live from london, this is bbc news. searching for survivors — japanese authorities say at least 13 people have died and many others are trapped beneath rubble after a powerful earthquake struck on new year's day. south korea's opposition leader is stabbed in the neck at a news conference during a visit to the southern city of busan. the israeli government sharply criticises a ruling by the supreme court which struck down judicial reforms that prompted months of mass protests last year. and that buzzword �*productivity�* — ireland is leading the way, while the uk lags behind, impacting its economy. we'll explain why.

hello and a very warm welcome to the programme. i'm sally bundock. we start injapan, where at least 13 people have died in the powerful earthquake which struck the centre of the country on new years day. other people are feared to be trapped in rubble. the prime minister, fumio kishida, says the quake has caused numerous casualties and extensive damage. hundreds of buildings have collapsed or burnt down, many of them in wajima city. some roads are blocked, hampering rescue efforts. mr kishida said he'd ordered army personnel to get to the disaster—hit areas by any means possible. sura njana tewari reports. this footage from inside someone�*s home captures the moment the powerful earthquake struck. some staff at this news network took cover, while others wanted to cover the story.

the 7.6 magnitude earthquake struckjust after 4:00 in the afternoon, local time. it was caught on camera in this supermarket. there was chaos and confusion. tsunami warnings were issued, then downgraded, on the ishikawa coastline, and people were told to head to higher ground. translation: | would| like to ask all residents to continue to pay close attention to the occurrence of this strong earthquake. if you are in a region where a tsunami is expected, please evacuate as soon as possible. more than 140 kilometres from the epicentre, this video was taken by english teacher barnie davis. itjust kept going. it was really long. the fridge door was opening and shutting, pictures were going all over the place, everything fell off the shelves. it was pretty dramatic.

barnie and his family went to the local evacuation centre until he was told it was safe to return home. but then... literally just as we're talking, my phone's given us an alert, there's been another little earthquake up north again. the whole evening, there have been aftershocks. despite the damage to roads and buildings, this earthquake is not as severe as 2011, when a magnitude nine quake triggered a tsunami, leading to a nuclear meltdown at the fukushima power plant. this time, all nuclear facilities are currently u naffected. but following the earthquake, a huge fire broke out in one of the affected areas, and thousands are now spending the night outside in below—zero temperatures, fearful of going back into their homes as aftershocks continue to hit. according to the ishikawa prefetch officials they are

saying at least 30 people have been confirmed dead, so the death toll is rising. who's following the story from taipei. rupert, of course time is of the effort —— essence here in terms of finding the survivors. very much so. as you say, the death toll is starting to rise. we expected that given the amount of damage any scale of this earthquake. it was a very, very large quake. the pictures out ofjapan very large quake. the pictures out of japan yesterday afternoon showing the shaking, it hit seven on the japanese shaking scale, that is the maximum, the highest level of shaking the japan records. so i'm really not surprised we're seeing this of damage. any houses have collapsed, many older buildings, and there will be people trapped in there. the government has said 1000 rescuers, japan has very, very well—trained rescue teams, with dogs, with heat sensing

equipment, they will be going building to building looking for signs of life under collapsed buildings. time is of the essence, it is winter in northern japan, it is very cold at night and so they will be wanting to get to those people as soon as possible but they are facing all sorts of logistical problems because so many of the roads in that area are also down. there have been many dozens if not hundreds of landslides because, triggered by this quake, and that will make getting around the peninsula, the coastline they're very difficult for rescue teams and that is why the military has been brought in because they will need helicopters and things like that to get rescue people into the remoter areas. the that to get rescue people into the remoter areas.— the remoter areas. the prime minister, _ the remoter areas. the prime minister, though, _ the remoter areas. the prime minister, though, was - the remoter areas. the prime minister, though, was saying | minister, though, was saying they can really crack on lin 0nus now was search and rescue because of the passing of concern about a possible tsunami —— crack on now with the search and rescue. the downgrading _ the search and rescue. the downgrading of _ the search and rescue. the downgrading of this - the search and rescue. tue: downgrading of this warning, when the warning alarms went off yesterday and they said they thought there might be a

