tens of thousands of people there enjoying a huge display of fireworks. let's pop over to taipei and listen into their celebrations. parts of asia have been celebrating the arrival of 2a, china and malaysia among the latest to welcome in the new year. we'll bring you more on new year's celebrations around the world —

later in the programme. but now, let's turn to the middle east. the us military says its helicopters have destroyed three small boats in an attack on a container ship in the southern red sea. it's the second assault by iran—backed houthi rebels on the ship within 2a hours. the us says the gunmen — who launched the raid from yemen — attacked in four boats, coming within 20 metres of the vessel. the fourth craft fled the area. the houthi rebels say their actions are in protest against the gaza war, where there were more air strikes by israel overnight. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, is insisting that the war in gaza will continue until all hostages have been released — and hamas has been dismantled. shaimaa khalil reports from jerusalem. street by street, the battles on the ground in gaza rage on. israel is concentrating its ground offensive on the centre and the south of the strip. with hamas fighters continuing to resist the idf�*s advances.

translation: the war is at its height. - we are fighting on all fronts. we have huge success but we also have painful cases. central gaza is the latest focus of israel's military operation, with heavy bombardment on the densely populated nuseirat refugee camp. further south, in neighbouring deir al—balah, palestinian rescue workers stand around the body of their colleague. he was killed in a strike near the al aqsa hospital where many of the wounded are being treated. this is the safe area where palestinians were told to come to escape the fighting in the centre. but as the military operation expands, safe areas for gazans keep shrinking. the southernmost city of rafah has now become the last stop for hundreds of thousands of displaced people fleeing the heavy bombardment in khan younis. many using makeshift shelters near the border with egypt.

there is nowhere else to go from here. translation: | hope - that the war will end soon. i hope we can return to our homes, go back to school, return to everything that is familiar in the new year. the fallout from the war in gaza continues to be felt in the red sea, with yet another houthi attack. the us central command said that navy helicopters destroyed three of four small boats used by the iranian—backed militants as they attempted to board a container ship. this footage released last month shows some of the group's armed militias dropping from a helicopter and seizing a cargo ship in the southern red sea. the houthis have claimed that their attacks on this vital shipping route are directed at vessels linked to israel in response to its conflict with hamas. as this year draws to a close there is no end in sight for the war in gaza or the suffering of its people.

lets examine in more detail now the events that have been taking place in the red sea. the us navy has confirmed it destroyed houthi "small boats" whose crew attempted to board a container ship there. live now to rear admiral dr chris parry. he's a former royal navy warfare officer, strategic forecaster and writer. thank you very much a being with us. there had been a slight lull in these attacks from the houthis. what do you make of this latest one and the response? i do you make of this latest one and the response?_ do you make of this latest one and the response?— the response? i think it's a continuation _ the response? i think it's a continuation of _ the response? i think it's a continuation of the - the response? i think it's a. continuation of the pressure the response? i think it's a - continuation of the pressure that iran threw the houthis is trying to apply to nations to offset the support that they are giving to israel. they are not too fussy about some of the vessels that they are attacking. originally, of course, they said they were attacking those with israeli connections but they have become a lot less discriminating and they are just

trying to make trouble in one of the checkpoints of the maritime trading system. checkpoints of the maritime trading s stem. ., ., �* , checkpoints of the maritime trading s stem. ., ., �*, ., system. you mention it's a checkpoint. _ system. you mention it's a checkpoint, taught - system. you mention it's a checkpoint, taught us - system. you mention it's a l checkpoint, taught us about system. you mention it's a - checkpoint, taught us about that particular section of the red sea and tell us why that is so important and tell us why that is so important and why they targeted that. fine and tell us why that is so important and why they targeted that.- and why they targeted that. one of the thin . s and why they targeted that. one of the things i — and why they targeted that. one of the things i have _ and why they targeted that. one of the things i have said _ and why they targeted that. one of the things i have said over - and why they targeted that. one of the things i have said over the - the things i have said over the years is that the sea is the physical equipment of the world wide web. and you get checkpoints where the geography constrains the maritime routes. you get in the english channel, the straightness singapore and near aden. you get quite a lot of shipping going through its very high density and of course, much of the oil and gas that the west uses comes through that route. the only alternative really is to go round the cape and it's quite significant that the houthis, are agents of iran, are not constraining oil and gas that is going to china and india but they are constraining the oil and gas thatis are constraining the oil and gas that is coming to europe and the rest of the free world. tell that is coming to europe and the rest of the free world.—

