ukraine has carried out a series of deadly air strikes on targets in south—west russia over the past 2a hours. these pictures show smoke rising above the city of belgorod where russia's emergency ministry says 1a people, including two childrenm have been killed and dozens of others injured. the city is located approximately a0 kilometres north of the border with ukraine, 80 kilometres away from the ukrainian city of kharkiv. this dashcam video has been verified by the bbc. it shows an explosion on a street in the city, and people running from the scene. otherfootage and images show damage to buildings and vehicles gutted by fire. if the numbers of dead are confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest strikes on russia of the war so far, after nearly two years of fighting. it comes a day after friday's massive bombardment of ukraine, the biggest of the war so far. ukraine's president zelensky says at least 39 people were killed

when 150 russian missiles and drones were launched at cities across ukraine. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse gave us this update from kyiv. the kremlin promised that these drone attacks by ukraine wouldn't go unpunished, in its words, and it hasn't hung around in its response. a day after launching more than 150 missiles on cities across ukraine, we are told by authorities in kharkiv, in the northeastern city, also close to the russian border, that a medicalfacility, residential blocks and other public spaces have been hit, including a hotel that our team was staying at four days ago. and itjust reminds you of the risk that city's civilian areas face. and you don't necessarily need to be close to the border or the front lines for that threat to go away. it is a threat that faces the whole of ukraine.

and we've seen this, the more than 70 launched by kyiv earlier today, on the south eastern belgorod region, around the city of belgorod, and nearby, where kyiv has said it was targeting military sites, including a microchip factory. but what's clear, if you look at the concentration of russian deaths, is that kyiv has felt emboldened, if you like, to to target cities as well, as a direct response to what the country endured yesterday. peter dickinson is from the atlantic council's eurasia center. i asked him about the significance of this ukrainian attack to russia. at this stage, it is very much a fog of war, there are competing claims, but it certainly appears there has been a significant strike on belgorod, 1a dead reported, and the ukrainian side they were targeting

military targets, and they blamed the russian anti—aircraft defence systems for malfunctioning or performing incorrectly and bringing debris down onto the civilian population. we will of course hear many more such claims going forward but it is clear that this is the biggest civilian death toll in russia in almost two years since the invasion began. putin has been very careful to shield the russian population from the war and maintain business as usual stance. this will shatter that and it will send shock waves through russia, i'm sure, and because of vengeance. it will certainly lead to escalation. it will send a strong message also that russians cannot simply wage war on ukraine and not expect to receive any retaliation from the ukrainian side. , . ~ any retaliation from the ukrainian side. , ., ~ ., side. yes, let talk about the motivation _ side. yes, let talk about the motivation from _ side. yes, let talk about the motivation from the - side. yes, let talk about the i motivation from the ukrainian side. yes, let talk about the -

motivation from the ukrainian side. is this in retaliation to what happened yesterday with that huge wave of attacks? in happened yesterday with that huge wave of attacks?— wave of attacks? in general we can sa es, wave of attacks? in general we can say yes. but _ wave of attacks? in general we can say yes. but in _ wave of attacks? in general we can say yes, but in terms _ wave of attacks? in general we can say yes, but in terms of— wave of attacks? in general we can say yes, but in terms of civilian - say yes, but in terms of civilian casualties, it does mean we have to be cautious because ukraine had been very careful throughout the campaign to strike military targets primarily in deference to ukraine's own allies, who are very cautious about arming ukraine to strike against russian civilian targets. they have been very careful to avoid complications with the country's western partners, so you would think there is some credibility to their claim that they were actually hitting eight turnout putting —— targeting military targets. there is probably widespread satisfaction of people saying, well, not necessarily glorifying in the losses, but saying, there you go, now you know how we feel. ukrainian population

under the threat of bombing for the last two years. under the threat of bombing for the last two yew-— last two years. there is an understanding _ last two years. there is an understanding that - last two years. there is an understanding that when l last two years. there is an - understanding that when ukraine received weaponry from its western allies, they would not be used, long—range weapons, cross—border against russia. does that change this agreement and how will the west, the us, uk and western partners, view ukraine's actions? that is the $64,000 question, at this stage it is not clear. this is a border city, it is very close to the border and the weapons used are potentially of ukrainian origin and it is not clear yet they were provided by foreign partners. it is certainly within the range of ukraine's own domestically produced arsenal, so it is not at this stage apparently used western weapons, certainly we have not seen the long—range weapons provided by ukraine's western allies to strike places further away, for example moscow or saint petersburg. there will be lots of claims about that

