamas would have two say yes to it. �* , ., ., it. and given your own experience _

it. and given your own experience of - it. and given your own experience of these i it. and given your own l experience of these kind it. and given your own - experience of these kind of negotiations, how likely do you think something like that would be? i think something like that would be? ~ , ., , think something like that would be? ~' , ~' , be? i think it is only likely ofthe be? i think it is only likely of the united _ be? i think it is only likely of the united states - be? i think it is only likely of the united states exertj of the united states exert stream pressure on the government of qatar, which will then exit the pressure on the hamas leadership in doha. even threatening them that if they don't comply, they will have to be exiled from qatar. this is the kind of pressure we need right now because at the current time, i too was demanding to be an end to the war, before they are even willing to negotiate, and obviously israel is not ready to end the war while hamas was still in charge of gaza, and it would be a real victory for hamas. right now the only thing we can do is hope the american pressure on cattai would be strong enough for them to pressure the hamas to accept kind of deal —— better on qatar. kind of deal -- better on qatar. , , ., qatar. the members of the un security council _ qatar. the members of the un security council are _ qatar. the members of the un security council are debating i qatar. the members of the un security council are debating a | security council are debating a resolution to vote on that comet has been pushed to tomorrow now at this point. what impact would that have? is it something that feeds into those negotiations? ida.

it something that feeds into those negotiations?- it something that feeds into those negotiations? no, ithink we can exoect _ those negotiations? no, ithink we can expect an _ those negotiations? no, ithink we can expect an american - those negotiations? no, ithink| we can expect an american veto again if the resolution doesn't meet the agreements that exist between the united states and israel, secretary austin was here, the chief of staff of the american military was here, and i think they are understandings between the government of israel and the americans on how long this war can go on and as it is going on before it needs to move into another phase, i don't think the americans would support any kind of immediate ceasefire while hamas is still in power of gaza.— in power of gaza. ok. the middle east _ in power of gaza. ok. the middle east director, - in power of gaza. ok. the | middle east director, thank in power of gaza. ok. the - middle east director, thank you very much forjoining us with those insights today.- those insights today. thank ou. meanwhile, us president joe biden is facing internal pressure from his own party over prime minister netanyahu's handling of the war. the bbc�*s media partner, cbs, has obtained a letter that top democrats in the house of representatives sent to the white house, saying:

it comes as the un security council delayed a vote on a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire, postponing it to tuesday. turning to recent events involving the red sea, and the united states is forming an international coalition to protect merchant shipping in the vital corridor after consistent attacks by iranian—backed houthi rebels. called operation prosperity guardian, it includes the uk, bahrain, canada and france, among others. this is the route taken by around i2% of world shipping, which then passes through the suez canal. several major freight companies have stopped passing through here and are now taking the much longer route around africa instead, adding costs and delays. the oil giant bp and

the taiwanese firm evergreen have become the latest to do so. secretary austin, who is in tel aviv, said the attacks were dangerous and reckless and it was an international problem which required an international response. the houthis have been launching missiles since the start of the conflict in gaza. they say the attacks are intended to show solidarity with hamas, which is also linked with iran. to get a better understanding of what this expanded protection force would look like, i spoke to sal mercogliano, maritime historian at campbell university and host of the youtube channel what's going on with shipping. so, we have operation prosperity guardian now. what exactly does a shipping convoy like this look like? thank you for having me. it is a big question about what exactly they will do. it will probably not look like a world war ii convoy, i don't think you will see a tom hanks greyhound—style convoy going through. i think instead what you will

see instead is patrol vessels set up between the main shipping line, which is a narrow little channel between yemen and djibouti, and basically pickets are set up and then they will run ships through that area, but it will take out a few warships to be able to set up that guard. is this kind of shipping convoys these protection missions, do these happen frequently? if you go back to the 1980s during the tanker war between iran and iraq between 1980 and �*88, you saw a50 tankers get hit and it really wasn't until very late in that war when kuwait decided to reflag their vessels to the us registry that you saw the us navy take an active role in escorting vessels. the most recent example we have was somali piracy where in the gulf of aden, us and allied warships would patrol the area, but there, you were dealing with pirates and small boats. here, you are dealing with drones, cruise missiles, and most dangerously, ballistic missiles. as you describe there,

there is a high level of threat in the area. is this convoy, this protection going to be enough to change the minds of those big shipping companies who have said they are going to take the long way around and avoid the red sea? that's the big question. we are seeing ships right now pile up in the red sea and the gulf of aden beyond the ships that are heading around africa right now. i think they're waiting to see what level of security they're going to get. the ballistic missiles are really the tough one, this is the first time we've ever seen ships hit by this type of weapon and this is a very difficult type of missile to shoot down, and very few ships have the capability to do that. if that's the threat that these ships are facing, many shipping companies may decide not to go that way. the thing we are seeing right now is an escalation in war risk insurance. before this all started, it cost about 0.02% of the value of the vessel to get war risk insurance.

