hello, i'm sarah campbell. israel is broadening its ground offensive across the centre and south of gaza. the hamas—run health ministry says more than 50 people have been killed there today — with well over 21,000 killed in the last 11 weeks. there's also been an intensification of fighting across the israel—lebanon border in recent days, sparking fears of a wider conflict. a member of israel's war cabinet has warned that the military will take matters into its own hands if the lebanese government and the international community doesn't stop cross border attacks by the hezbollah group. benny gantz said time for a diplomatic solution was running out. earlier, i spoke to our middle east correspondent yolande knell about the fears of a regional escalation of the fighting. since october 7th of course much attention has been focused on the gaza strip and what has been happening there, but right at the other end of israel,

on the northern border with lebanon, we have seen the worst cross—border violence since the devastating 2006 war between israel and the powerful iran—backed lebanese militant group hezbollah. just yesterday we saw something like a barrage of more than 30 rockets fired across that border by hezbollah, israel's iron dome missile defence system being used to intercept some of them. nobody was hurt, but this is partly because a lot of those northern towns in israel have already been evacuated. this came a day after three people were killed in an israeli strike on southern lebanon, said to have been a hezbollah fighter and two of his relatives. we had then warnings from the israeli army's chief of staff who was visiting that border area that the army was ready for any scenario.

we also had, politically, the member of the war cabinet benny gantz himself, a former israeli military chief of staff, coming out telling the world that if the lebanese government and other international players don't get more involved here to stop hezbollah�*s attacks and to move hezbollah away from its positions along the border, then the israeli military would act and we could see a further escalation. which countries do you think benny gantz is directing those comments at specifically? he knows there are different countries around the region that will have some influence over iran, because arab countries themselves are very worried about what is happening here and this idea of regional escalation. also israel's western allies, he is hoping, will put some pressure on iran if they can, also on the lebanese government which is relatively weak and has found it difficult itself to rein in hezbollah, which is such a big military and politicalforce in lebanon.

yolande knell. talking about fears of an excavation, reuters and the last few minutes have said according to the israeli military they have shot down an unmanned drone crossing into its territory from lebanon, air raid sirens sounding in northern israel, no reported casualties, we will bring you more if we get it. here in the uk, around 100 homes have been damaged by a small tornado in greater manchester as storm gerrit swept across the country. police declared a major incident in tameside after roofs were torn off houses, trees blew down and walls collapsed. elsewhere in the uk storm gerrit has brought flooding and disrupted travel, with scotland being the worst affected area. around 7,700 homes are still without power and two major roads are closed because of flood water

and fallen trees. 0ur correspondent fiona trott is in stalybridge where the mini tornado struck. well, the residents here on granville street in millbrook were evacuated from their homes late last night. and they've come down here today in the daylight to assess the damage. and the reality of what happened has really just hit them. what they described last night was a really loud, roaring sound. they say the houses here on this terrace were shaking. it only lasted for about 30 seconds, they say, but you can see all the damage that has been caused. that tree that has gone into the roof of that house at the far end there, i've spoken to the lady who lives in that house. two of her cars have been damaged. she can't quite believe what happened in that short space of time.

she's staying with a friend at the moment and just feels really very, very lucky that she wasn't injured. but you can see all the tiles that have come off the roofs. lead, which is far too heavy to to lift up yourself, has just been blown off the houses here, gone into cars, one of them suspended on the overhead cable there. so what we have here in stalybridge at the moment is people coming down, coming to the police cordon, checking with the officers when they are being allowed to go through, check their cars and when they might be able to go back into their properties to see what has happened to their homes. this will take a while because what the police are saying to them today is that their safety is still a priority and the area around here is still quite dangerous. fiona trott. earlier, i spoke to leah solomon, a resident in millbrook who has been

affected by the tornado and lost her roof. the wind started. ijust thought, "oh, it's blowing a bit of a gale out there," like you do. and then the hail started hitting the window and ijust looked out the window and it was just white, the wind was just going that fast and i couldn't see anything. i thought my windows were going to come through. it was that loud. and itjust was like one lightning strike. and it lasted about 30 seconds, a minute, and stopped. and then all the alarms started and all the neighbours came out and there was just so, so much damage. we've got so many trees around us that were just all snapped. so do you think the actual fast wind, the tornado, only lasted about a minute, you think? yeah, i mean, to be fair, it felt a lot longer because it was just...i was kind of froze, like i didn't know whether to move, whether to run, where to run to. and itjust seemed to happen quite quickly. and the wind was building up and it was just getting louder