five metres tsunami heading towards the coast of ishikawa, that was the worst news possible. that meant thousands and thousands of people forced leave their homes. friends of mine at all to this morning said they had to leave their homes in faraway cities, more than 100 kilometres away from the epicentre people were leaving their homes and heading away from the coast because of the fear of a larger five metres and i'm hitting the coast there. that did not happen. 0vernight they have downgraded the warning now called it off this morning. huge relief about that because the tsunami is a terrifying thing, we all know that from 2011, that is what caused the massive destruction after the quakein massive destruction after the quake in 2011, that is what caused the damage to the four kashima nuclear plant, the fact there was no big tsunami, only smaller this time was a huge relief and that will make things happen much quicker. find things happen much quicker. and also in terms _ things happen much quicker. and also in terms of _ things happen much quicker. and also in terms ofjapan's also in terms of japan's response to this, japan is very geared up, isn't it, for dealing with earthquakes, the early warning systems they have in place, etc.

early warning systems they have in place. etc— in place, etc. yes, i've lived in place, etc. yes, i've lived injapan _ in place, etc. yes, i've lived him" for— in place, etc. yes, i've lived in japan for ten _ in place, etc. yes, i've lived in japan for ten years, - in place, etc. yes, i've lived in japan for ten years, a - in place, etc. yes, i've livedi in japan for ten years, a live injapan for ten years, a live through many of the quakes, was there during the aftermath of there during the aftermath of the 2011 quakes on the aftershocks there, it is a remarkable country with a remarkable country with a remarkable record of learning to live with very large—scale earthquakes. there are more than 1500 earthquakes recorded in japan than 1500 earthquakes recorded injapan every year and many of them are strong quakes, and yet them are strong quakes, and yet the damage, even from a very large quake like this yesterday, the damage has been limited. many old buildings have collapsed, but if you look at the city of koyama and other cities around there, despite the fact of very heavy shaking, very little damage to modern buildings and that is a testament to japan's engineering prowess and the preparedness for dealing with these sorts of quakes. tqm. these sorts of quakes. 0k, rupert. — these sorts of quakes. 0k, rupert, thank _ these sorts of quakes. 0k, rupert, thank you - these sorts of quakes. 0k, rupert, thank you for - these sorts of quakes. 0k, rupert, thank you for bringing us up—to—date. rupert wingfield—hayes who is bringing the speaker following this for us from japan. now we go live to sendai in

japan to speak to shinji toda, a professor of earthquake geology at tohoku university. good have you on the programme. in terms of what could happen next, talk us through what is likely to happen in terms of more aftershocks.— likely to happen in terms of more aftershocks. well, we're havini more aftershocks. well, we're havin: a more aftershocks. well, we're having a lot — more aftershocks. well, we're having a lot aftershocks - more aftershocks. well, we're having a lot aftershocks rightl having a lot aftershocks right now, the aftershocks have already happened, the after—shock itself tends to decay rapidly, but still we are in a dangerous situation. 50 in a dangerous situation. so how does this earthquake compared to ones that you've experienced before and studied? well, recently we had a large eventin well, recently we had a large event in 2016, the size of the earthquake was probably one fifth of this quake, so you can imagine how large this earthquake was an amounts to

