thanks forjoining us. former president, donald trump, is barred from maine's republican primary ballot next year. the top election official in the state, democratic secretary of state, shenna bellows, wrote that he is not qualified to hold office, under the part of the consitution that bans individuals who engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the us from running. this decision will not take effect until a court has heard an appeal. a trump campaign spokesman responded to the decision in a statement, saying, in part... earlier this week, the state of michigan decided to keep trump on the primary ballot next year. it follows last week's decision in colorado, where the state supreme court disqualified the former president as well. the decision is ultimately expected to be made by the us supreme court. earlier, i spoke with secretary of state bellows, about why

she took the decision to take donald trump off the ballot in maine. secretary cech bellows, very good to have you on bbc news. good evening to you. i want to start with your decision to disqualify the former president from the primary ballot in maine because as he decided he engaged in insurrection. what made that decision? what convinced you he is ineligible? good evening and thank you for having me. it is really important for your viewers to understand the maine law process. every state is different. under the united states constitution, elections are held and it different voting rights are different ballot access laws. under maine law, if a candidate qualifies for the ballot, any registered maine voter may bring a challenge. that is what happened here. i qualified trump for the ballot and there were three challenges brought.

by citizens of maine, and a couple cases, two former democratic state senators. that requires me under maine election law to hold an administrative hearing to review the evidence and facts. both parties may be presented by counsel, indeed mr trump was represented by an attorney, as were the challengers i mentioned. they brought forward witnesses, exhibits. i was then required to review the evidence and hearing record, the law and constitution and ultimately that is my sacred obligation. it is my duty to uphold the constitution. a quick follow—up, you are talking about the evidence you reviewed. you know the former president is facing cases of both federal and state level in georgia on election interference. why not wait for a ruling on one of those cases to give this decision that

legal foundation? again, it is specific to maine law. under maine law, once a challenger brings a challenge, i am required to hold that hearing within five days, and then issue that decision within a compressed deadline. i was not allowed under maine law to wait for the united states supreme court. i know maine law is different to other states. i want to ask you what we have seen from other, including michigan, that made the decision not to disqualify the former president from the ballot, and we spoke to the secretary of state there yesterday, who says she does not believe it is the role of secretaries of state to make this decision. i want to play you the clip. we have to remember, for matters like this, which involve an interpretation, a novel interpretation of the us constitution, it is the us supreme court whose job it is to ultimately make that call and make that determination. what do you think of that, secretary bellowes?

i cannot speak to michigan and certainly i hope the united states supreme court will settle this matter nationwide. that being said, every secretary of state must uphold the election laws in their state. that is why i explained so clearly maine state law and the legal requirements i am held to. but do you expect it to end up in front of the supreme court? certainly, under maine law, the next step is mr trump can appeal to a superior court, and he or the challengers can appeal to the maine supreme judicial court and then to the united states supreme court. if or the us supreme court, an appeal made in colorado, they could issue a ruling that could be determined in may. and i as secretary of state will follow the law. always. i want to ask about some of the criticism of this decision already.

what do you say to voters in your state who cast their ballots for donald trump in 2020? more than 40% of people in maine and believe the decision is disenfranchising them. i am mindful that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on section three of the 14th amendment. but i am also mindful no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection. the events of january 6 were tragic and unprecedented. and the evidence presented in hearing before me that i was duty—bound to roll upon indicated january 6, 2021, was in fact in insurrection and mr trump in fact engage in that insurrection. what about what the former president himself has already said? he has pointed to you specifically and said he worked for the aclu, that you are hyper—partisan, a

a virulent leftist. what is your response to that? my duty and obligation is to uphold the constitution, and i made the determination that i did, my decision is thorough, and based on the rule of law, the facts before me. bias, my political affiliation, or prior experience plays no role in my position. one more question, if this is successfully appealed, we know the trump camp is likely to appeal and he remains on the primary ballot. do you expect there to be another challenge if he becomes the republican nominee? so, in my possession i address this issue. to my knowledge, this challenge procedure is the only mechanism under maine law by which someone can challenge a presidential candidate placement