that's gone up to 0.7%, and during the iran and iraq war, it went up as high as 5%. you mention war risk insurance, but in terms of all of this, what is the impact of that on prices and how that's passed on to the consumer? well, i think you are seeing it already. the diversions and the fact that companies have already started to send ships around and holding them, you will see a domino effect across the entire global supply chain. ships that are supposed to arrive on berth, transload their cargo, shift it to over trucks and rail, they will not be there on time, which means that this is going to have an impact. oil that needs to get to europe from the persian gulf may have to go the long way around africa. this is at a time when you are heading into winter in europe and we have seen the cut—off of oil from russia. same time, russian oil coming out of the baltic and the black sea may have to travel around africa to get to india and china for refining. basically, what you will see is inflation, higherfreight costs and more money

the consumer will be paying. ironically, for the shipping firms, this is a bit of a windfall. they were dealing with lower freight rates and overcapacity and now suddenly, their ships are going to be busy and they'll get paid more for their business. is there any way of anticipating how all of this — how long will this might have to last for? no, the houthi are a unique force. you're seeing a nonstate actor who have basically cut the largest supply line in the entire world from europe to asia. we've never seen anything quite this scale before in modern times. you have to go back to the world wars to see where supply lines like this get severed in this way. the houthi, being a nonstate actor, the genesis for the entire issue is of course what's happening in israel and gaza and until you saw that, which is —— and gaza and until you solve that, which is a big issue to resolve, mid east peace, this will keep resonating and so it'll be a very tough

one to get the houthi to stop shooting missiles. the only hope is a defensive nature by the naval ships or a more overt act, which involves striking missile sites and military placements in yemen. 0k. sal mercogliano, maritime historian at campbell university, thank you so much forjoining us. thank you for having me. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at story making headlines in the uk. —— let's look at a story making headlines in the uk. a new type of drug that prevents hot flashes and night sweats for women going through menopause has been approved in the uk. the treatment is not hormone replacement therapy, commonly known as hrt. the new drug veoza could benefit hundreds of thousands of women, although it has not yet been recommended for the nhs to prescribe. our medical editor fergus walsh has more. up to 80% of women going through the menopause experience hot flushes and night sweats, which can have a significant impact on daily life. the new drug veoza, also known as fezolinetant,

works by placating a protein in the brain called neurokinin b, which plays a key role in regulating body temperature. it's said to be an option for women who can't take hrt, like those with a history of cancer or blood clots. however, the drug does not help with other symptoms like fatigue, muscle weakness or mood swings, and it can come with side effects, including diarrhoea and insomnia. you're live with bbc news. a volcano in southwest iceland has erupted following weeks of intense earthquake activity. here are the pictures. you can see the moment of the eruption captured by a webcam from the public channel when that yellow lava started to erupt from the ground like a fountain. local authorities say they have already evacuated the nearly 4,000 inhabitants of the fishing town of grindavik. the areas is a volcanic and seismic hot spot southwest of the capital, reykjavik. a journalist in iceland

spoke to the bbc earlier. this seems to be the most powerful of the eruptions that have been taking place in the reykjanes peninsula for the past three years and as the latest information that i have is the lava crack that is now north of grindavik has reached 3.5km — that is like two miles — so, this looks to be the biggest of all the eruptions that have recently been taking place in the reykjanes peninsula. this is a typical lava crack eruption which doesn't reach as high in the air, it's much bigger, and it shouldn't reach the height.

the only chance of that happening in this case if it would erupt under the sea but that is highly unlikely right now, so as it is today, there is a very slim chance that this will have any effect on flight traffic. northern australia is seeing record rainfall cause widespread flooding that is expected to continue through tuesday. rescuers are struggle to assist residents that are stranded through some of the heaviest rain in decades. homes have been battered, roads now look like rivers and cairns airport is partially underwater. a short time ago, i spoke with our correspondent phil mercer in sydney. phil, tell us what's going on north of where you are? what's the situation like? well, australia is a very big place — the world's sixth largest country — and this flood emergency has been centred, really, around the city

of cairns and a vast area of far north queensland state. so, that is a considerable distance away from sydney. we do know that major flood warnings remain in place in that part of north—eastern australia but severe thunderstorm warnings have now been cancelled, so we're getting the sense that the torrential rain that has battered that part of the country for quite a long time is now easing. the weather bureau here says that some areas in the last five days have had more than i.5m of rain, so that is an enormous deluge. as a result, many communities have been cut off, roads have been washed away, bridges have been damaged and many homes are damaged as well. so, this is a massive problem for the authorities trying to reach communities that are only contactable by boat or by air, and we understand that one remote aboriginal community about 2000km north

of the city of brisbane has finally been reached by the emergency services and the entire town of about 300 people will be evacuated. phil, have there had to be other evacuations? i mean, the pictures that we are seeing coming to us from the region are really quite dramatic. military helicopters are on their way to that particular community of wujal wujal and the army has been involved in hundreds of rescues. also, private individuals flying what are known here as mustering helicopters — these are small aircraft usually used for moving cattle around and other livestock on very large farms, but they've been brought in to help rescue people who have sought refuge on top of their roofs. other people have been using private boats to reach people. there was one video circulating online of a man who was going around in his small runabout