and ukraine will no doubt claim they did not use weapons provided by western allies. we have also seen western allies. we have also seen western allies' ambiguous statements in relation to this, saying they would perhaps turn a blind eye in certain circumstances, and ukraine will say they did it with their own weapons. will say they did it with their own wea ons. ~ ., , , ., weapons. where does this leave the war in ukraine? _ weapons. where does this leave the war in ukraine? we _ weapons. where does this leave the war in ukraine? we have _ weapons. where does this leave the war in ukraine? we have had - weapons. where does this leave the war in ukraine? we have had the . weapons. where does this leave the i war in ukraine? we have had the wave of strikes yesterday, now this retaliatory strike today and we believe russia has retaliated again. where are we? are we approaching some sort of stalemate here, do you think? if some sort of stalemate here, do you think? ., ., think? if nothing new from the russian side, _ think? if nothing new from the russian side, we _ think? if nothing new from the russian side, we have - think? if nothing new from the russian side, we have had - russian side, we have had bombardments in ukraine and kyiv for the last year, very intensively, going back to october of 2022, that is nothing new. russia will likely straight back and it certainly has done so, apparently. we have seen

that before, ukraine will be expecting that anyway. there defences have been increased and they are looking to increase them further. the interesting factor here is the idea of ukraine striking back against russia, which is something ukraine has vowed to do repeatedly over the last year, and especially recently, president zelensky has talked about bringing the war home to russia. this is something that will be worth watching in the coming weeks and months, if ukraine can expand its own retaliatory campaign against russia.— against russia. peter dickinson there. now to the crisis in the middle east. israeli gunfire and air strikes have continued to pound the gaza strip — with the focus on khan younis in the south. gaza's health ministry says that 165 people have been killed and 250 people injured in the past 24 hours. thousands of palestianians have moved towards rafah near the border with egypt in a bid to find safety. in the last hour, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu reiterated that the war would last

many more months. yolande knell reports. a giant campsite for the displaced crammed into an ever shrinking area. tens of thousands of gazans who fled the fighting have set up makeshift tents and shacks by the egyptian border. israel says it's not restricting aid for gaza, but the un complains the amount getting in is woefully inadequate. it's a very long and convoluted process with numerous checks before the aid actually gets into gaza. and then once the aids in gaza, you know, it's very difficult to get aid to people. essentially, we're delivering aid under fire. gaza's streets have been turned into battlegrounds as hamas fighters try to block the advance of israeli soldiers. the main focus for israel's ground troops is now the southern city of khan younis and the central urban refugee camps. translation: we arrested dozens of terrorists in a school. _

they were hiding among civilians, hamas and islamichhad. we took them to israel to continue their interrogation. large numbers of gazans have been detained by israel. the men here were picked up near their homes in the north. they claim they were beaten, stripped to their underwear and mistreated, even burnt with cigarettes. we can't independently verify their accounts. "they used obscene words," says ibrahim yassin. "they'd hold you like a dog and make you crawl. "then there'd be five soldiers who'd hit you alternately "in the head and body." israel insists it treats detainees according to international law. for now, there's no sign that israel is lowering the intensity of its attacks on gaza. it says its aim remains to dismantle hamas. hamas says it won't give up the remaining israeli hostages it's holding unless there's a full ceasefire. and with a new year about to begin, for those living close to gaza's front line, the suffering continues. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem.

the wall streetjournal has collated research from scientists, geophysicists and other experts which documents the destruction of gaza since the outbreak of war in the region. just take a look at these pictures. these are satellite images of beit hanoun in northern gaza, first in may, and then in october, after the war broke out. we can speak now to jared malsin, middle east correspondent at the wall streetjournal, who wrote the article. thank you forjoining us. first of all, what did your article, your analysis showed?— all, what did your article, your analysis showed? all, what did your article, your anal sis showed? ~ . ., ., analysis showed? what we have done is ut a analysis showed? what we have done is put a spotlight _ analysis showed? what we have done is put a spotlight on _ analysis showed? what we have done is put a spotlight on research - analysis showed? what we have done is put a spotlight on research that - is put a spotlight on research that has been done by our researchers, scientists around the world using satellite data to gauge the level of destruction in gaza because we have very little access to the

battlefield in gaza as journalists, so we are leaning on this excellent work, including by a so we are leaning on this excellent work, including bya pair of researchers from new york city and oregon state in the united states, and what they are doing is using radar to bounce radar off of the buildings in gaza, to take measurements of the estimated destruction and what they have found is about 70% of the residential homes in gaza and a half of the buildings have been damaged or destroyed. that is the level of destruction that is comparable to some of the most severe arming campaigns in —— bombing campaigns in history. if you think about world war ii, that is the ballpark we are in with this research, according to experts who have measured these things throughout history. how did ou things throughout history. how did you compile _ things throughout history. how did you compile all— things throughout history. how did you compile all of— things throughout history. how did you compile all of the _ things throughout history. how did you compile all of the information | you compile all of the information you compile all of the information you have and get what you believe to be such an accurate picture? weill.