on the primary ballot, and indeed, this is not unusual in maine. i have in the past, in 2022, held a similar hearing, and ultimately made a decision that was upheld, to disqualify a district attorney candidate, based on failure to qualify. similarly, last week, a superior court upheld the decision i made to prohibit placement of mr chris christie on the ballot because he failed to meet qualifications of signature requirements. so this is something that is fairly routine, and i think it's very specific to maine and yet at the same time i do hope and certainly the country like washington to see if the united states supreme court will weigh in. thank you forjoining us. really appreciate your time. thank you. before we move on, there's also been an update to another of donald trump's legal cases. a us federal appeals court has refused a request by the former president to delay a defamation trial in a lawsuit brought

by writer, e jean carroll. trump's lawyers had asked to hold for 90 days, after the court rejected a presidential immunity defence. carroll accused trump of sexual assault and rape in 2019, and later launched civil proceedings after he allegedly disparaged her. we are now 81 days into the israel—hamas war, and israeli forces say they have struck more than 100 targets in 2a hours. they have ordered at least 150,000 palestinians to evacuate central gaza. with several hundred thousand other civilians already displaced across gaza, aid organizations say people will struggle to find shelter. the un says the humanitarian situation in the israel—occupied west bank is also seeing "rapid "deterioration". it has reported arbitrary and unlawful detentions, and alleged torture and other forms of ill—treatment of palestinian detainees. israel maintains it is trying to protect civilians in its operation to destroy hamas. an israeli military official said the country "regrets harm "to civilians" during air raids on december 2a, where use of the wrong munition led to quote "extensive "collateral damage" within the maghazi refugee camp.

meanwhile, fighting has intensified at israel's northern border with lebanon. a minister in israel's war cabinet warned the hezbollah militia group that israeli army forces could hit harder. egypt has proposed a plan to end the fighting that includes prisoner and hostage exchanges. the bbc�*s shaimaa khalil has more from jerusalem, and a warning, her report contains some distressing images from the beginning. once again, a child tells their story of the war. this child's 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. herfather, abdullah, 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 al maghazi refugee camp in central gaza. israel says it used the wrong type of munition. people shout. people chant. here injerusalem, thousands of teenagers marched towards the israeli parliament. "alive, now," they chanted. 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 seventh october attacks. their message to those in power — bring the hostages back home now. i am from kibbutz kfar aza. i was there on october 7 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. judith weinstein haggai was thought to be in captivity still, but now she's believed to have been killed on october 7. her husband gadi is also believed to have been killed by hamas. 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 her family are sheltering in a un school, after being forced out of their home in the north. her new babies born into displacement. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem. the government of taiwan has accused china of mounting a major disinformation campaign, aimed at influencing the outcome of the island's presidential election next month. taiwan's ruling democratic progressive party is seeking an unprecedented third consecutive win. but the dpp is loathed in beijing, which has long laid claim to taiwan. in recent weeks, china's air force has increased incursions across the taiwan strait. but china says taiwan's government has played up military threats in the run—up to the election, by highlighting the nearby presence of chinese warships and fighter jets. rupert wingfield—hayes has this story. it's 6am, and this fighter base on the coast of taiwan is already a hive of activity.

on the apron, mirage 2000 fighter jets from taiwan's rapid reaction squadrons, theirjob to meet any incoming threats 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 fighterjets, 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 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 china is sending a very strong signal to the united states, evenjapan — "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 tell 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." on 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. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in hsinchu, taiwan. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. venezuelan president nicolas maduro has condemned

the deployment of a british warship off the coast of neighbouring guyana. maduro says it breaches the "spirit" of an agreement between his country and guyanese authorities to de—escalate tensions in a long—running border dispute over an oil—rich region. the area is recognized as part of guyana, but venezuela has revived claims to it. guyana is a british ally and former colony. a prominent pro—democracy activist has fled hong kong to seek asylum in the uk, breaching a supervision order put on him by authorities. tony chung was convicted of calling for hong kong's secession under the territory's tough security law in 2021. he says that since his release injune, authorities had been pressuring him to become a paid informant against other activists. budapest, hungary, is coping with severe flooding along the danube. the river has reached a decade—high of nearly seven meters — that's about 23 feet. workers have built ramps and deployed mobile dams. experts warn of more frequent severe floods in the region due to climate change.