rest of the free world. tell is a little bit about _ rest of the free world. tell is a little bit about the _ rest of the free world. tell is a little bit about the response. l rest of the free world. tell is a | little bit about the response. a rest of the free world. tell is a - little bit about the response. a lot of these countries have come together and put ships in the area. how big an effort does that need to be and how much will it affect people's ability to deploy elsewhere around the world given the number of conflicts and commitments that these countries have? it’s conflicts and commitments that these countries have?— countries have? it's a very good question- _ countries have? it's a very good question. much _ countries have? it's a very good question. much of— countries have? it's a very good question. much of the _ countries have? it's a very good i question. much of the technology countries have? it's a very good - question. much of the technology on the platforms rely on the united states navy and its extensive support system but french, the danes are deploying, the royal navy has hms diamond there, they need really specific capabilities that are able to shoot down the cruise and ballistic missiles that the houthis have a deployed. they have been supplied by iran and china. it's a good test of naval technology right now to see that they can do that. as you sayjust now, the houthis are trying to attack using very unsophisticated high—speed vessels. that's not going to work. the firepower that the royal navy is can bring they can deal with that. as we

say, what is happening here is that iran and the rest of its authoritarian coalition, china, north korea, russia are trying to impose costs of the free world for their support of ukraine and israel and otherfree their support of ukraine and israel and other free world their support of ukraine and israel and otherfree world democracies that want to survive in the face of this authoritarian threat. tell that want to survive in the face of this authoritarian threat.- this authoritarian threat. tell us about the response. _ this authoritarian threat. tell us about the response. there's - this authoritarian threat. tell us i about the response. there's been this authoritarian threat. tell us - about the response. there's been no attempt to hit the uses in yemen and why do you think there's been no restraint and why do you think they will continue to hold back on hitting the houthis? that will continue to hold back on hitting the houthis?- will continue to hold back on hitting the houthis? that a good cuestion. hitting the houthis? that a good question- i _ hitting the houthis? that a good question. ithink— hitting the houthis? that a good question. i think there _ hitting the houthis? that a good question. i think there is - hitting the houthis? that a good question. i think there is a - hitting the houthis? that a good| question. i think there is a desire to de—escalate and try and contain the conflict in the red sea rather than connecting it to what is happening in israel and gaza. i think as long as the warships can contain the threat, i think we won't see any strikes on houthi platforms. the minute they become more of a problem i think you will find that

surveillance systems have been very active in finding where the houthi command systems are an that missiles will become a limited —— eliminated as soon as they become a wider problem and that the ships can't cope. problem and that the ships can't co e. ., ~' problem and that the ships can't coe. ., ~ ,, problem and that the ships can't coe. ., ~ y problem and that the ships can't co e, ., ~' , ., , . problem and that the ships can't coe. . ~ , . ., problem and that the ships can't coe. ., " , . ., , cope. thank you very much for being with us here — cope. thank you very much for being with us here on _ cope. thank you very much for being with us here on bbc _ cope. thank you very much for being with us here on bbc news. - russia has carried out more drone attacks on ukraine, with reports of explosions in a number of cities, including kharkiv and kyiv. the missile strikes on central kharkiv — which started yesterday — have now injured at least 21 people. the strikes are in apparent retaliation for ukraine's drone attack on the russian city of belgorod , which killed at least 20 people. and reuters is reporting the governor of belgorod has issued a warning more missiles are heading towards residents there. the kremlin has requested an urgent meeting of the un security council. here's our russia editor, steve rosenberg. china's leader, xijinping, has reiterated his claim that it is inevitable that taiwan will be reunified with mainland china. mr xi made the comments during his new year's address, which comes less than two weeks before a general election

in the self—ruled island that beijing considers part of its own territory. in the speech, president xi also addressed a challenging year for the country's economy, stating it had �*weathered the storm'. the first eurostar service today to paris has left london, following a day of cross—channel chaos. all trains were cancelled yesterday due to flooding in tunnels under the river thames. these pictures are of passengers boarding at st pancras this morning. eurostar says all services will run to and from london, but there are warnings that delays are still likely. ellie price reports. the first eurostar train to leave london since friday night pulled away just after eight o'clock this morning. 41 services were cancelled yesterday, leaving lots of passengers disappointed and stranded, and madly trying to reorganise their new year plans. a little bit anxious because i'm just waiting to travel, spend the new year with my fiance. he is french and lives in paris. so we're just waiting to see.