be such an accurate picture? well, auain, be such an accurate picture? well, again. what _ be such an accurate picture? well, again. what they — be such an accurate picture? well, again, what they are _ be such an accurate picture? well, again, what they are doing - be such an accurate picture? well, again, what they are doing is - be such an accurate picture? -ii again, what they are doing is using this satellite data to take a picture of what was there before and then what was there after. they have done that periodically throughout the war is, they can measure how the destruction unfolded, and another analysis was done by analysts at the world bank. they also used radar signals to establish the same thing, to find out the widespread destruction of businesses, of holmes, of the underlying infrastructure. that is another issue, that because israel is targeting the subsoil of gaza, in order to destroy the tunnel network used by hamas, it means there is extensive damage to the underlying infrastructure like water, sewage, electricity, communications. all of those things will need to be repaired after the war is over. yes. repaired after the war is over. yes, ou repaired after the war is over. yes, you compare _

repaired after the war is over. yes, you compare it _ repaired after the war is over. yes, you compare it to _ repaired after the war is over. yes, you compare it to the _ repaired after the war is over. yes, you compare it to the destruction of european cities after two world wars. they were then rebuilt. 0f wars. they were then rebuilt. of course we are some way away from that being possible in gaza. what challenges does the area face in terms of a rebuild? that challenges does the area face in terms of a rebuild?— challenges does the area face in terms of a rebuild? that is part of what makes _ terms of a rebuild? that is part of what makes the _ terms of a rebuild? that is part of what makes the situation - terms of a rebuild? that is part of what makes the situation gaza - what makes the situation gaza unique, actually, that cities throughout history have been rebuilt after wars, obviously that happened after wars, obviously that happened after two world wars in europe. in gaza, there is a lot of uncertainty about the future, nobody really knows at this point who will be in control. israel has not said who it would hand over gaza to if it reaches its goal of destroying hamas. it has rejected a plan that the united states is advocating, to introduce... vary so much uncertainty about the political and initiative future there that it is hard to say how construction would

take place, who would pay for it and how it would unfold on a logistical level. so those challenges, i think, really set the current situation gaza apart from some recent cases we have seen. the gaza apart from some recent cases we have seen. ., ,, , ., , ., , have seen. the gaza strip has many buildinus have seen. the gaza strip has many buildings of — have seen. the gaza strip has many buildings of cultural _ have seen. the gaza strip has many buildings of cultural and _ have seen. the gaza strip has many buildings of cultural and historical. buildings of cultural and historical significance. can you give me some details of how those have been affected? , , ., ., , affected? this is one of the things that we researched _ affected? this is one of the things that we researched for _ affected? this is one of the things that we researched for the - affected? this is one of the things that we researched for the article, the extensive damage to heritage sites. gaza, like most places in the eastern mediterranean and middle east at large is an ancient place with a lot of heritage, going all the way back to pharaonic times, so we are talking about archaeological sites, fifth century mosques, churches that were damaged and destroyed. these were really things that cannot ever really be truly recovered. they can be rebuilt or

repaired but the original sites themselves have been either damaged or destroyed. what themselves have been either damaged or destroyed-— or destroyed. what response did you have from the _ or destroyed. what response did you have from the israeli _ or destroyed. what response did you have from the israeli military - have from the israeli military regarding the destruction? we regarding the destruction? - approached the israeli military for comment, we sent them accordance, the number of different sites, asking them for their comments on why these buildings were damaged, and they said they are taking steps to protect civilians. they also blame hamas for operating among the civilian population in gaza. they say that is the main challenge they are facing, and that the destruction they are inflicting in gaza is targeted at hamas and that is the aim of everything we are doing. thank you very much. the israel military has said it is targeting hamas and taking steps to

