ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, says that russia has targeted his country with 158 missiles and drones in the past 2a hours — shooting down 114 of them. at least ten people have been killed after cities across ukraine came under attack. this was the scene this morning in the capital kyiv, where at least three powerful explosions were heard in the city centre. odesa, dnipro and kharkiv are among other cities hit. ukraine's air force says it has "never seen so many locations targeted simultaneously". in the last few minutes the polish ministry said an unidentified aerial object has entered its airspace. they say the object was tracked by the radar until the signal disappeared. james waterhouse gave

me the latest on the situation. it is quite striking, as you say. the first time in more than a year since a russian missile was able to penetrate the kyiv air defences and i think that is a reflection of air defences across ukraine being overwhelmed in the way that they have, you have heard what the air force is saying and i think that it's really telling something. more than 18 strategic bomber aircraft were used by russia, it says almost every type of missile was launched, up up top the only ones not used were ones

launched from the sea and you take all of these things together, living in the west, that bill is far from the conflict, once a city for millions of ukrainians escaped to go on to the border to poland and romania, we have seen damage to a high—rise building, in odesa, some extensive damage in dnipro, we are told a shopping centre was hit, kharkiv in the north east, hit more regularly because it's only a0 miles from the russian border, people get used to living with this aerial threat, school children taught in the city subways. in the north, an area left alone since the initial retreat from central kyiv, nowhere is untouched and i think this is vladimir putin and russia, exercising a familiar flex in that it can target the home of ukraine and it has done so in a week when ukraine has thanked the us for receiving the last of its approved military packages which includes air defences. it has been another difficult morning but especially so for ukraine. as you say, coming the day after the final tranche of aid from the us is signed off and we know this is far less

than ukraine says it needs? it really is. ukraine will be looking at what it could have had, i think. we are talking about a package worth $250 million, no small sum and ammunition desperately needed but a package like that alone allows ukraine to continue its defence for now in terms of air defence, trying to suppress russian forces with artillery fire on the front lines which are not moving and when they are, they are not moving in the favour of ukraine but getting bogged down in the us congress, a package worth around $50 billion and that's seen by kyiv is the type of package which would allow it to continue its fight but allow it to pursue its goal and dream of liberating its territory. we are talking about armoured vehicles and long—range missiles, tanks.

yes, the help of western allies amounts to quite a sizeable intervention but it is the us which leads the way and co—ordinates the support and it can manufacture weapons at the scale and speed which ukraine needs in the face of a russia which is very much on a war footing as well. as it continues to try and take the whole of ukraine, we must remind ourselves of that. this story developing throughout the morning and all the details you will find on the news website. the top election official in the us state of maine has ruled that donald trump cannot run for president there in the upcoming elections. the reason — mr trump's actions leading up to the riot at the us capitol in washington in 2021 — which the ruling in maine says was enough to trigger a constitutional clause banning anyone from holding office who's "engaged in insurrection". maine is the second us state to take this course of action —

colorado did so earlier this month. but — similar efforts to prevent mr trump from running have been thrown out in michigan and minnesota. the decision in maine was taken by the secretary of state, shenna bellows — she told the bbc why she had acted as she did. no presidential candidate has intervened in insurrection. the events of january the 6th was unprecedented and i was duty to run an opponent, indicating that generate the set for 2021 was in insurrection and donald trump did engage in that. maine's secretary of state, shenna bellows there. mr trump has not yet commented on this latest turn of events — but his campaign has previously

accused mrs bellows of being a hyper—partisan, biden—supporting democrat — and says it will take legal action. let's take a look at how the decision in maine might affect the presidential election. maine is one of only two states in the us which does not operate a winner takes all policy — when it comes to presidential elections. it means the four electoral college votes can be split. this happened in both of the last two elections, with donald trump taking one vote each time, and his democratic opponent three votes. for context — america's 50 states share out 538 electoral college votes in total — the majority needed to win the presidential election outright is 270. as we've mentionioned, the trump campaign has promised to appeal against this decision in maine — in court. but what does it mean for the wider election, across the us? i put that question to daniel lippman — the white house reporterfor the us news organisation politico.

