hello, i'm lauren taylor. we start with the latest in the israel—gaza war. the israeli military has taken journalists into what it says is the largest underground tunnel found so far. since the beginning of the conflict, hamas has maintained an underground network allows fighters to move, undetected, from one part of the territory to another. finding — and clearing them — has been hard. this video released by israel, claims to show part of the tunnel network being destroyed. the tunnel that our correspondent kasra naji and camera operator soran qurbani were taken to is not far from the erez border crossing which was breached by hamas — when it launched its attacks on israel. here is their report. at the main crossing into northern gaza, for the israeli military, progress in the war has been a lot slower than anticipated.

the reason — the vast network of tunnels that hamas is using for hit and run attacks on israeli soldiers and for hiding. there is crossing right behind us. you can see how the entrance was blasted open. the israeli army took us and a group of otherjournalists inside gaza on foot to show us the biggest tunnel that they have discovered so far. there were no restrictions on journalists other than not showing some positions of troop concentration. we are just north of gaza. this is what gaza looks like from here — a devastated shell of a ghost town. we can hear the sound of heavy machine gun fire and drones flying overhead. there is also the occasional blast of an artillery round. this is the mouth of the huge tunnel israelis have discovered just a few hundred metres from the border with israel.

a spokesman for the army, originally from iran, spoke to me in persian. translation: in this tunnel you can find anything. - you can live in them. you can sleep in them. you can take a bath. you can keep prisoners here for years, if you like. and no one from the above would know what you are up to. from here, the tunnel doesn't look like a major discovery or a massive engineering feat. but inside it's clear that this has been a major development project for hamas to be able to quickly move gunmen to the border with israel. the tunnel is wide enough to drive a car through. it's 4.5km long. it opens in the northern part of the city of gaza. it's wired for electricity and other amenities. it's made of concrete. it must have taken hamas

years to build and cost millions of dollars. it begs the question — how did the israeli intelligence agencies miss something of these dimensions? after about 30m or so, we were not allowed to go any deeper into the tunnel for our own security. soldiers had their guns and their lights pointed at the dark end of the tunnel, just in case. israel discovered this tunnel over two weeks ago, its mouth hidden in a sand dune. i've just come out of this tunnel. you can only go down this tunnel forabout 20m or30m. and israeli soldiers stop you from going any further, which means that two weeks after having been discovered, this tunnel is still not completely safe or secure. the tunnel is... we've been through the whole tunnel from side to side. it branches off into different directions. it goes down. however, you have to understand

that these tunnels are very complex and all of a sudden you can find another instance of a tunnel you never knew about. this stretches for kilometres all the way to gaza, into gaza city. this tunnel goes to gaza city and so therefore cautiously saying that we know every element of this tunnel, but we're not going to take any chances. it is now clear that the tunnels have presented the israeli army with a big challenge. they say the war may now last for many months, particularly now that hamas says it has moved to guerrilla tactics of hit and run attacks using these tunnels. kasra naji, bbc, northern gaza. that report on gaza tunnels captured by israel. the other key developments in the conflict this hour. israeli forces are advancing towards central gaza, forcing thousands of palestinians to flee the refugee camps there. the un says 150,000 people are on the move. israel says it regrets the harm

caused to civilians in a strike on a refugee camp on december 24th. and an israeli minister has warned the military will act to remove hezbollah from the israel, lebanon border if attacks continue. shaimaa khalil has the latest, from jerusalem — and a warning, her report contains some distressing images from the start. once again, a child tells their story of the war. her home in khan younis was bombed overnight. "we were upstairs," she says. "then we were hit and i started running." she tries to comfort her sister, but she has no idea that her mother and brother were killed in the strike. her father sits next to the body bags. he's still in shock. "this is my son," he says. "this morning he asked me for biscuits. "i went to buy them.