and louder and louder and it was just really frightening. and it's just nothing that i've seen before. gosh, it must have been absolutely terrifying. how much damage has there been to your property? we're seeing where you are, in the background to where you are, you can't see much, but how badly is your house been damaged? so it's more my car. so unfortunately a lot ofjust slates and tiles off the roof all over. my windscreen took the hit and my bodywork on my car. so thankfully my house i think is ok. i'm waiting for the roof to be looked at. but we've got roofers up and down inspecting all the properties. everyone�*s just coming outjust to see what's going on. we couldn't really tell last night because it's quite a poorly lit area anyway, but there's just debris everywhere. but, yeah, a lot of the roofs have gone on the houses and there's guttering everywhere. live now gerald cooney, leader of tameside council.

thank you for talking to us, when you hear lear talking there, must have been incredibly frightening, such a small amount of time but a lot of damage which presumably the council is now helping to clear up. listening to her, it would have been frightening, it is devastating, happening within not much longer than a minute, no one was aware of it. the damage that it has caused is horrific. we have spent now all night and even into today, notjust us, the whole emergency services have been working on the sites. 0ur have been working on the sites. our biggest problem at the moment is actually about felled trees, people phoning up all the time. mercifully no one we are aware of has been injured. we are lucky with that in that sense. it is devastating for

those who live in those properties with the damage.— those who live in those properties with the damage. incredible looking at the pictures _ with the damage. incredible looking at the pictures that _ with the damage. incredible looking at the pictures that nobody - with the damage. incredible looking at the pictures that nobody seems l with the damage. incredible looking | at the pictures that nobody seems to have been hurt at all, i guess because it happened very late at night when people were presumably inside their houses. has anyone had to be evacuated, have you had to put in emergency shelters at all? it has affected about _ in emergency shelters at all? it has affected about 100 _ in emergency shelters at all? it has affected about 100 homes - in emergency shelters at all? it has affected about 100 homes we - in emergency shelters at all? it 1:3 affected about 100 homes we think in emergency shelters at all? it is affected about 100 homes we think in number. all of them have accommodated themselves with family or friends. accommodated themselves with family orfriends. we did and do offer a rest centre at dukinfield town hall, no one came to use it. someone presented themselves this morning and we are dealing with them. but there are emergency numbers. thankfully most people were able to

get extended family or friends where they felt most comfortable. you don't want to be sitting in a hollow night, i understand that.— night, i understand that. gerald, presumably _ night, i understand that. gerald, presumably now, _ night, i understand that. gerald, presumably now, a _ night, i understand that. gerald, presumably now, a lot _ night, i understand that. gerald, presumably now, a lot of - night, i understand that. gerald, presumably now, a lot of those l presumably now, a lot of those housesit presumably now, a lot of those houses it will be working out how badly damage they are, they look damaged but how badly structural damaged but how badly structural damaged they are. we damaged but how badly structural damaged they are.— damaged they are. we are telling eo - le damaged they are. we are telling peeple you _ damaged they are. we are telling people you cannot _ damaged they are. we are telling people you cannot go _ damaged they are. we are telling people you cannot go back - damaged they are. we are telling people you cannot go back yet. damaged they are. we are telling i people you cannot go back yet until we have had structural engineers out. we don't have that many, so we have call—outs to the other authorities, johnny reynolds mp has beenin authorities, johnny reynolds mp has been in touch with us and attending meetings, the mayor office has been in touch. 0ther combined authorities and mps have been in touch. clearly we need people with the right qualifications and everything else

but it is about when can they do it, we need this quickly. 0ne but it is about when can they do it, we need this quickly. one where they are there so people know when they can go back. can i go back home, when can i go back home? and how safe. we are getting moving on that as quickly as possible but the amount of damage to the amount of properties, we haven't got the resources just yet to get that done very quickly so we have gone out to get support. very quickly so we have gone out to get support-— get support. gerald, can you remember — get support. gerald, can you remember the _ get support. gerald, can you remember the last _ get support. gerald, can you remember the last time - get support. gerald, can you remember the last time a i get support. gerald, can you - remember the last time a tornado hit your neck of the woods? ida. remember the last time a tornado hit your neck of the woods?— your neck of the woods? no, no, i think there — your neck of the woods? no, no, i think there was _ your neck of the woods? no, no, i think there was one _ your neck of the woods? no, no, i think there was one in _ your neck of the woods? no, no, i think there was one in and - your neck of the woods? no, no, i think there was one in and around| think there was one in and around the same area not so long ago, some years ago of that nature. listen, not even the met office gave a warning, we have the warning system is nowadays and are supposed to get noticed. we are led to believe it was localised. come off the peak district, the area here backs onto