i think it's basically the second domino here because there's a lot of democrats who don't think that trump is eligible because of his actions on january 6th. but until colorado did this recently, no one was willing to take him off the ballot. and so i think this is going to call for the supreme court to get involved soon, and decide whether he is eligible or not to be listed on the primary ballots and also for the general election that will carry through. because right now you could have him on 25 ballots and him not on 25 other ballots. and then republican states could try to take offjoe biden, even though he hasn't been accused of anything similar, but as kind of a revenge push. you can find much more on the us presidential election in a special section of our website. it's called �*a really simple guide�* — and you'll find everything you need to understand how the process works — from getting chosen

as a candidate, to the debates, and what it takes to win. here in the uk, tributes have been paid to a man who died after a car hit a group of people in the northern city of sheffield while he was trying to help others. police say christian marriott was out for a walk on wednesday afternoon with his wife and two young sons, when he stopped to help an unconscious woman after a row between two groups. two men have been arrested on murder charges. simonjones reports. the police say what happened in this street on wednesday afternoon was utterly heartbreaking. christine marriott, described as a good samaritan, was out walking with his wife and two young sons when he saw a woman lying unconscious in the street. it's thought she had been involved in a row between a group of people.

as mr marriott was giving her first aid, he was hit by a car and killed. the car also struck the woman. she is in a critical condition in hospital. six other people were injured, including an off—duty midwife. when i came out, the car was there. i didn't know there were some people underneath. but one lady, she was before me outside. she said to me there's people underneath the car. it was very, very sad and also very upsetting and i couldn't believe it. a 23—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. another man, who's 55, has been detained on suspicion of attempted murder. the police say they are absolutely determined to secure justice for christian marriott's family. simon jones, bbc news. fighting in central gaza has led to an estimated 100 and 50 thousand palestinians fleeing the area. the israeli military had called for the evacuation of a strip of land stretching across central gaza, including two large refugee camps. witnesses have reported seeing

israeli tanks reaching the outskirts of one of them, at bureij. according to the un's humanitarian office, the majority of those who have fled in recent days have gone to rafah, at gaza's southern border. they've been forced further south following that increase in fighting around deir al balah and khan younis. gaza's health ministry, which is run by hamas — an organisation considered to be a terrorist group by many countries — says 20 people were killed on thursday evening by an israeli air strike on a building in rafah, which was housing displaced civilians. and the un agency which works in gaza, unwra, says one of its aid convoys was fired upon by israeli soldiers. its spokesman, tom white, says it was using a route designated by the israeli army. no—one was injured, but one vehicle was damaged. meanwhile, diplomatic efforts continue — egypt has confirmed that it has put forward a three—stage proposal to stop the fighting which ends with a ceasefire. a hamas delegation is said to have arrived in cairo to give its response to the plan. with details on that —

here's our middle east correspondent yolande knell injerusalem. some potentially important developments happening next door in egypt, which often acts as a mediator between israel and hamas. and we understand that a hamas delegation has arrived there to give its response to a new egyptian proposal. it's three stages, we understand, that would start with kind of renewable ceasefires that would see the release of more of the 100 plus israeli hostages still held by hamas in gaza in exchange for palestinian prisoners in israeli jails. but it could lead to another stage where there would be a full ceasefire in gaza and ultimately a new technocratic government, as it's being called, to govern there. now, there's a very long way to go, i should stress, before either side agrees to this, but it's being seen as encouraging that at least

there are some of these talks taking place, because on the ground at the moment, what we have is fighting still raging. we have israeli ground troops that are pushing into locations in the centre and in the south of the gaza strip. 0vernight, we saw israeli air strikes in those locations, including in rafah, where reportedly 20 people were killed in a building, housing displaced people. and in rafah on the border with egypt, we've had the un saying that in just the last few days, another 100,000 people have crammed in there already had become the most densely populated part of gaza as people have gone there desperately fleeing the fighting. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a clean—up operation is taking place after around 100 homes were damaged by a tornado in stalybridge, in greater manchester, during storm gerrit. it tore roofs off some houses, blew over trees and damaged cars. thousands of homes in wales and

scotland were left without power. the chief inspector of prisons for england and wales has called for a fundamental re—orientation in the way the system is run. charlie taylor said the high availability of drugs in some prisons was a barrier to rehabilitation. and he said many inmates were failing to learn to read and not developing the skills they need for a life of work, rather than crime. the french tycoon, francoise bettencourt meyers, has become the first woman to amass a fortune of $100 billion. it comes after shares in l'0real, the beauty empire founded by her grandfather, rose to a record high. you're live with bbc news. in the uk, files released today show how tony blair's government considered radical policies to cut immigration in 2003 —