"when i came back, ifound him and my wife dead." the ground offensive continues to deepen in the southern city of khan younis, where hundreds of thousands have fled from the fighting in northern gaza. israel says it's trying to protect civilians during its operation against hamas fighters. but it said it regretted what it called extensive collateral damage in a strike last weekend. the hamas—run health ministry says at least 86 people were killed in the strike on the refugee camp in central gaza. israel says it used the wrong type of munition. here injerusalem, thousands of teenagers marched towards the israeli parliament. they chanted "alive". now they want a new deal to return those still in captivity. the war is not going to end any time soon. that is the message from the israeli government.

but that only increases the frustration among the young people gathered here, many of them from communities that have been worst affected by the october 7th attacks. their message to those in power, bring the hostages back home now. i'm from kibbutz terraza. i was there on the 7th of october and my people were kidnapped. we want them back. for me personally, i really hope that it ends for both sides as quickly as possible. war is horrible on either end of it. in the agony of war, new life begins. iman tends to three of her quadruplets. one is still in intensive care. there is very little food and not enough formula or diapers. she and herfamily are sheltering in a un school after being forced out of their home in the north. her new babies born into displacement. shaima khalil, bbc news, jerusalem. meanewhile, the un has warned

the situation in the occupied west bank is rapidly deteriorating and has called for the end to unlawful killings of palestinians. let's focus now on the un's new report on what's happening in the occupied—west bank. it's released a report which says about 4,785 palestinians have been detained in the occupied west bank since 7th october. the un report also found cases of physical and psychological abuse and torture. nearly 300 palestinians were killed due to israeli military operations in the occupied west bank and eastjerusalem. it details a sharp increase in air strikes and incursions by israeli security forces on densely—populated areas including refugee camps. violent incidents from armed settlers have also increased, including sexual assault, beatings and humiliation. for more, i spoke with ajith sunghay, head of office for the un high commissionerfor human rights in the occupied palestinian territory. this report basically cast a spotlight on the human rights violations in west bank. what we are seeing is

a marked increase in the intensity of violations happening since 7th of october, up until yesterday. we thought it was necessary to draw attention to the nature of force used by security forces. it is being used as if there is an armed conflict in the west bank, but according to international law, they should be using the legal framework of law enforcement. what we see instead is fighterjets, drones being used, hundreds of thousands of troops being sent and used as snipers and unlawful and unnecessary forces, which has led to the most high number of palestinians killed since we started in 2005. we have seen 500 killed. tell us about the

torture allegations. we have 4,700 palestinians recorded as being detained by the israeli security forces. we do not have access to all centres, many are inside israel. however, some of them have had access to us and we have a range of ways of gathering information. based on that, we understand in many cases, the treatment of detainees has been what we call ill—treatment, and in some cases that amounts to torture. the spokesperson for the prime minister's office has dismissed these as ridiculous and belittles the security forces. they say they've arrested hundreds of terrorist suspects and will maintain their security. given the response, how do think your report will be received

by the israeli government? will they listen to it and respond positively? unfortunately, i'm not very surprised by the reactions. we do hope they will take our recommendation seriously. the recommendations are not just for the israelis, but for the international community. if they don't take it seriously, and the recommendations, our concern is it will fast deteriorate into further grave security situation, but human rights violations. that is why we thought it was important to put it out, to raise an alarm. we hope the israeli authorities take these recommendations seriously. three men have died after their vehicle was recovered from the river esk near glaisdale in north—east england. police say another man who attempted to help those in the vehicle was pulled to safety from the river. it follows heavy rain and flooding caused by storm gerrit.

100 homes have been damaged by a mini tornado which ripped through part of greater manchester, when the storm blew in. police declared a major incident in tameside after roofs were torn off homes, trees were blown down and walls collapsed. there were no reports of any injuries. areas surrounding stalybridge were the worst affected, including the village of millbrook. fiona trott reports from greater manchester. the eye of the storm. so strong that some homes couldn't even keep the residents safe. they'll evacuate us now. this tree smashed through a roof just metres from where maisie pilkington slept. if you was to get a wrecking ball and go through the house, it was like, because i opened the door and i thought, "oh, my god". in daylight, the damage was clearer to see. metal and glass not strong enough. lead not heavy enough to withstand the force of this tornado on her street. what seems to have happened

is the tree's hit the roof, gone through my bathroom, so the whole roof and ceiling of my bathroom is down, the tree is in the bathroom. and the whole tree is being held up by one branch and it's starting to snap currently, i've been told. so if it does snap, it's going to go through the whole house. it wasn't just maisie�*s street. look at the devastation in other parts of stalybridge. their homes and their lives have been ripped apart. this was the village of carrbrook. and we were so scared, we didn't know what to do. i don't know who phoned the police. police, ambulance, fire brigade, everybody were around. and tonight, hundreds of residents still have questions that can't be answered. can i go back home? when can i go back home? is my house safe? so we're trying to get movement on that as quickly as possible, but the amount of damage that it's done to the amount of properties, you know, we haven't got the resources just yet to get that done very quickly. so we have gone out to get support.