7.5, so the larger shaking area is so wide and also the seismic indexis is so wide and also the seismic index is so high around the epicentre area and around the shaking it was 100 kilometres. how was the early warning system in place injapan, how has it affected this in terms of giving the numbers of deaths down? ~ �* ., ,., of giving the numbers of deaths down? ~ �* ., , down? well, we're not so sure so far, down? well, we're not so sure so far. but _ down? well, we're not so sure so far, but the _ down? well, we're not so sure so far, but the system - down? well, we're not so sure so far, but the system works l so far, but the system works pretty well. but the exception is, unfortunately, the area is very close to the high percentage, because we don't have any time to detect the seismic wave and tested. fortunately that system works well, probably100 fortunately that system works well, probably 100 kilometres away from the epicentre, but

close to the epicentre it didn't, especially such a shallow, strong quakes. unlike the 2011 earthquake which was far offshore the centre. can ou far offshore the centre. can you just _ far offshore the centre. can you just explain _ far offshore the centre. can you just explain why - far offshore the centre. can you just explain whyjapan gets you just explain why japan gets so many earthquakes?- so many earthquakes? well, because we _ so many earthquakes? well, because we are _ so many earthquakes? well, because we are just - so many earthquakes? well, i because we are just surrounded by the four or three, depends on the researchers, we are on the p—plated boundary, we have some zones, this includes in 2011, the source. also we are just anticipating the next huge one which influences the entire southwest of japan. so that is the situation we have stop so one tenth of the global

earthquakes are concentrated in the japanese islands, unfortunately.- the japanese islands, unfortunatel. ,, ., ., unfortunately. shin'i toda, we appreciateh unfortunately. shin'i toda, we appreciate your _ unfortunately. shinji toda, we appreciate your time. - unfortunately. shinji toda, we appreciate your time. thank i unfortunately. shinji toda, we. appreciate your time. thank for being on bbc news.— appreciate your time. thank for being on bbc news. south korea's opposition leader has been stabbed in the neck during a visit to the city of busan. lee jae—myung was surrounded by cameras and journalists when the attacker lunged at him. we have stopped the footage just before mr lee is attacked. the man was immediately bundled to the ground and arrested. the south korean news agency said mr lee remained conscious before being taken to hospital. kelly kasulis cho is the washington post's seoul breaking news reporter. she gave us some of the reaction to the attack. if it is gone viral, the footage of the attack because it is certainly very disturbing and very shocking and, of course, prominent medical

figures condemned this attack. president aoun, the current leader of south korea, has said the attackers unacceptable, the justice party which is a centre—left party within south korea a statement calling it an act of political terrorism. so the reaction of course is very negative and there are very strong supporters of lee jae—myung in south korea as well as people who do not want him to continue to be a political figure. the israeli government has sharply criticised a ruling by the supreme court which struck down judicial reforms. it said it was the wrong time for such a decision when israel was at war and needed unity. the reforms sparked months of protests as the legislation limited the court's powers to cancel government decisions. its opponents said it prevented proper oversight of the government. the court was split in its decision — eightjudges voted in favour of striking down the law, while seven voted to uphold it. jordana miller is a reporter

for us network abc news in jerusalem. she explained why these reforms were so controversial. well, the reason they were so controversial is because, jordana miller is a reporter for us network abc news in —— first of all, they were almost pushed through the legislature without any real talk with either the court or the opposition to reach some kind of consensus on re—tinkering the balance between the judiciary, the executive and the legislature. and that is one of the reasons that we saw for weeks and weeks and weeks, tens of thousands of israelis taking to the streets because essentially they saw this as not only a move to significantly weaken the courts from the supreme court on down, but they also saw it as a kind of power grab by israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, who, although this was only the first piece of a larger programme to overhaul the judiciary, they believed that there

was a conflict of interest here, that in the end, netanyahu might benefit and find a way out of his legal troubles. remember, part of this plan was also to pass an override bill with a slim majority. that is that the legislature, which is very aligned with the executive in this parliamentary system, would be able to essentially strike down the supreme court's decisions. so in a ruling of 8—7, the supreme court said that removing the reasonableness clause, which was at the base of this decision, just really struck and caused damage to israel's character as a democracy, that it harmed the separation of powers and the rule of law, and it could open the door to corruption and a lot of other problems,