including setting up a holding centre on the isle of mull. sanchia berg reports. 20 years ago, asylum seekers climbing the eurostar fences desperate to get to the uk. images like these prompted the prime minister to consider radical measures. files released today at the national archives include a document prepared for tony blair injanuary 2003. entitled asylum: the nuclear 0ption, it asked whether the government should break away from international norms, support safe havens in third countries, set up a detention centre on the isle of mull. these earlier files show what led up to the nuclear option for asylum — tony blair's frustration at the numbers of people seeking asylum in the uk. he wanted to bring them down and, in december 2002, he wrote, "we must search out even more radical measures." this is so similar to the debate that we're having now

and the proposals — radical proposals — that are being pursued. and we were at that point, not publicly to the same degree, but similar proposals being discussed in earnest behind closed doors. and it also just showed to me there's a perception that conservative governments are those that truck in immigration and asylum restriction. and here's a clear case that shows, no, that is not the preserve of conservative governments — labour governments, too. the rwanda scheme is different from anything tony blair considered, because rwanda would take over the asylum claims. sanchia berg, bbc news. and sanchia joins me now live from our newsroom. good morning to hear. we start with

your piece, a lot of people drawing parallels between the rwanda policy and what was happening 20 years ago but take us through the differences. of course they saw me proposals, of course they saw me proposals, ideas that were brainstormed behind closed doors and never produced for the public whereas the rwanda policy essay policy. the other big differences of course as i said at the end, the current policy in ss hands over the asylum applications to the government of rwanda, and nothing in those files suggest the tony blair government was looking at doing something like that. at every stage british officials will be considering the applications are making decisions even though those decisions might be being made in a holding camp offshore. what decisions might be being made in a holding camp offshore.— holding camp offshore. what is fascinating _ holding camp offshore. what is fascinating about _ holding camp offshore. what is fascinating about this - holding camp offshore. what is| fascinating about this document release, it gives a real insight into the decision makers and what was happening behind closed doors, comments we never would have heard

but what is interesting is how personally invested tony blair seems to have been, the handwritten notes from him? ~ , , from him? absolutely right, we must search out ever _ from him? absolutely right, we must search out ever more _ from him? absolutely right, we must search out ever more radical - search out ever more radical measures and other finals search out ever more radical measures and otherfinals he search out ever more radical measures and other finals he scroll things like they are still too high, this is bad. he was clearly very much engaged with this issue. it's very striking how he was so focused on illegal immigration, on asylum seekers, that he and his government completely mist the wave of completely mist the wave of completely illegal migration that was coming when they supported the expansion of the european union to include the eight eastern european countries and the uk placement restriction on them coming immediately so these files shall in the polish foreign for example, they anticipated somewhere between five and 13 thousand people coming every year from eastern europe, and 13 thousand people coming every yearfrom eastern europe, the whole

of eastern europe and as we know, that was really overtaken by events, in the event, it's been estimated as many as 1 million in the event, it's been estimated as many as1 million possibly more in the event, it's been estimated as many as 1 million possibly more came to settle in britain from eastern europe after 200a. we to settle in britain from eastern europe after 2004.— to settle in britain from eastern europe after 2004. we must leave it there, fascinating. _ europe after 2004. we must leave it there, fascinating. thank— europe after 2004. we must leave it there, fascinating. thank you. - the number of anti—semitic hate crimes recorded by some of the uk's largest police forces rose sharply in the weeks following the hamas attack on israel. the community safety trust, a jewish charity, said the figures are shocking. some police forces also recorded a rise in islamaphobic offences. campaigners against anti—muslim abuse have described that as a "deeply worrying" development. live now to emily hilton. she is the uk director of the diaspora alliance, an international organisation dedicated to fighting antisemitism by promoting the values

of a multiracial democracy. thanks forjoining us this morning. when we talk about hate crimes, as this verbal, physical, is it both? i have not seen a specific breakdown of the hate crimes at this moment but what i understand from previous reports and speaking to people in the community as a number of different things that can be, verbal abuse, physical attacks, different things that can be, verbal abuse, physicalattacks, graffiti on jewish community buildings and synagogues and its shopping alongside the rice and islamophobia we are seeing in this moment and i think an indication of how what happened in the region of israel and palestine has reverberations for minority communities in the uk. 0bviously, minority communities in the uk. obviously, the notion that any jewish passion or missing person can be responsible for what is happening