he works for french border police. so we'lljust see what happens. we tried flying to brussels. that didn't work out either. and now we're back to take a train today, hopefully. they gave all the standby seats away so they didn't have - any seats on the plane. so it's been a disaster from start to finish? yes. it was all caused by flooding in two high—speed rail tunnels under the thames. pumping this much water out wasn't a quickjob. we have cleared the water from both of the tunnels that were impacted yesterday under the thames and we are looking to run a near normal service this morning. it's had a knock—on effect on domestic high—speed services, too, though most seem to be running on time now. eurostar say all speed restrictions on the line have now been lifted and all services will be travelling at normal speeds. but for many it wasn't quite the bon voyage to 2023 they were looking for. ellie price, bbc news, st pancras, in london. a crackdown on xl bully

dogs comes into force in england and wales today. it means owners must follow strict rules on how they are handled in public, including keeping them muzzled and on a lead. it comes ahead of a ban in february when it will be a criminal offence to own an xl bully dog in england and wales without a certificate. our north of england correspondent, danny savage, has more. police at the scene of a dog attack, one where an xl bully type killed a man. elsewhere, this dog was handed in by its owner after it bit them. it was put down soon after we filmed it. too many such incidents have led to a ban on these dogs. but, of course, the issue is that the aggression of a minority of xl bullies has led to all of them becoming a banned type, and all face the consequences of the law change. from today, these dogs can only be out in public if they're muzzled and on a lead. that's it.

you're all right. from today, it's also illegal to breed, sell or abandon an xl bully. that means rehoming them will be impossible. if they're not wanted, they're likely to be destroyed. we won't be able to take in any xl bullies. we won't be able to rehome any xl bullies. people are concerned about how to do muzzle training. so there's some really good advice out there on how to muzzle train yourdog. but they're also concerned about the dog not being able to be let off—lead. so a dog that is an xl bully and registered won't be allowed to be off—lead in a public place. and you can see how much he loves snuffling. so, for him, this activity is going to be perfect. for months now, some xl bully owners have been taking their dogs to training... bingo. ..to get them used to a much more controlled life. good boy. at first everyone thought a ban means that, ok, that's it. you know, you have to say goodbye to your dogs. thankfully, a lot of good information came out quite quickly, and so people were able to see that that's not the case. but yeah, panic, stress, they're loved fam... they're part of the family.

can you judge a temperament like this or do you need longer? really, temperament's hard because, for example, if we were saying this dog's safe, i don't think we can ever say a dog is safe. police will be calling on people who haven't declared their dogs. existing xl bullies can still be kept if owners can prove to a court they're responsible. in cases where we believe the court may, you know, sort of approve an exemption, is we'll speak to the owner and say, "look they're obviously going to have to be spayed or neutered. the decision is with the court. but if you wanted to go ahead and do that now, things like the microchipping, the insurance and things like that." and also getting the home environment ready for the dog's return. good lad. xl bullies have caused too many problems for the government to ignore. yes, it's left many owners upset, but this is seen as the most effective way to deal with them. danny savage, bbc news. now it's time for a look at today's sport.

thank you very much. let's start in the premier league, two games today and there's been a twist at the top of the table. arsenal have lost 2—1 at fulham, missing their chance to return to the top. they took the lead through bukayo saka, but goals from rauljimenez and bobby decordova reid either side of half—time was enough for the home side to win and move them up to 12th. arsenal remain fourth, two points off liverpool, having played a game more. in the day's other game, spurs cruised to a 3—1 win over bournemouth. goals from heung min son and richarlison in the last 20 minutes adding to pape sarr�*s opener, before bournemouth grabbed a consolation goal through alex scott, who also had a goal ruled out shortly after by the video assistant. spurs nowjust a point behind rivals arsenal in the table. hugo lloris came onto the pitch at the tottenham hotspur stadium to wave goodbye to the spurs fans at half time. he's agreed a deal to go to mls side

lafc when the window opens, after 11 years at the club. luton town captain tom lockyer says he will meet specialists in the new year to decide his footballing future. lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest during luton�*s match against bournemouth on the 16th of december and has had an internal defibrillator fitted. in a statement on social media, he praised the doctors and paramedics, as well as the reactions of his team—mates and both sets of fans, at the match earlier this month. new zealand skipper mitchell santner took four wickets as they beat bangladesh by 17 runs in their third t20 match in mount maunganui.he helped dismiss the tourists in mount maunganui. he helped dismiss the tourists for a modest iio, but new zealand collapsed to 49—5 before recovering to within 16 runs of victory, when heavy rain halted play. they were ahead of the dls rate at that stage and the match was eventually called off, giving the hosts the win

which ensured the series finished all—square. at the united cup tennis in perth, taylor fritz has led the usa to an impressive comeback win over great britain. katie boulter gave britain the lead with the best win of her career, beating world number five jessica pegula in three sets but fritz was too good for cameron norrie, levelling the tie and taking it to a deciding mixed doubles match. boulter was back, paired with neal skupski, and they raced through the first set 6—1 but fritz and pegula won it on a super tie—break to reach the quarter—finals. novak djokovic won on his united cup debut with a straight sets victory over china's zhang zhizhen. i can tell you that the io—time australian open champion was beaten in the mixed doubles alongside olga danilovic, meaning china beat serbia in the tie.