you're live with bbc news. the head of the sudanese paramilitary force, the rsf, is on his first foreign tour since fighting broke out, in april, between his forces and sudan's army. lieutenant general mohammed hamdan dagalo — popularly known as hemedti — visited ethiopia on thursday to meet ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed. he also visited uganda as part of his tour for diplomatic talks with the country's president, yoweri museveni. on both visits, the general spoke of the need for a swift end to the war. but diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire between the warring sides has made little progress. the intergovernmental authority on development regional bloc tried to bring the generals together for peace talks injedda but the meeting was postponed for technical reasons. meanwhile, the rsf is making military gains, having recently taken control of one of sudan's major cities and the last remaining sanctuary for civilians, wad madani. the conflict has so far killed 12,000 people and caused one of the world's

largest displacement crisis. the international organization for migration says that over 7.1—million people have been internally displaced within the country. earlier, i spoke to kholood kair, an analyst and founding director of khartoum based think tank confluence advisory about the situation. why do you think we are seeing hemedti take this trip? i why do you think we are seeing hemedti take this trip?- hemedti take this trip? i think ou want hemedti take this trip? i think you want to — hemedti take this trip? i think you want to position _ hemedti take this trip? i think you want to position himself l hemedti take this trip? i think| you want to position himself as a sort of statement. we have seen him wearing suits rather than military fatigue. we have seen him meet heads of state rather than some of the adversaries or some of the officials. i think he is trying to mimic in many ways the trip taken in august and september where he was also taken trips around the region, trying to get them to think of him as a

legitimate head of state rather than one of the belligerents. do you think hemedti will be able to achieve that? i do you think hemedti will be able to achieve that?- able to achieve that? i think it is difficult _ able to achieve that? i think it is difficult for _ able to achieve that? i think it is difficult for him - able to achieve that? i think it is difficult for him to - able to achieve that? i think it is difficult for him to do i it is difficult for him to do so because even his defective position, which is quite a tenuous one, after the coup, but it has been lost. he was removed as a deputy of the sovereign council, a defunct organ sent the coup, but he was removed as a deputy of that a few months ago into the wall. he does not have a governmental position anymore. he cannot be thought of as anything but one of the belligerents in this fight but i think they're more there is talk around a meeting between he and others, the more it will try and shape his position in the next few weeks

and months to position himself in a more favourable light when it comes to future political dispensation. i it comes to future political dispensation.— it comes to future political dispensation. i want to ask about the _ dispensation. i want to ask about the humanitarian - about the humanitarian situations are done. our aid agencies able to access areas that need assistance? bi; agencies able to access areas that need assistance?- that need assistance? by all accounts. — that need assistance? by all accounts, only _ that need assistance? by all accounts, only to _ that need assistance? by all accounts, only to some - that need assistance? by all- accounts, only to some degrees and not very well. what we have seenin and not very well. what we have seen in khartoum primarily and part of the country, the conflict erupts, or when the war reaches those areas, action of the first people to go are actually the aid agencies and so the humanitarian needs not only skyrocket but also dwindled massively. often time international aid agencies have had to rely on other actors,

sometimes regime related actors to deliver aid and that has not been affected. what has been the backbone of humanitarian aid, grassroots respondents, who have been able to provide soup kitchens, safe passages and in many instances access to medical care and the like. i understand that you have family in sudan at the moment. can i ask how they are doing and are they able to leave?— they able to leave? they, like many peeple _ they able to leave? they, like many peeple in _ they able to leave? they, like many people in sudan, - they able to leave? they, like many people in sudan, have l many people in sudan, have realised that it is becoming more and more difficult to see a swift end to this fighting and therefore they again, like many others, have felt no other way out of this, really, than to evacuate sudan altogether which for many of them is very painful thing to do. they have been able to whether the very tumultuous political history of saddam for a long time and that

position has not eased but has become increasingly more difficult. —— sudan. but even to reach neighbouring countries it has become very difficult. even as insurance goes up. most people have been relying on the burgeoning smuggling network three different borders they did not exist before this war. it is such a difficult situation facing so many people. looking ahead, where do diplomatic efforts stand? us, saudis, the intergovernmental authority of the mental that it of development have tried. often times, whether it is the talks in saudi or neighbouring countries initiative led by cairo, the ego had talks or african union efforts, they have fallen short and have

spectacularly failed because they have not really understood what underpins much of the conflict. it is not issues of integration, and positions in hierarchy, it is a fundamental irreconcilability, political ideas and visions of the south and the rs avenue, they want to create an entirely different sudan and they are irreconcilable and until that is something address, we will not see any mediation platforms offer anything in terms of, not even a sort of and to the wall, the into the fighting itself, even to cause a ceasefire. thank you so much for sharing your analysis and we hope your family stays safe.— family stays safe. thank you very much- _ family stays safe. thank you very much. kholood - family stays safe. thank you very much. kholood kair. i the us and mexico have agreed to work together more closely to stem the flow of migrants at their shared border. it comes a day after high—level