abroad is nonsensical. what be responsible for what is happening abroad is nonsensical.— abroad is nonsensical. what are you heafina abroad is nonsensical. what are you hearing about _ abroad is nonsensical. what are you hearing about from _ abroad is nonsensical. what are you hearing about from the _ abroad is nonsensical. what are you hearing about from the people - abroad is nonsensical. what are you hearing about from the people who | hearing about from the people who are involved with, the kind of abuse they come up against? i are involved with, the kind of abuse they come up against?— they come up against? i think there is a general — they come up against? i think there is a general sense _ they come up against? i think there is a general sense of— they come up against? i think there is a general sense of concern - they come up against? i think there is a general sense of concern and i is a general sense of concern and distress and a sense of lack of safety in this time. i think both from members of thejewish community and members of the muslim community as well but what is done particularly interesting is the opportunities for coming together to try and think about how this can be addressed collectively. as a jewish person, some of the most supportive solidarity and moments has been with muslim colleagues and friends and a real sense that we need to pave a way forward, thinking about how we express a desire for if future together in the uk and also israel and palestine that is based on

freedom and equality. that being the actual rate for safety and away from anti—semitism and anti—arab muslim racism. anti-semitism and anti-arab muslim racism. ., ., anti-semitism and anti-arab muslim racism. ., ~ , ., anti-semitism and anti-arab muslim racism. ., ~ . anti-semitism and anti-arab muslim racism. ., . ., racism. thank you so much and apologies _ racism. thank you so much and apologies for — racism. thank you so much and apologies for the _ racism. thank you so much and apologies for the break-up - racism. thank you so much and apologies for the break-up on i racism. thank you so much and i apologies for the break-up on the apologies for the break—up on the line. the us military�*s secretive x37b robot space plane has blasted off from florida on its seventh mission. for the first time, it was carried into orbit by a falcon heavy rocket from elon musk�*s spacex. the pentagon says the orbital vehicle will carry out a series of experiments during its mission. one will involve exposing plant seeds to the effects of radiation during a long space flight. its last mission lasted more than 900 days. the us launch comes two weeks after china sent its own robot space plane into orbit for the third time. let's speak to dr luke daly.

he is a planetary scientist at the school of geographical and earth sciences at the university of glasgow. this is quite a secret mission, isn't it? it this is quite a secret mission, isn't it? ., .,, this is quite a secret mission, isn't it? ., , , this is quite a secret mission, isn't it? ., , ., , ., isn't it? it almost gets lots of intri . ue isn't it? it almost gets lots of intrigue around _ isn't it? it almost gets lots of intrigue around it, _ isn't it? it almost gets lots of intrigue around it, because i isn't it? it almost gets lots of. intrigue around it, because the isn't it? it almost gets lots of - intrigue around it, because the us space force does not tell us what is on it but that intrigue makes it one of the most well observed and detected objects, the amateur astronomy community gets inspired and goes out looking for it so it would not be surprising if we find out where it is and where it is going. it out where it is and where it is anoin. , ., ., ,, going. it is quite hard to miss. about a quarter— going. it is quite hard to miss. about a quarter of— going. it is quite hard to miss. about a quarter of the - going. it is quite hard to miss. about a quarter of the size - going. it is quite hard to miss. about a quarter of the size ofl going. it is quite hard to miss. i about a quarter of the size of the space shuttle and look similar to the shuttle, maybe not as clandestinely as you would think in the night sky, still reflecting on sunlight. the night sky, still reflecting on sunliuht. ., , , ., sunlight. how interesting is that it usina sunlight. how interesting is that it usin: the sunlight. how interesting is that it

using the elon _ sunlight. how interesting is that it using the elon musk— sunlight. how interesting is that it using the elon musk rocket - sunlight. how interesting is that it using the elon musk rocket to - sunlight. how interesting is that it i using the elon musk rocket to launch it, this mix between nasa and private finance?— it, this mix between nasa and private finance? it, this mix between nasa and rivate finance? ~ , , ., , private finance? absolutely, what is interestin: private finance? absolutely, what is interesting from _ private finance? absolutely, what is interesting from this _ private finance? absolutely, what is interesting from this perspective, i interesting from this perspective, one of the things the us space force said they wanted to do was test orbital machines and the falcon is one of the most powerful rockets we currently have and that sent kessler into the asteroid belt, it will simply your butlip permission to jupiter and it could have centred anywhere in the solar system, it has the power but what is likely as it will send it higher than before, previous experiments, going to a low earth orbit, some several hundred kilometres below the surface of the earth. that might go to geosynchronous orbit, some tens of thousands of kilometres above the surface of the earth. the pentagon sa in: it surface of the earth. the pentagon saying it will _ surface of the earth. the pentagon saying it will carry _ surface of the earth. the pentagon saying it will carry out _ surface of the earth. the pentagon saying it will carry out a _ surface of the earth. the pentagon saying it will carry out a series - surface of the earth. the pentagon saying it will carry out a series of l saying it will carry out a series of experiments including exposing plant seeds to the effects of radiation so why is that useful and why do we