the detroit pistons' record—tying losing streak in the nba has finally come to an end. they'd lost 28 games in a row, but they squeezed past toronto raptors 129—127, cade cunningham with 30 points and 12 assists. helping them to that much—needed victory. oh, man, ifeelamazing. yes, this is my first time... i am cheesing right now in this interview but i feel good. it's been a long time coming. don't want to go back to where we were. yes, a record they wanted to see ended. all the reaction to arsenal's defeat at fulham and spurs' win against bournemouth is over on the bbc sport website, bbc.com/sport but that's all the sport for now. sarah, thank you very much indeed.

authorities in the democratic republic of congo say president felix tshisekedi had been re—elected. the country's election commission reports the president won about 73% of the vote, with his nearest challenger, moise katumbi, on 18%. there have been complaints about irregularities. the vote was marred by widespread logistical problems — with a number of polling stations opening late. the opposition said the problems were part of a deliberate plan to allow the results to be rigged in favour of mr tshisekedi. several of the main challengers have called for protests after the results are announced. the australian journalist and documentary filmakerjohn pilger — known for his hard—hitting journalism and tv documentaries — has died at the age of 8a. he worked for a number of publications including the daily mirror; world in action and the guardian and was highly critical of western foreign policy. he first became prominent with his 1970s documentary film �*the quiet mutiny�*, made during one of his visits to vietnam. he also helped expose the extent of the cambodia genocide

under the pol pot regime, and later described tony blair as a �*war criminal�* over britain�*s involvement in iraq. it�*s a time of year when — despite the cold weather — plenty of people like to go for a swim in the sea. but there remains concern over the quality of water off the coast of the uk, and there�*s a call for water companies to provide real time data about when and where sewage dafydd morgan reports. you can never have a bad swim, but do you want to come out feeling ill? robert morgan lives and breathes the gower coastline, but enjoying this beautiful part of south wales comes with its risks. you can actually see the sewage come out of the pipe. absolutely disgusting, the smell. i�*ll go for a swim today. sometimes you can smell that detergenty smell. you can actually see it. sewage discharge means that some families now consider their local beaches to be unsafe. paddling on the stand—up paddle board on a beautifully clear evening. and as soon as we�*re over that pipe,

on one occasion, this smell, the colour of the water went from crystal clear to brown. and again, unmistakably, you know, a sewage slip. combined sewage systems mean wastewater from toilets, bathrooms and kitchens is carried to sewage treatment works in the same pipes as rainwater. when rainfall is heavy, treatment plants are allowed to discharge untreated sewage to prevent the system from being overwhelmed. but if plants release more sewage than they�*re allowed to, they could be in breach of their permits. surfers against sewage�*s annual water quality report claims that sewage was discharged for more than 600,000 hours in wales last year. every year, thousands of people come to the beach here on poppit sands. it�*s one that�*s proud to fly its blue flag. but figures from welsh water show that waert overflow system, across the estuary here, released on 2a occasions over the last two years. we do need to see concrete action. so promises are being made and that is all very, very encouraging.

but we need to see action happening now. welsh water say that the surfers against sewage report ignored the investment made to improve water quality in seas and rivers. but they acknowledge that there�*s more to do and they�*re assessing the environmental impact of their assets, including storm overflows, so they can understand the factors impacting bathing water quality. they also say that there are other factors that contribute to sea and river pollution. hafren dyfrdwy, which covers parts of north east and mid wales, say they take their responsibility towards river health very seriously. natural resources wales, the body responsible for monitoring water quality, said while they had seen great improvements in recent years, it was taken action to drive down sewage spills. parts of asia have begun celebrating