also with individual rights, et cetera. and so the court, in a really unprecedented step, struck down a basic law. it should be said that netanyahu and his government knew what they were doing when they framed this law as a basic law, knowing it would be harder for the supreme court to make such a huge step and strike it down. they can't appeal against what the supreme court said, but if they chose to, they could ignore the ruling, which would bring a kind of constitutional crisis to israel. interesting developments there. we will be live tojerusalem in the next hour. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. police have named a 16—year—old boy who was stabbed

in north london last night as crowds gathered to welcome in the new year. harry pitman was attacked just before midnight on primrose hill. a 16—year—old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder. the medical director of nhs england has warned that the health service is facing one of its most difficult starts to a year since it was founded in 19118. sir stephen powis said a six—day strike planned by junior doctors would have an "enormous impact". ministers say the union's demand for a 35% wage increase is unaffordable. working parents in england can apply for more help with childcare costs from today. eligible two—year—olds will receive 15 hours of free childcare a week during term—time from april. but some daycare providers say they won't have the resources to manage the increased demand. you're live with bbc news.

ukraine's capital, kyiv, has been attacked again by russian drones early on tuesday morning. russian president putin has pledged to intensify attacks on ukraine, following days of aerial bombardment from both sides in the war. during a visit to a military hospital in moscow, mr putin said russia wanted to end the conflict but only on its own terms. meanwhile, there have been more strikes in the port area of 0desa. russia launched 90 drones early on monday — 87 of which were destroyed by the country's air defence systems. elsewhere, there have been more strikes in kharkiv. 0ur reporter 0lga malchevska has been speaking to locals in 0desa, kharkiv, and occupied crimea about the past few days of heavy strikes. what is usually a moment to celebrate turns into another deadly night for people in 0desa, coming under attack

from russian drones. hannah tells us she had to run to the shelter right at midnight. because of the russian fireworks, they are coming. the first time we came at midnight, and now it is again. ukraine woke up to at least five killed in southern 0desa and eastern donetsk, occupied by russia. moscow blames kyiv, repeating it does not target civilians. kyiv says russia sent a record 90 drones all over the country. ukraine is still mourning the deaths of more than a0 civilians killed just two days ago. this is what is left from a 5—star hotel in the centre of kharkiv. katerina lives nearby. translation: when i was cooking our festive meal, l i had to shelter in the bathroom because of the attack. the drones were right above our home. it was very scary. and this video we received

from the occupied crimea. decorated with ukrainian symbols, this christmas tree would be labelled extremism by russia if found. locals hope this year will finally bring freedom and peace. 0lga malchevska, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news now. landlocked ethiopia has signed a deal with somaliland recognising the breakaway republic in exchange for 20 kilometres of coastline to gain access to a port on the red sea. the deal is likely to anger the government of somalia, which considers somaliland part of its territory. pope francis has condemned the recent arrests of roman catholic priests and bishops in nicaragua. the pope said he was following the situation with concern. at least 1a members of the clergy have been detained in nicaragua in the past two weeks. the motive is not clear.

the newly—appointed head of 0fsted, sir martyn 0liver, has said it must listen to the criticism it received after the suicide of a head teacher. ruth perry took her own life after an inspection at her school in reading. the coroner at her inquest was highly critical of the regulator's inspection. 0ur education editor branwen jeffreys reports. for the children, just another visitor. for parents in england his newjob will matter. sir martin 0liver his newjob will matter. sir martin oliver is the new boss at 0fsted, in charge of all their inspections including schools, many still dealing with the impact of the pandemic.— with the impact of the pandemic. with the impact of the andemic. �*, ., , . pandemic. it's a difficult 'ob 0fsted has i pandemic. it's a difficult 'ob 0fsted has to i pandemic. it's a difficult 'ob 0fsted has to do i pandemic. it's a difficult 'ob 0fsted has to do we �* pandemic. it's a difficult job i 0fsted has to do we ultimately have to be about high standards or the children and say to parents these are the standards being provided but i think we can do that in a way that is far more empathetic. the 0fsted insection far more empathetic. the 0fsted insoection of _ far more empathetic. the 0fsted inspection of this _ far more empathetic. the 0fsted inspection of this primary -