need to know that? in why is that useful and why do we need to know that?— need to know that? in terms of sace, a need to know that? in terms of space. a lot — need to know that? in terms of space. a lot of _ need to know that? in terms of space, a lot of it _ need to know that? in terms of space, a lot of it is _ need to know that? in terms of space, a lot of it is unknown i need to know that? in terms ofl space, a lot of it is unknown and what we have ambitions for as a species is to put people back on the moon in a permanent human settlement with the artemis programme and eventually sent people to mars, this is something that spacex is passionate about and one of the key things we must learn is how we go forward on the mount, on long duration missions and space is a really horrible place to be in, challenging radiation rich environment, we want to know what happens to seeds and plants growing in that environment and if they are safe to eat afterwards and what is nice about this mission is it will be able to bring the materials back so we can study them in the lab and see what has happened to them in detail. we see what has happened to them in detail. ~ ., ., , ., detail. we wait to see, thanks so much forjoining _ detail. we wait to see, thanks so much forjoining us. _ detail. we wait to see, thanks so much forjoining us. before - detail. we wait to see, thanks so much forjoining us. before we i detail. we wait to see, thanks so i much forjoining us. before we go, let me show you some pictures of storms in the pacific which have led to huge waves battering the

coastline of california including this one, look at this. seemed to take everyone by surprise, the water crashing over the sea wall in ventura county. eight people treated for minor injuries. pretty spectacular and rather what course. stay with us. hello. whilst we'll still see blustery showers around today it's relatively quiet compared to what is either side of it. after the storms earlier in the week, another deep of low pressure this weekend. if you're on the move, keep across the forecast because there'll be some further heavy rain risk of flooding and maybe impacts from snow, too. strong to gale force winds, main impact from that will be at the centre of the low, though, out towards the west of ireland as we go through saturday, but can still see gales top and tail the country as that rain and snow sweeps eastwards. so that's coming up. more details in a minute. back to the here and now. we continue with the rest of the afternoon, cloud across northern parts of england, northern ireland, far south west of scotland. outbreaks of rain.

to the south of it, some sunshine, a few staying dry, a few scattered showers around and a blustery wind. to the north of it, a chilly day with wintry showers in the north of scotland, but through central and areas into glasgow, edinburgh region. this is where we'll stay dry with the sunshine. now tonight, that band of cloud, rain and hill snow will fizzle out, wet, windy with some wintriness in the far north east of scotland. and then there's the next area of rain pushes in. temperatures will rise later in the night, but not before they drop down into lower single figures, maybe as low as minus seven through parts of scotland. so a cold start to the weekend, dry and bright start for the early risers in the north and the east. but cloud and rain already developing in the west, heaviest in northern ireland and then spreading its way northwards and eastwards. could see snow of a brief time in northern ireland, the hills of northern england before turning back to rain, and temperatures, well, rising towards the south and east where we'll see some of the drier weather through the afternoon, up to around 15 degrees. but lots of cloud here. cold all across scotland and again, some of the roads could be impacted by some heavy snowfall as we go

through the second half of saturday. so the a9 82/83, that sort of thing. but it will turn back to rain later on as you see another band of rain sweep eastwards through the latter stage of saturday across england and wales. that clears out into sunday. sunshine and showers aame of the game for many on new year's eve, windiest towards the english channel and across shetland again, could see winds gust 60/70 miles an hour. lighter wind, slower moving showers in the centre so we could see some large rainfall totals for one or two, but others may stay dry. and then as we head up to the midnight hour and welcome in 2024, it's going to be on the cooler side, but nothing desperately chilly but some further showers around and still windy in the far south. take care.

this is bbc news, the headlines. ukraine says russia has launched a massive air attack overnight with explosions reported across the country. twelve people are reported killed, with at least four deaths in the city of dnipro. the top election official in the us state of maine has ruled that donald trump cannot run for president next year in the state. officials say they've banned him because he incited his supporters to storm the capitol building in january 2021. israel has expanded its military operation into palestinian refugee

camps in central gaza. thousands of people have fled the area. it comes as a hamas delegation heads to cairo to give its response to an egyptian ceasefire plan. now on bbc news we look back at the lives of some of the famous and celebrated people who've passed away in 2023. # nothing compares. # nothing compares to you... the point at which i start crying is on the lines, "all the flowers that you planted, mama, in the backyard, all died when you went away." because as a young child, i had

spent time living in the garden,