the arrival of the new year with china, the philippines amongst the latest to delete and accelerate the arrival of 202a. and in australia, huge crowds gathered in sydney for one of the world�*s most spectacular fireworks displays over the harbour bridge and the opera house. rachel mcadam reports. five, four, three, two, one! new year celebrations have officially begun. auckland in new zealand became the first major city to mark the start of 2024 with this light show on its harbour bridge and sky tower. sydney followed on from auckland with huge crowds gathering to watch a spectacular firework display over the harbour bridge and the opera house. japan has welcomed in the new year with this bell—ringing ceremony in tokyo. followed shortly after by seoul in south korea. fireworks then lit up the sky in

hong kong while in taiwan, crowds enjoyed this display at the taipei skyscraper. countries across the rest of the world are still gearing up for midnight celebrations and in some places preparations are still under way. in london, the fireworks display later is over in minutes, but is months in the making. planning started in august, but a small team of 22 have spent three long days on the final touches. 10,000 fireworks are loaded onto three barges ready to head down the thames to the london eye, where they�*ll be set off at midnight. we�*ve got over 30 tonnes of equipment that gets loaded onto the barges, 50 kilometres of cable and wiring, 4,500 cues that are all need to be wired in and tested already for the midnight moment. preparations on the day itself are often close to the wire, with the london eye rigged just two hours before the display starts. with everything set, the sky a blank canvas, the teams will be hoping it all runs like clockwork. rachel mcadam, bbc news.

with everything set, the sky a blank canvas, the teams will be hoping it all runs like clockwork. rachel mcadam, bbc news. and if you want to follow along with new year celebrations happening around the world you can check out our live page on the bbc news website. and just before we go , here�*s something you don�*t see every day... this is the moment a meteor went flying over england in the early hours of saturday. footage posted on social media showed what appeared to be a shooting star, which could be seen from locations including kent, london and birmingham. plenty more to you on our website any time. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello. we are ending the year with a day of sunny spells but also rather blustery showers. there will be some heavy downpours still to come at times, some hail and thunder always possible. the ground is already saturated in a few spots. a number of flood warnings in force, do take a look at the bbc weather website for more details on those. any extra rainfall really not welcome in quite a few places. low pressure centred across the uk will be slowly pushing eastwards for the rest of the day. blustery showers swirling around. very strong winds towards the south coast of england and wales, a weather warning in place there. gusts of wind across

the north devon coast the north devon coast could get up to as 60 or 70 mph at times. lighter winds to the centre of the low across northern england and scotland and ireland. perhaps rain edging to parts of aberdeenshire by the end of the day. temperatures little lower than they were yesterday. lots of people out out tonight ringing in the new year, a scattering of showers to the south coast of england and here the winds are still strong and could quite possibly hamper any fireworks displays. a few showers across the south—east and east anglia but more showers across the midlands and the north—west of england feeding down this north—westerly wind across northern ireland and south—west of scotland. largely dry for much of scotland. it will be a drier looking day tomorrow but more rain edging in from the south—west by the time we get to the end of the day. tomorrow though, looking largely dry through the morning for new year�*s day. if you are out for a new year walk there will be some sunshine around but cloud increasing for the south later with eventually outbreaks of rain. looking driver scotland northern england and northern ireland throughout the day. temperatures are a little lower.

that rain is going to be pushing northwards and eastwards as we head through monday night, again, a lot of that will be heavy over saturated ground. there is another know that going to be there is another low that going to be spinning in from the south on tuesday as we go through the morning into the afternoon eventually clearing northwards. some more snow perhaps over the tops of the hills in parts of aberdeenshire with a brisk south easterly wind here. temperatures dropping but milder towards the south of england and wales. a few more showers possible on wednesday and thursday. it will turn colder by the time we get to the weekend. bye for now.

you�*re watching bbc news. the headlines... the us navy says it�*s sunk three houthi rebel boats in the red sea — after they attacked and tried to board a container ship off the coast of yemen. the american military says the vessels got within metres of the maersk ship — which has come under attack for the second time in 2a hours. russia has carried out more drone attacks on ukraine with reports of explosions across the country. in kharkiv, the city�*s mayor says residential buildings have been on fire. moscow has been retaliating after ukrainian strikes on the russian border city of belgorod. eurostar services resume between london and paris — after days of travel disruption. it was caused by two flooded tunnels blocking the high speed rail line —

now on bbc news — let�*s look back over 2023 and the sporting highlights. 2023 was a remarkable year for sport. up here, an historic treble. down under, a women�*s world cup. england and australia couldn�*t be separated in the ashes whilst cricket, rugby union and netball all had world cups of their own. golf came togetherfor the solheim and ryder cups. but the start of this sporting year was, for some, less a beginning and more a resumption.