inspection of this primary school contributed to the head teacher's suicide. ruth perry died waiting for the report that labelled her school inadequate. the coroner has warned changes are needed to prevent future deaths. this was a terrible tragedy _ prevent future deaths. this was a terrible tragedy in _ prevent future deaths. this was a terrible tragedy in the - prevent future deaths. this was a terrible tragedy in the real- a terrible tragedy in the real shock when i learned of her death, and i am determined we shall learn those lessons and we shall review our practices and work with others and respond to the coroner �*s inquest fully. d0 respond to the coroner 's inquest fully.— respond to the coroner 's inquest fully. respond to the coroner 's iniuest full . ,, ~ inquest fully. do you think the tone of the — inquest fully. do you think the tone of the 0fsted _ inquest fully. do you think the tone of the 0fsted response . inquest fully. do you think the | tone of the 0fsted response to ruth perry's death was correct? i don't think it went far enough and i'm quite clear on that. there is clearly been a lot of criticism and we must accept that criticism to have a fresh start and move on. 50. accept that criticism to have a fresh start and move on. so, he is promising _ fresh start and move on. so, he is promising to _ fresh start and move on. so, he is promising to go _ fresh start and move on. so, he is promising to go further - is promising to go further adding to changes already under way. better mental health training for inspectors. making it easierfor training for inspectors. making it easier for schools to complain. it easierfor schools to complain. and it easier for schools to complain. and involving more

hit teachers in inspection. 0fsted needs to rebuild trust with schools and hid teachers and some of its credibility and that's important because parents rely on 0fsted to make choices about where they send their children. so what do you want to do know you are taking over 0fsted? he's got a tough reputation. recently leading a big group of academy schools. t big group of academy schools. i have experience over the last 28 years. have experience over the last 28 years-— 28 years. schools he has run have high — 28 years. schools he has run have high levels _ 28 years. schools he has run have high levels of— 28 years. schools he has run i have high levels of suspensions over behaviour. brute have high levels of suspensions over behaviour.— over behaviour. we have got schools to — over behaviour. we have got schools to god _ over behaviour. we have got schools to god and - over behaviour. we have got i schools to god and outstanding and popular with parents. he told me he accepts there are extra challenges since the pandemic, more children are missing a lot of school. there is evidence children growing up in communities facing tough times are falling further behind. t times are falling further behind. ., ., , behind. i want to rise the rofile behind. i want to rise the profile of— behind. i want to rise the profile of the _ behind. i want to rise the profile of the -- - profile of the —— underprivileged children and

make sure we are doing everything that we can to create equity in education going forward. he create equity in education going forward.— create equity in education iioin forward. , , ., , going forward. he is promising to listen more _ going forward. he is promising to listen more about _ going forward. he is promising to listen more about change i to listen more about change will need to follow to convince 0fsted's critics. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. the british government says it has fulfilled a promise by the prime minister, rishi sunak to clear a big backlog of outstanding asylum claims. tens of thousands of migrants have been stuck in the system, awaiting an initial decision on their application for refugee status. our home editor mark easton has more details. well, with that general election looming, the government wants to start the new year with evidence that the prime minister's two big promises on immigration are being delivered. promise number one — stop the boats. well, no, they haven't stopped but the home office claims its plan is working. the number known to have crossed the channel in 2023 was down around a third from 2022. still, almost 30,000 individuals arrived on the kent coast — second highest figure ever — but officials point