avoid cooling civilians, including ljy avoid cooling civilians, including by encouraging civilians to leave the areas it is attacking, it has accused hamas of using civilians and using channels to hide commanders. —— using tunnels to hide commanders. south africa has filed a case at the international court ofjustice alleging that israel is engaging in "genocidal acts" in gaza. the un court has confirmed the proceedings concerning alleged violations of israel's obligations under the genocide convention. the move has been welcomed by the leader of palestinian national initiative party mustafa barghouti. we appreciate and we support the decision of the south african government to take the case of genocide against palestinian people in gaza to the international court ofjustice. israel is committing three terrible war crimes against the people in gaza — the war crime of genocide, the war crime of collective punishment, and the war crime

of ethnic cleansing. and it is high time to hold israel responsible and accountable in front of the international community. israel has responded with fury. israeli foreign ministry spokesperson lior haiat says... he goes on to say... our correspondent daniel de simone is injohannesburg. he explained why south african politicians feel close to palestinians. there is a long context to this. the governing party of south africa, the south eight african national congress, was once in opposition to the apartheid regime in south africa.

it was a revolutionary movement with a military wing. in those years it did have links to some palestinian groups and since taking power almost 30 years ago in south africa it has retained links with palestinian organisations and it has spoken about that it views what is happening to palestinian people as a form of apartheid. so the case that was filed by them yesterday at the international court ofjustice really is not that much of a surprise. the south african government, the president has been speaking in the last few weeks, saying they regard what has been happening as a genocide, they talk about war crimes, so when the filing came yesterday it wasn't that much of a shock. it is sort of consistent with the previous evidence and the relations between the two countries are at an incredibly bad point. south africa withdrew all of its diplomats from israel last month. it hasn't had an ambassador there for years. and israel then withdrew its ambassador from south africa last month. the national assembly of south africa actually voted to suspend all diplomatic relations with israel, but the south african government is yet to respond to that vote.

thousands of eurostar passengers have been left stranded, on one of the busiest travel days of the year. a flooded tunnel meant all services to and from london's st pancras station were cancelled. workers from hs1, which runs the affected line, have been trying to pump out the water all day. here's marc ashdown. crowded platforms, frustrated faces — eurostar passengers hoping for a new year's break orjust trying to get home faced a day of disruption. all 41 services scheduled to run today between london st pancras and paris, brussels and amsterdam were cancelled, leaving thousands of people with their travel plans in tatters. i am just devastated. i've just had a little cry. i just want to get home. it's new year's eve tomorrow. i'm desperate to get to paris. i'm really, really desperate to be with my family. we could have booked flights today and i wish we had. so, yeah, iwill question whether eurostar�*s the best option.

a lot of people just sitting down and waiting. seems like they're in for the long haul. we'll have to wait and see who goes and who doesn't. thank you. oh, look, there's- an announcement now. fingers crossed. this was the cause. a train track turned into a river. water cascades into the thames tunnel near ebbsfleet. track operator hs1 described it as an unprecedented volume. engineers with pumps and tankers worked through last night and all day today to bring the water levels down and try to get things moving. this is not the first bout of major travel disruption over the festive period. a last—minute strike by french workers on eurotunnel saw major problems in the days running up to christmas day for those trying to travel between europe and london. and storm gerrit caused widespread havoc across the uk last week. there has also been major disruption on thames rail services today across london and the south east due to staff shortages. and tomorrow there will be no

services on northern rail — also because of a lack of staff and delays are expected on london northwestern and chiltern railways. eurostar has apologised for the disruption and said customers with tickets could exchange them or apply for a refund. some might be able to claim compensation. with the met office issuing yellow weather warnings tonight for wind, rain and snow for large parts of the uk, it is unlikely we've seen the end of the travel trouble. a man has appeared in court accused of murdering a 46—year—old man who was hit by a car while he giving first aid to a stranger in sheffield. hassanjhangur, who's 23, has been remanded in custody, and is also facing five counts of attempted murder. chris marriott had been out walking with his family when he stopped to help an unconscious woman, but was hit by a vehicle and died at the scene. the new year honours

list has been announced, with people recognised from the worlds of sport, entertainment and charity. the authorjilly cooper is made a dame, and there's a knighthood for michael eavis, who co—created the glastonbury music festival more than 50 years ago. and in a great year for women's football, there's recognition for three of england's lionesses. 0ur entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba has all the details. her books have sold in their millions. noinlly cooper has been made a dame for services to literature and charity. can't quite believe it. it's so lovely. i mean, when they told me i got the letter, and i thought, gosh, this can't be me. me? you know. but it was lovely, i was thrilled to bits. michael eavis has been welcoming festivalgoers to glastonbury for more than half a century. he's been knighted for his music and charity work. also receiving knighthoods — wetherspoons boss tim martin, who says he never expected to be

recognised for services to hospitality and to culture. god save the king! and justin welby, the archbishop of canterbury, is knighted for his role in the coronation. former rugby league players kevin sinfield and rob burrow have campaigned around motoneuron disease since burrow was diagnosed with the condition. they have both been made cbes. certainly weren't expecting it and this has never been about any recognition, this is about raising money and awareness for the mnd community and for fighting for rob. so, ifeel very humbled by the whole thing. three lionesses are recognised for services to football. millie bright, who captained the world cup finalists, says it feels incredible to be made an 0be.