what people here are still coming to terms with is how so much devastation was caused by something that lasted less than a minute. tornadoes can be massively damaging. you can see winds in excess of 100mph concentrated on a very small area. that is enough to bring down parts of houses, trees, cause massive amounts of damage. and clearing up that damage will take some time. a rare and devastating event is bringing these communities together. fiona trott, bbc news, stalybridge. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news in the uk. lancashire police say that what was thought to be a fire at the iconic blackpool tower was actually orange netting. six fire engines were deployed to the landmark this afternoon, after reports of flames coming from the top of it. police said the tower had been closed for renovation and had

therefore been difficult to access. itv has announced holly willoughby will return to television to present dancing on ice alongside stephen mulhern injanuary. the 42—year—old has been absent from screens since she left this morning back in october after a man was charged with soliciting to commit murder over an alleged plot to kidnap the tv presenter. the post office says personal cash withdrawals reached a record daily high before christmas. it says £62 million was taken out on friday the 22nd of december as many people did last—minute shopping and took cash out for gifts on christmas day. it beat last year's high of £51.5 million. you're live with bbc news. sport now — and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's lizzie. we're starting with football, and arsenal kick off against west ham in an hour's time

knowing a win will send them back to the top of the premier league. mikel arteta's side are unbeaten in their last 17 london derbies and the manager is well aware of everyone�*s high expectations. that's the thing in life, isn't it? i haven't met anyone who wants less. my wife always want more! these guys always want more press conference, these players, more play, more money, we always want more, so these are the positive expectations, that we always want to be better and improve. meanwhile, the other match in the premier league starts in a quarter of an hour and tottenham can go third with a big win at brighton. and it could be a high scoring game as spurs have scored in their last 30 league matches, whilst brighton haven't kept a clean sheet in the league since may. and their manager is full of admiration for the way tottenham play. their style is clear, i love their style.

they have great players. in terms of personality on the pitch, they are one of the best teams in this moment in the premier league and europe. one of spurs' longest—serving players, goalkeeper hugo lloris, is in talks to move to the us tojoin los angeles fc. the 37—year—old frenchman is tottenham's third choice keeper and hasn't played since april. he'd join the mls side on a free transfer. well, tottenham clearly have plenty of goalie cover, but they and several clubs could have a tricky january ahead due to players missing on international duty. spurs' skippper son hueng min is off to the asia cup with south korea whilst manchester united's goalkeeper andre 0nana has been picked by cameroon for the africa cup of nations.

0nana had retired from international football following a row at last year's world cup, but he returned in september and has been included for the tournament, which is being held in the ivory coast. england are set to be without manu tuilagi for at least the start of this year's rugby union six nations championship. the 32—year—old sale centre has another groin injury which, although not requiring surgery, is expected to rule him out of england's opener against italy in rome on 3rd ofjanuary. 0nto cricket, and south africa thrashed india inside three days in their openig test. despite virat kohli's best efforts, india were bowled out forjust 131 runs in their second innings — with only kholi and shubman gill reaching double figures — as they crumpled to an innings and 32 runs defeat at centurion. the second test begins in cape town next week. meanwhile, as pakistan look to level their series down under, a 96 from mitchell marsh helped australia wrestle back control of the boxing day test.

after a terrible start to the third day in melbourne, where at one point australia were i6—a, marsh and steve smith combined for a crucial stand of 156 and australia closed with a lead of 241 runs and four wickets in tact. this year's cheltenham gold cup winner galopin des champs looks back to his brilliant best after thrashing a star—studded field in ireland to win the savills chase by a massive 23 lengths. it's his first victory since the famous festival win and he's now favourite to defend his title in march. rafael nadal is back playing competitive tennis this weekend after nearly a year out through injury. the 22—time major winner has been practising for the brisbane 0pen, ahead of the first grand slam of the year — the australian open — which starts onjanuary14th. nadal hasn't played a tournament since last year's aussie open due to a hip injury.