the peak district. i'm not a meteorologist. it seems like it has come down hottest road locally. gerald cooney, thank you, a busy day for you, good luck with the clear up, obviously residents will be in touch with the council should they need to get some help from you. around the world and across the uk, you are watching bbc news. some of the other stories making the news today. a 46—year—old man has died after a car hit a crowd of people outside a property in the burngreave area in sheffield. another person is also seriously injured. two men, aged 23 and 55, are being held by south yorkshire police — and the authorities

are appealing for witnesses. more than 86,000 nhs appointments, including hospital check—ups and operations, had to be cancelled because of last week's junior doctors' strike in england. 1,500 community and mental health appointments were also affected. next week, junior doctors will take part in a six—day walk—out — the longest in the history of the nhs. uk sales of vinyl music albums increased by almost 12% this year, with sales returning to levels last seen in 1990. taylor swift's 1989 was the best—selling lp, followed by the rolling stones�* hackney diamonds. while the vast majority of recorded music is consumed via streaming, fans are choosing vinyl for its better sound quality. you're live with bbc news. the taiwanese government has accused china of mounting a huge misinformation campaign to try to influence the outcome of the island's presidential election, which will be held next month. china says the claims are being "hyped up." taiwan's ruling democratic

progressive party is attempting to win an unprecedented third consecutive term. from taiwan, rupert wingfield—hayes reports. it's 6am. and this fighter base on the coast of taiwan is already a hive of activity. 0n the apron, mirage 2000 fighter jets from taiwan's rapid reaction squadrons. theirjob to meet any incoming threat to taiwan's airspace. these taiwanese fighter jets being scrambled behind me here are heading out into the taiwan strait to confront chinese aircraft that are coming across the strait and probing taiwan's airspace. this is now happening multiple times every day. these pictures are from chinese television showing their fighter jets and that down below is the coast of taiwan. just over the horizon, there is another game of cat and mouse. this man puts up a long antenna to eavesdrop on the radio traffic coming from china's navy.

radio chatter. that's the chinese navy talking to the taiwanese navy saying, "your territorial waters that you claim do not exist," that the people's republic of china is the only legitimate government of china, and that taiwan is an inseparable part of china. "they tell us that the taiwan strait is peaceful," he says. "then why are there chinese ships and aircraft harassing us all the time? how is that peaceful?" back in taipei, the former head of taiwan's armed forces says china's tactics are designed to intimidate the island's voters and send a warning to its allies. i think the china is sending a very strong signal to the united states, even to japan. "this is our area, our territorial area. so i can do whatever i want."

but also in the meantime, they can use this kind of aggression to make taiwanese people scared and make taiwanese people capitulate. as polling day approaches, there is little sign the intimidation is working. at this rally, supporters of the frontrunner to win taiwan's presidency told me they would rather fight than capitulate to beijing. i'm very worried, but i'm not afraid, because i will volunteer to be a soldier if they invade our beautiful country. someday, we may be at war or something else. i'm not afraid because i think i'm taiwanese. i need to protect my country. 0n the coast the jets are returning from yet another patrol. taiwan has fewer than 300 fighterjets. china, more than 2000. whoever wins taiwan's presidential race will face a military balance tipping ever more in china's favour. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news.

we're used to seeing wind turbines made of steel — but sweden's electricity grid is now powered, in part, by the world's tallest turbine made of wood. it's built from thousands of pieces of spruce — held together by glue — and it's more than 100 metres tall. 0ur environment correspondent jonah fisher went for a look. having brought us abba, meatballs and flatpack furniture, from sweden comes another innovation thatjust might change the way we generate electricity. welcome to the world's tallest wind turbine tower made out of wood. almost all wind turbines are made of steel. but this one is notjust made of wood — but the pieces arejoined together... with adhesives. glue? yes. is it strong? is it as strong as steel? steel is great material, right?