talks between senior officials from the two countries, in mexico city. us secretary of state antony blinken says the countries will strengthen a sponsorship initiative for venezuelan, cuban, nicaraguan and haitian migrants. on thursday mexican president andres manuel lopez obrador said visiting us officials had agreed to keep legal border checkpoints open, after border agents temporarily closed some rail and road crossings. talks are expected to take place again in washington next month. nikki haley, one of the contenders for the republican presidential nomination, has sought to downplay comments in which she seemed to reject slavery as the cause of the american civil war. at a town hall meeting, ms haley said that the conflict had been about how the government was run, and what freedoms people could have. on thursday she clarified that statement, saying that as a southerner, she knew the war had been about slavery. finally, some rather cute pictures to leave you with this half hour. they are of a critically endangered lemur. this little one was born at chester zoo in the uk and weighed in at 120 grams. experts say it'll be a little while until they find out

the sex of the baby. the species are native to madagascar and are known as dancing leemas for the way they spring across the floor. lemur babies ride on their mother's back for about three months until they are ready to explore the world on their own. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. friday is shaping up to be a fairly decent day for many. there should be more sunshine around, the winds not quite as strong. there'll still be a few showers around. it will be a little bit cooler than of late, but things turn a lot more unsettled, though, for the last couple of days of 2023. you might want to take note if you have travel plans. for friday, then, we have low pressure anchored to the northeast of scotland. that's still going to bring strong gale force winds here to the northern isles, some snow showers at times. more sunshine for southern scotland. this weather front will bring a band of cloud to northern england,

northern ireland, a little bit of snow to the higher ground and plenty of sunshine for the rest of england and wales. but there will be a few showers running into wales, southwest england, the midlands, southern england later on. just about double figures in the south. otherwise, it's a cooler day across the board. as we head through friday night, it stays blustery. further showers across northern scotland, but many places will turn drier with clearer skies and light winds — a recipe of quite a cold night to come, i think, to start saturday, with widespread frost and ice to watch out for across parts of scotland. however, into the weekend, if you have travel plans, you'll want to take note to the forecast the next few days. we'll see further wet and windy weather, with snow on the hills in the north, so there could be some travel disruption. and it's all down to this next area of low pressure, a deep, low moving in on saturday to bring gales and heavy rain. many southern, eastern, northern areas will start dry and cold, but as the wind and the rain bumps into that cold air, we'll see snow falling over the high ground of northern england and across scotland, maybe even to lower levels for a while. i don't think the conditions will be too bad across the south—east at this point for saturday. double figure values

again, but wet and windy further north and west. that band of heavy rain spreads across all of england and wales through saturday night. the centre of the low moves in towards the north of the uk, so the winds turn a little bit lighter here. so i think on sunday — of course, new year's eve — the strongest, gustiest of the winds will be across southern britain, where we'll see plenty of showers rattling in. some of them could be quite heavy, but there will be some sunshine through central and northern areas. but it will be a chillier day, i think — temperatures in single digits for most. so an unsettled end to the year. as we head into new year's day, 1january, it stays quite cool and unsettled, and a chilly first week of january to come with low pressure always nearby.

voice—over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. ina garten is one of the most famous tv cooks in america. she's built a whole empire, and we spent a great day with her in her test kitchen, speaking about everything from her recipes to her time in the white house, to her extraordinary following among young people. you probably know her as the barefoot contessa.

ina, i'm so happy to meet you. thank you so much for having me. i've really looked forward to this. what a space! thank you. this is so lovely. thank you for having us here. this is wonderful. this is... this is your work. i live right next—door. this is your store. and this is my office. yeah. so the house is just there. you have a very short commute. a very short commute. sometimes the rabbits get in the way, but, you know, usually it's fairly... fairly traffic free. i feel like i know the space because i've watched so many videos. you don't have any sense of the scale. you don't. when i first told jeffrey i was going to build a kitchen here, i think he imagined, like, a little kitchen. and he kept seeing this thing go up and up and up. and he was like, "what are you building here?!" is it a pleasure to cook in here still? oh, it's just wonderful! and i actually think good architecture makes you better at whatever you're doing. i walk in every day and i think,

"i can't believe i get to work here." and itjust makes me like show up more.