to three key deals which they claim are helping turn the tide. a deal with france, improving security on the coast around calais. a deal with turkey to disrupt smuggler supply chains. and a deal with albania to return failed asylum seekers. of course, the deal the government regards as the game—changer is with rwanda, but that plan was ruled unlawful. almost everyone who arrived in small boats last year has claimed asylum, which brings us to the prime minister's second big promise on immigration — to clear the asylum backlog. now, we'll have to wait until tomorrow for the official numbers but we expect the prime minister to claim it'sjob done. number 10 says the promise only relates to what it calls "the legacy backlog" — people stuck in the system for more than 18 months. this is what the picture looked like three months ago. the legacy backlog, that's the blue bars, that's shrinking, but the backlog of new claims — the so—called flow cases — well, they are, as you can see, still numbering around 100,000 people. now, there will be claims of "creative accounting", with thousands of those legacy

cases simply withdrawn and thousands more excluded as "complex cases". yes, an election is looming and the arguments over promises kept or broken will only intensify. before we go — how did you start the new year? in the netherlands, hundreds of people braved chilly conditions to take a dip in the north sea. the swimmers, in their bathing suits and red hats sprinted into the waves on the beach at zandvoort. organisers said the air temperature wasn't too cold at a modest 8 degrees and that the usually frigid sea was a similar temperature. so not so bad. not so bad, as they say. getting an extremely cold water is very good your health, it could be the way to begin a new year. we have got all the top business stories

for you next on business —— bbc news. and a story on the expansion of the brics trading block. hello there. we've got some very strong winds and some heavy rain on the way for tuesday, that brings with it the risk of some disruptive weather. little sign of that yesterday across northern england and scotland, with clear, blue, sunny skies for many. however, towards the southwest of england, the waves were picking up as the winds increased, all tied in with the next weather system. now it's this lump of cloud that's out to our west that we're watching, to develop into quite a nasty—looking area of low pressure. now, through the remainder of the night, one band of rain clears eastwards, another one heading into scotland, a bit of snow up over the scottish hills for a time, as well. and then we've got the next pulse of rain working into the southwest. now, bear in mind, we've already got lots of flood warnings in force, and that's before, really, the next dollop of heavy rain works in. so the rain, heavy enough to cause some localised flooding, but as well as that,

into tuesday, some very strong winds heading into southwest england, southern wales, and round the bristol channel. top gusts could reach 60, maybe even 70mph — strong enough to bring down one or two trees, hence the risk of disruptive weather. very windy for the northern isles, and the winds will be increasing inland across england and wales as this area of rain becomes much more extensive through the course of the day. and then we get a second swathe of really strong winds across parts of lincolnshire, east anglia, southeast england, especially through the dover straits. could get gusts again getting up into the 60s of miles an hour, maybe even towards 70. so, there is the threat of some disruption — weather from the heavy rain and the risk of flooding, or the strong winds that could be strong enough to bring down a few trees. either way, that lot will be clearing out of the way as we head into wednesday, but just to be followed by another unsettled day — a day of sunshine and showers. the showers heavy with hail and thunder across england and wales, blustery conditions here. lighter winds for northern ireland means the showers could last a bit longer. some heavier, more persistent

rain for northeast scotland, perhaps causing one or two issues, and cold enough to see some of the rain start to turn to sleet or snow over the high hills in shetland. quite a lot going on, then, but the weather will eventually calm down. low pressure later this week is going to start to slide away from our shores, and instead, we get an area of high pressure building in as we head towards the end of the week and the weekend beyond. indeed, quite a long spell of dry, settled weather conditions is on the cards, notjust on the weekend but well into next week. with the sunshine comes much lower temperatures and a return of some sharp overnight frosts.

hello again. live from london, this is bbc news. rising tensions in the red sea. iran sends a war ship to the region and the uk is poised to take action to protect an essential trade route. is bigger better? the brics trading bloc has expanded adding five new countries, including saudi arabia. we get an expert view. the productivity conundrum — the lack of is holding back the uk economy, while ireland is top the league. we'll explain why. and keeping the tourists away. we visit the places that are using taxes to deter tourists.