but steel is very heavy. and with this material, we can perform the same task, but with 30% less weight and with more than 100% less carbon emissions. we're the firstjournalists invited inside for a closer look. wind power is already one of the cheapest and cleanest ways to generate electricity. using wood could make it even greener. if you stand there. stand there? yeah. i'm now 105 metres up at the very top of the tower. these blades are — like almost all wind turbines — made out of fibreglass. the generator that i'm standing on is primarily made of steel. but the company who's built the wooden tower say that, by making the tower out of wood, it's storing carbon dioxide. it's carbon negative.

and it's that carbon dioxide that's warming our planet. but this isn't only about being greener. to reach stronger and more consistent winds, turbines need to get even taller. and that means bigger and wider turbine towers. getting those massive pieces of steel on site by road is already a major headache. and that's where wooden towers just might come in. there's a huge amount of potential in this. that's because the towers are modular. at a factory in gothenburg, more than 100 thin sheets of wood are glued together to make the wall sections. those modular pieces can then be more easily taken to the turbine site. making round steel tube is quite easy, but making steel modular towers — that's a challenge, really, because you have lots of bolts.

we do not bolt our towers, or screw them together. we... we glue them together. right? and wood and glue is a perfect combination. so is it alljust a bit of a gimmick? well, maybe not. the project is being backed by vestas — the world's largest installer of wind power — and they told us that using wood could end up solving some of the industry's transport problems in a more environmentally sustainable way. jonah fisher, bbc news, in gothenburg, in sweden. a varied news programme this morning, from wooden turbines to this. 1a newly discovered species of wasps have been named after the villainous daleks from doctor who to mark the 60th anniversary of the classic series. the insects, which you can see here, are among the 619 new wasp species described this year by london's natural history museum.

drjohn noyes is a wasp expert from the museum of natural history in london and joins me now. tell me about this was the first of all, shall we start with the doctor who connection and why you decided to name the genius dalek. iuntimely who connection and why you decided to name the genius dalek.— who connection and why you decided to name the genius dalek. when i was much younger — to name the genius dalek. when i was much younger i _ to name the genius dalek. when i was much younger i saw _ to name the genius dalek. when i was much younger i saw the _ to name the genius dalek. when i was much younger i saw the first _ to name the genius dalek. when i was much younger i saw the first episode | much younger i saw the first episode of doctor who and thought it was fantastic and it grabbed the attention of lots of people. i do not think the daleks were in the first episode but came later. i am still a fan of doctor who but i suppose the names used in doctor who

over the years have been really good and as a taxonomy is to be like to find names that have never been used before in zoology. in doctor who is a really good source. the daleks, probably the most famous of the creatures in this series. i probably the most famous of the creatures in this series.- creatures in this series. i must admit, creatures in this series. i must admit. john. — creatures in this series. i must admit. john. i _ creatures in this series. i must admit, john, i was _ creatures in this series. i must admit, john, i was secretly - creatures in this series. i must - admit, john, i was secretly hoping you would tell me these wasps exterminate everything around them and that was why. we exterminate everything around them and that was why.— and that was why. we don't know if the do and that was why. we don't know if they do exterminate. _ and that was why. we don't know if they do exterminate. they - and that was why. we don't know if they do exterminate. they are - they do exterminate. they are parasitic, live inside other insects to mature and eventually emerge like the creature in the chest in alien. quite gruesome. at the moment, we do not know if they actually live inside. i can guess they probably

live in things like fly larvae. so they wasps are from costa rica? costa rica is a fascinating place, high diversity, i have been visiting more or less every year for the last 33 years, first in 1990 and got involved in a programme aimed to try and describe the biology of costa rica, since i have retired i have concentrated on it quite a lot. in costa rica, around about 2000 species of this particular group i have been looking at the over the years have been trying to describe them for science to try and make the names available in case people come across them and find out what they actually do in life. and so it is one of those things, i have published a few books and i have a few more to go, it will keep me