england's joint top goal scorer at the world cup, lauren hemp, and golden glove and bbc sports personality of the year winner mary earps are both made mbes. in the entertainment world, tony blackburn says it's unexpected and humbling to be made an 0be for services to broadcasting and charity. fellow dj steve wright becomes an mbe, as does bake 0ff star paul hollywood, for services to broadcasting and baking. most honours go to people not in the public eye. rizwanjavid has saved 29 lives on rail platforms, approaching and talking to people who were showing signs they were thinking of ending their lives. he's been made an mbe. every intervention that i was involved in, ijust felt like it was a part of life. i never thought it would be recognised to this scale, but it's definitely given me the confidence to carry on this work and spread awareness amongst everyone. the oldest person honoured is 97—year—old jill gladwell, a poppy appeal collector for eight decades. she's been made an mbe, one of many being recognised

for making a real difference. lizo mzimba, bbc news. so many inspirational people there. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. good evening. some very wet, very windy weather for much of the uk today with tricky travelling conditions, particularly across much of the central belt of scotland with snow to low levels, that snow pushing further northwards and eastwards through the afternoon. it all comes courtesy of this deep area of low pressure working its way eastwards from the atlantic. a tight squeeze on the iso bars here. so strong, gusty winds, heavy rain and still the cold front to come through overnight tonight across central southern england, east anglia and the far south east of england. there will be some heavy rain for a short while and some squally gusts of wind as the front comes through. particularly blustery towards the south coast. gusts of wind here towards more exposed locations could get as high as 50—60mph. potentially blustery showers following on behind. turning dry for scotland

and here, not quite as cold as it was last night. now, this is how we'll start off new year's eve, sunday, of course. there will be a lot of dry weather out towards the east, i think, through the morning. staying dry across scotland for much of the day, but blustery showers still swirling around this area of low pressure, lighter winds across the center of low pressure. but again, towards the south coast of england and wales, there'll be some strong, gusty, brisk south—westerly winds blowing throughout the day. temperatures for most a little lower than they were earlier on today. and still some more blustery showers, i suspect, as we head into the evening. if you're out celebrating new year's eve, watch out because he may well catch a good scattering of showers towards the south as we head through the first part of the night. but then they'll gradually fade away. so, fewer of them by the time we get to midnight, still very windy towards the south coast, could cause some disruption with fireworks, but mild here. we'll see more of the showers as we head into northern england and across parts of northern ireland. scotland looking largely dry. the winds a little lighter here, perhaps some of the showers a bit wintry over the tops of the hills where we see them. and then into new year's day itself, monday, well, another area of low

pressure will approach from the southwest by the end of the day. but i think for much of the day, it should be largely dry and there'll be some sunshine around as well, particularly across wales, parts of central southern england, perhaps a legacy of cloud still stretching from south west scotland into northeast england for a time through the day. the winds will be lighter and the temperatures a little lower as well, 5—10 degrees celsius north to south. now, as we head through the rest of the week, then it is gradually going to be turning a little colder. it stays unsettled. more showers at times. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines. tank fire and air strikes have been reported in central and southern gaza. the un says around 150,000 palestinians are being forced to flee as israel's ground offensive advances. russia convenes a meeting of the un security council as it accuses ukraine of having targeted civilians in the city of belgorod with missiles and rockets, killing at least 14 people and wounding dozens more. eurostar cancels all of saturday's train services to and from london st pancras due to flooding in a tunnel. in a statement it says affected customers should visit their website to find out what compensation they can receive.

people from the worlds of sport, entertainment and charity are recognised in the new year honours list. britain's shortest—serving prime minister liz truss has unveiled her resignation honours list — which largely consists of political supporters and former aides — sparking an angry backlash from some critics. now on bbc news — here's sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. a stunning strike decides the old firm derby as celtic go 8 points at the top of the scottish premiership. while in the premier league, aston villa score late against burnley to go level on points with leaders liverpool. and northampton are top of rugby�*s premiership after fighting back to beat sale.