live from washington. this is bbc news ukraine fires us supplied long range missiles into russia — a move the kremlin has condemned. as ceasefire negotiations continue, a top us official says an end to the israel—hezbollah war is "within our grasp" trial agree to delay his sentencing——possibly and prosecutors in donald trump's new york hush money trial agree to delay his sentencing — possibly until after the upcoming presidential term hello, i'm carl nasman. ukraine has launched its first american—made long—range missiles into russian territory — marking a shift in the war. us officials say russia intercepted two of the eight ballistic missiles tuesday.

moscow said five missiles were shot down and that one caused a fire at a military facility. it's the first time the us—provided army tactical missile system — or atacms — has been fired at russian soil. ukraine says it struck an ammunition warehouse about 100 kilometres inside russia, though it didn't itself confirm which weapons system it used. for months, vladimir putin has been warning against such a move, threatening retaliation. here's the kremlin�*s foreign minister, sergei lavrov, after news of the attack: the president mentioned this several times, if long—range missiles are going to be deployed from ukraine into russian territory, it would also mean that they are operated by american experts, military experts, and we would be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the western war against russia,

and we will react accordingly. on tuesday, mr putin announced he's lowering the threshhold for the use of nuclear weapons. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, has more from moscow breaking news on russian tv — claims that ukraine had fired six american atacms missiles into russia's bryansk region, though no reports of casualties. the response from russian�*s foreign minister... ..sergei lavrov said the missile attack was a signal that the west wants to escalate the conflict. but is this escalation by russia? published today, a kremlin decree lowering the nuclear threshold. russia now reserving the right to go nuclear, even if attacked by conventional weapons, if such an attack threatens russia's sovereignty

or territorial integrity. president putin had promised changes to the nuclear doctrine weeks ago, a clear signal to europe and america not to let ukraine strike russia with long—range missiles. then an even clearer signal. russian nuclear exercises, a warning to the west not to cross russia's red lines. but the key question, in russia's war on ukraine, would vladimir putin use a nuclear weapon? i think it's quite serious because even putin doesn't know whether he can use nukes or he can't. it depends on his emotions. we know that he's a very emotional man, and the decision to begin this war was also an emotional step. the lowering of the nuclear threshold does not mean that vladimir putin is about to press

the nuclear button. these changes are designed, i think, at the very least to put pressure on western leaders who will now have to decide, is putin bluffing or not? earlier at the museum of victory, the kremlin kick started commemorations for next year's 80th anniversary of the end of world war ii. not a word was said here about the 1,000 days of russia's war in ukraine, a war which, for the kremlin, hasn't gone at all to plan, but which it remains determined to win. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu visited central gaza, vowing to eliminate hamas from the territory. his office released this footage showing him meeting soldiers south of gaza city. he also announced a $5 million reward for each hostage still being held in gaza, and said israel had not given up efforts to find them. some 97 hostages are still

believed to be in gaza from the 251 that were intially kidnapped by hamas last year on october seventh. mr netanyahu had this message for his troops. translation: here in the centre of the strip and in all parts - of the strip, they have achieved excellent results in our important goals. hamas will not rule gaza. we are eliminating its military capabilities impressively. we are moving on to governmental capabilities and the hand is outstretched. hamas will not be in gaza. israel's campaign in gaza has damaged or destroyed 80% of buldings, according to some satellite estimates. and nearly a4,000 palestinians have been killed, according to the hamas—run health ministry. meanwhile, israel continues to strike what it says are hezbollah targets in southern lebanon and the capital beirut. a top us envoy is currently in lebanon working to broker a ceasefire deal between the two sides.

the bbc�*s hugo bachega is following from beirut. amos hochstein has been leading the biden administration's efforts for a ceasefire in the conflict between israel and hezbollah. and the fact that he came here to beirut was seen as an indication of progress in these talks. here, he had meetings with senior lebanese officials, including parliament speaker nabih berri, who has been supported by hezbollah, to negotiate with these international mediators. amos hochstein said they had very constructive talks and now was a real opportunity to bring an end to this conflict. now, the lebanese authorities say that any deal should be limited to the terms of the united nations resolution 1701. this is the resolution that ended the conflict between hezbollah and israel back in 2006. it requires hezbollah to remove its fighters and weapons from areas near the border with israel. now, the israeli authorities are making demands — demands that the lebanese

say are unacceptable. it wants the right to act inside lebanon if there is any violation of the deal. there's also the idea of an international mechanism to monitor the implementation of this deal. now, these talks are expected to continue. at the same time, we've seen in the past week an escalation in israel's air strikes across lebanon, including here in central beirut. the israelis are describing this as a strategy of negotiations under fire. and they say this is going to continue. joining me live is laura blumenfeld, middle east analyst at thejohns hopkins school of international studies, and a former senior policy adviser at the us state department. we heard the optimistic words from amos hochstein, ideally within our grasp, you share his optimism on a potential cease—fire between the micro and israel question mark i

would like to, i am tempered by, we've been there before, but this is a period of great uncertainty and opportunity. in this hand—out from president bite into president trump, there is not a little overlap, they don't agree on your queen, they don't agree on your queen, they don't agree on your queen, they don't agree on the west bank, but on lebanon, president trump has made it clear, let us get a deal, and all signs are positive, that is between the united states and israel. the question is can lebanon deliver? israel is demanding freedom of operation in that territory of lebanon which was a sticking point today and a sticking point in gods as well, so we're not there yet, we are in the yes, but stage of negotiations.— in the yes, but stage of negotiations. but you think this may — negotiations. but you think this may be _ negotiations. but you think this may be one _ negotiations. but you think this may be one bit - negotiations. but you think this may be one bit of- negotiations. but you think i this may be one bit of foreign policy where the biden administration, and these last few weeks, could lay a foundation that donald trump as president could seal the deal?