going until i am in my late 70s and possibly early 80s. 1&1 going until i am in my late 70s and possibly early 80s.— possibly early 80s. 14 newly discovered _ possibly early 80s. 14 newly discovered species - possibly early 80s. 14 newly discovered species are - possibly early 80s. 14 newly | discovered species are going possibly early 80s. 14 newly i discovered species are going to become dalek but something like 619 new species of wasp described this year, literally thousands of wasp species. new ones being discovered all the time, it would suggest. fine all the time, it would suggest. one ofthe all the time, it would suggest. one of the least — all the time, it would suggest. (me: of the least known groups of insects. particularly the ones we have been looking at, between about 1.5 and two millimetres long, pretty small and consequently people do tend to ignore them and bypass them. quite difficult to collect, difficult to study. if you walking around the forest you can see them working on leaves but the moment theyjump off the leaves and fly you cannot see them at all because you lose them so it is very much a random thing to find them. john,

fascinating _ random thing to find them. john, fascinating talking _ random thing to find them. john, fascinating talking to _ random thing to find them. john, fascinating talking to you - random thing to find them. john, fascinating talking to you and, i random thing to find them. john, fascinating talking to you and, yes, we will look out for the dalek wasps if we go to costa rica! please do. fascinating. apparently 150,000 different species of wasps studied over the years, quite extraordinary, stay with us on bbc news. hello. after a wild wednesday courtesy of storm gerrit, thursday a little bit quieter, but still a blustery day out there with a mixture of some sunshine, hazy in places, but also some showers, even some longer spells of rain. this is the area of low pressure, which is still with us and will be with us as we go through into friday, keeping the winds quite strong across the country, but shoving batches of showers across the uk. and through this afternoon there could be a longer spell of rain in a band which stretches through eastern scotland, moving away from northern england, north wales, through the midlands towards the south west. doesn't quite reach east anglia

and the south east, and some longer spells of rain and hill snow in the west of scotland. your wind gusts today 40, 50 miles an hour, maybe a little bit more, down on yesterday's values, but still a blustery day and still quite mild for late december — temperatures seven to around 13 degrees, of course tempered by that wind. this evening, east anglia, the south east, a batch of heavy rain for a time, that could linger in the channel islands through the night. and then another area of cloud, rain and hill snow pushes through scotland into parts of northern ireland and the far north of england as we head into friday morning. north of that, we'll see some wintry showers and the risk of some ice. so, the country into almost three tomorrow, one zone through parts of northern ireland and southern scotland, northern england, cloudy. outbreaks of rain on and off, some hill snow. to the south of it, hazy sunshine and blustery showers, most frequent in the west. to the north of that band, some more in the way of sunshine, but a few wintry showers. a colder feel here. temperatures only five or six degrees. frost then to take us through into saturday morning. but the next batch of wet and windy weather pushing its way in could cause some travel problems for the start of the weekend.

brief spell of snow in northern ireland and on the hills of northern england, quickly turning back to rain early in the day, but heavy rain across many areas, more snow across scotland, and more strong winds. the snow and the winds won't be quite as significant as they were with storm gerrit, but certainly through saturday, saturday night and into sunday, as this area of low pressure pushes its way eastwards, the winds will remain a key feature, with gales in many places. sunday, at the moment, the winds lightest across parts of scotland, but more in the way of rain, sleet and snow in the north. and temperatures starting to drop as the winds go more into a north westerly direction. new year's eve itself, as the bells toll in 2024, could be driest across southern areas. and then, for the first week of 2024, it will start to feel a bit cooler again with a mixture of sunshine and potentially some wintry showers.

it is 12:30pm. you're watching bbc news. now, women in hollywood: styling the stars. a warm welcome. i'm kim chakanetsa. there are many ways that someone can make their name in hollywood. it could be an award—winning performance, or even a headline—making appearance.

and behind any memorable look is often a team of talented creatives who've worked tirelessly to bring it all together, both on—screen and on the red carpet. today, i'm in hollywood to meet two incredible women who are responsible for some of the most iconic looks of the past few years. zerina akers is an emmy award—winning fashion stylist and costume designer. she's best known for her work with beyonce. she was queen bey�*s personal wardrobe curator for seven years. and you can see her creations on the visual album, black is king. in 2020, zerina founded black 0wned everything, a platform supporting black artists and creators. zerina, welcome. thank you. and camille friend is a renowned hairstyle designer. and she's been nominated for an 0scarfor her work on black panther: wakanda forever. she's worked on seven other marvel titles, including captain america, and on otherfilms, like the hateful eight, django unchained, and the little mermaid. she also trains younger generations of hairstylists through her academy, hair scholars. camille, welcome.

thank you so much. welcome to you both, ladies.