and that's all the sport for now. 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. here's rupert wingfield—hayes. it's 6am and this fighter base on the coast of taiwan is already a hive of activity. 0n the mirage, 2,000 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. if 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 2,000. whoever wins taiwan's presidential race will face a military balance tipping ever more in china's favour. now how do you listen to music? on a streaming service or are you a little more "old school". well, latest figures here in the uk show that sales of vinyl albums have surged by almost 12% this year — taylor swift's 1989, the rolling stones�* hackney diamonds and lana del ray's did you know that there's a tunnel under ocean blvd? what do all of these have in common? they are the highest selling vinyl albums of 2023. in fact, sales are the highest they've been in the uk since the 1990s. they've jumped by around 12% to 5.9 million and they've continued to increase for the last 16 years — that's according to the british phonographic industry. now, although 80% to 85% of recorded

music is still consumed via streaming, there's clearly been a huge surge in vinyl sales. and i asked gennaro castaldo from the british phonographic industry why this was. i think people love the idea of having something to own and to collect. it's a beautiful kind of piece of artwork, really, from the sleeve artwork, the packaging and of course the baby boomers like me, who grew up with it, are still buying it, but we're seeing much youngerfans, millennials, certainly gen z, who are buying it. maybe they've been informed by their parents�* record collections, certainly by streaming as well. but they love it because i think it helps them to feel closer to the artists they love, there's this emotional connection that vinyl, in particular, i think sort of affords us as fans. it's notjust vinyl. in fact, cassette sales have been up this year as well, despite having died out in the 1990s. and despite the decline in cd sales, they've now plateaued. in fact, 11 million were sold

in the uk this year. so it shows that there's been a bit of a physical resurgence of the way that we're consuming music and, in many ways, you could say that it's gone full circle. stay with us here on bbc news. good evening. well, storm gerrit certainly brought some challenging weather conditions on wednesday, particularly for those of you returning back from seeing friends and family over the christmas period. now, an early heads up if you're travelling this weekend to see in the new year — there's further heavy rain forecast, maybe some snow likely in the north, and the winds, widespread gales on exposed coasts, so that's worth bearing in mind. through the night tonight, we'll see a rash of showers turning increasingly wintry in scotland, some showers into northern ireland. a milder story further south with rain easing — here, around 5 to 9 degrees. it's going to be a chilly start

in scotland, though, still under the influence of low pressure. and with the winds coming round to a northerly, that means that showers to higher ground in scotland could be a mix of rain, sleet and snow. but this weak weather front as well, that's going to produce some persistent outbreaks of showery rain into northern ireland, north—west england, and a westerly flow will drive in a few scattered showers across south—west england and wales, which will drift its way steadily eastwards as we go through the day. here, we'lljust scrape double digits, but a cooler story across the far north and east of scotland in particular. now, as we move out of friday into saturday, here's that area of low pressure which could cause some further travel disruption, bringing some wet and windy weather in from the west. now, ahead of it, under clearer skies, we could see temperatures falling below freezing in the far north of scotland, so a cold start, and that could be relevant as that front starts to move in. so first thing on saturday, dry and bright, but the rain will start to push in from the west and some of it quite heavy.

and as it bumps into that colder air, we'll see some snow even at lower levels for scotland as well. so it's going to be a windy day, the best of the drier weather through the midlands, east anglia, south—east england — 12 degrees the high. the rain heavy as it moves its way gradually into south—west england, wales and northern england. some real torrential downpours likely. a brighter end to the day in northern ireland, but look at this. yes, we could see some snow even at lower levels for scotland — and that's worth bearing in mind — accompanied by gale force gusts of winds. so that low pushes through at quite a pace in the early hours of sunday morning. sunday is, of course, new year's eve. and for those of you out and about, it is going to get a little bit cooler, but it's going to stay pretty unsettled. happy new year.

now on bbc news, the year in review. there's a huge barrage going on overhead just at the moment.

yevgeny prigozhin seemed determined to march his men to the top of the hill. then, he marched them down again. political persecution like something straight out of a fascist or communist nation. this is southern israel and that is gaza, and the war here has dominated the news agenda since early october. tragic and polarising, it's one of the biggest stories of 2023 and one that i have followed here and reported on throughout, speaking to people in israel and in gaza about how they're living through it. the year has seen many important and profound stories, from the war in ukraine to donald trump's legal affairs in the us and for india, a successful moon landing. i'm going to bring you just some of those moments.

we begin in turkey and syria and the devastating