boat and he saw one of his neighbours clinging to a tree, so those are the sorts of stories that are slowly emerging. mercifully, the torrential rain seems to be abating but the clean—up will be absolutely enormous. we were speaking a short time ago to a council leader to the north of cairns in north—eastern australia and he believes that cleaning up and repairing a lot of the damage in his area could take up to two years. wow. 0k. thanks for all of that, phil mercer, in australia. let's turn to some other news from around the world. marvel studios says it has parted ways with hollywood actorjonathan majors after he was found guilty for assaulting his ex—girlfriend. grace jabbari was attacked earlier this year. she suffered injuries including a broken finger. majors, who didn't testify, now faces up to a year in prison. the actor's lawyer argues that he was the real victim of the assault. the governor of the us state of texas has signed a law that will allow state officers to arrest migrants suspected

of illegally entering the country from mexico. the measure puts greg abbott directly in opposition to federal authorities, who usually have such enforcement powers. the governor and other republicans blame president biden for record numbers of migrant border crossings. illegal migration is expected to be a major issue in next year's presidential election. the us department of transportation fined southwest airlines an unprecedented $140 million over operational failures during last year's holiday meltdown that stranded more than two million passengers. this customer violation fine is 30 times more those previously distributed by the transportation department. pope francis has approved a landmark ruling that allows catholic priests to bless same—sex couples. the vatican said it should be a sign that, as he put it, "god welcomes all,"

but adds that priests must decide on a case—by—case basis. it's been seen as a significant advance for lgbt people in the roman catholic church. but critics say it doesn't go far enough. fatherjames martin, a prominent americanjesuit priest who ministers to the lgbtq community, had this reaction. i'm delighted. it's a major step forward in the church's outreach to lgbtqi people and selling the priests couldn't do at all and now can do in certain circumstances, so i think it is a wonderful pastoral step forward. and finally, the estate ofjrr tolkien has successfully sued a writer in the us who published his own sequel to the lord of the rings. demetrious polychron released the fellowship of the king last year. a court ordered him to destroy all copies of the book and halt distribution. polychron had filed his own lawsuit, claiming that the amazon tv show rings of power infringed the copyright of his work. that case was thrown out by the judge. i'm caitriona perry. thank you for watching. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. it's a rather cloudy start to the new week

but there should be a lot more sunshine emerging for most of us on tuesday. that's quite a mixed week of weather ahead. it will be tricky for travelling at times in the run—up to christmas with more rain to come in the forecast, turning very windy, too, on thursday and friday. and in the colder—feeling air, there could even be a few wintry showers at times — especially over the higher ground, of course. and there's currently cold air sinking southwards. milder air lasts across southern areas of england and south wales for a time, too, but then it's gradually moving away. it's a soggy, very wet start to the day on tuesday across southern england and wales. that heavy rain eventually clearing but not until we get to the afternoon. it's still a legacy of cloud across parts of kent and sussex until the end of the day. but lots of more sunshine emerging further north and west with a brisk north—westerly wind and some showers just moving through into north—west scotland. again, wintry over the hills, temperatures dropping through the afternoon. but it's only a brief colder spell because then, things will start to turn a lot milder from the west as we head through tuesday night. temperatures dropping lowest out towards the east, rising through the night

for these western spots with that warm front gradually pushing further eastwards through the day on wednesday. you can see the winds turning a little bit more westerly. and there will be some rain across north—west scotland, north west england and northern ireland, western wales for a time. the further south and east you are, the drier your wednesday is likely to be, but there'll be a lot of cloud around, some rather murky conditions and some hill mist and fog, too. but temperatures rising back up again into double figures pretty much across the board. but again, that mild air is not set to last because it's going to turn colder again. very cold for some spots on thursday with this cold front sinking southwards. a very brisk northwesterly wind — tight squeeze on the isobars there — and there'll be gales across the far north of scotland — gusts of wind here of up to 70 to 80 miles an hour. very brisk winds for irish sea coasts and also for north sea—facing coasts, there could be a coastal surge, too. possibly blizzard—like conditions with wintry showers across parts of scotland. again, a very tight squeeze on those isobars as we head into friday, so strong winds yet again. we're into colder—feeling air and there'll be plenty of added wind chill. but as you can see, the mild

air is still not too far away and that will be working its way in from the west again as we head through saturday, possibly turning colder once more for the second half of the weekend. bye— bye.

the united states promises to form an international coalition to protect merchant shipping in the red sea from attacks by houthi rebels. why are consumers in the us will need to hurry if they want to get a new apple watch for christmas. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm mariko oi. the united states plans to form an international coalition to protect commerce in the red sea. this comes after iranian—backed houthi rebels in yemen attacked a number of ships passing through the area. of course, many of the world's biggest container shipping companies have now decided to divert their vessels, having to go the longer way around africa and also playing havoc to global trade. speaking in bahrain, the us defense secretary lloyd austin said participating

countries will include the united kingdom, bahrain, canada, france,