trump is like a human zamboni, clearoff trump is like a human zamboni, clear off the eye so he could have smooth sailing before he arrives, he wants to deal before january 20, which puts pressure on benjamin netanyahu, there's a lot of pressure on them. tomorrow, united senate will be voting on an arm blockade against israel, and there wants to be of review of human rights violations in gaza, and he has pressure in his own coalition where they can hold on, and the hostages,. you can see in that talk in gaza, it was on a help wanted ad, he can't move forward without finding those israeli citizens who were torn from their homes in year year ago and he cannot bring them home. do you think this is a new strategy from benjamin netanyahu trying to offer rental money to get hostages back? do you think that is a it's a sex —— successful

potential strategy? i5 potential strategy? i3 stressing it in and somewhat necessary, he does not believe in negotiating with terrorists, one of his principal core foundational approaches to dealing with hostage negotiations, so it is hard for him to see treating palestinian prisoners who he considers terrorists for these errors are really civilians torn from their beds years ago, so offering money, he would bankroll you are puts a bullet in your head, he said it clearly almost like a gangster, the decision is yours, we will reward you or punish you, he's channeling that eye for an eye, which is singing from the same song sheet as president trump, who once asked for his favourite biblical quote, he said an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth.- said an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. going back tooth for a tooth. going back to the potential _ tooth for a tooth. going back to the potential deal - tooth for a tooth. going back to the potential deal in - to the potential deal in lebanon between hezbollah and israel, if that gets done, do you think that will help grease the gears with a potential deal with hamas in gaza to get some momentum going?—

with hamas in gaza to get some momentum going? absolutely, and it sianals momentum going? absolutely, and it signals that _ momentum going? absolutely, and it signals that iran _ momentum going? absolutely, and it signals that iran is _ momentum going? absolutely, and it signals that iran is in _ momentum going? absolutely, and it signals that iran is in the - it signals that iran is in the shadows behind hezbollah, seen it is ok to pull back for today, we are playing a long—term game of an admonition against israel. it means that hamas also, it gives them kind of a way out to declare victory, which all they have to do is exist to quit —— declare victory, which they likely will, no matter how hard israel was at them, and it could unravel the whole, yes, it could unravel the whole violence towards a peaceful path, which donald trump called himself the president of peace would be very pleased and netanyahu would be very pleased and neta nyahu wants to would be very pleased and netanyahu wants to please them. and we talk about the humanitarian situation, looking at lebanon, we are getting word from unicef that more than 200 children have been killed in this conflict there in just the last two months, really kind of underscoring what is at stake. it is a tragedy and one reason why netanyahu needs to finish the war and donald trump i said that as well, because israel at this point has never been

strong militarily but never been as isolated dramatically, every day there were, they may think they're winning tactically but they are losing strategically.— strategically. interesting stuff as always, - strategically. interesting stuff as always, lauren i stuff as always, lauren blumenthal, thank you. —— laura blumenfeld. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news in the uk. thousands of british farmers held a rally in central london to protest against changes to an inheritance tax. according to the new rules, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1 million will be subject to a 20% tax. britain's labour government says only a small number of farms will be affected, but some farmers say the plans will be catastrophic for an industry that's already struggling. our business editor simonjack has been looking into those struggles. there is no doubt it's been a challenging food years for farmers. the cost of things

like food and fuel and fertiliser have rocketed, they have been walloped by the cost of living and the cost of doing business crisis. for example, pig farming because of going up 54% since 2019, call farmers have seen costs rise by 45%, and even cereals have seen an increase in cost of 43%. tv presenterjeremy clarkson was among those marching in whitehall, saying "it's the end" for farmers. its estimated that 500 of the 210,000 farms in the uk will be affected. you're live with bbc news. prosecutors in new york say they're open to delaying sentencing in donald trump's hush—money case — but object to his criminal conviction being dismissed. mr trump was found guilty in may of falsifying business records to cover up payments to the pawn actress stormy daniels. mr trump was found guilty in may of falsifying business records to cover up payments to the porn actress stormy daniels. 0ur correspondent nada tawfik has more from new york. prosecutors have now outlined what they think are the appropriate next steps

now that donald trump, a convicted felon, will be the next occupant of the white house. now, they've made clear to the judge that they oppose dismissing this case and donald trump's conviction. they argue that there's no established law that suggests a president's temporary immunity means this case should be dismissed, as the defence claims. the defence has argued that this would impede donald trump's ability to govern. now, prosecutors have acknowledged that there are competing constitutional interests here. there is a necessity to preserve the integrity of the criminaljustice system and the independence of the presidency, so they have of the presidency, so they have floated one potential remedy, floated one potential remedy, which is to freeze which is to freeze the sentencing and this the sentencing and this case until the end of case until the end of donald trump's donald trump's upcoming presidency. upcoming presidency. now, ultimately, it is up before he takes office. now, ultimately, it is up to the judge to decide how to the judge to decide how to move forward now that he has to move forward now that he has heard from prosecutors. heard from prosecutors. the defence are going the defence are going to eagerly push still to have to eagerly push still to have this case dismissed so they can this case dismissed so they can clear president—elect clear president—elect donald trump's record donald trump's record

before he takes office. but the defence has said that this is a victory for them, kind of prematurely declaring this as a win. as i say, it is now in the hands of the judge to decide if donald trump's sentencing will again be pushed and how this case will proceed. here in washington, donald trump says he's not reconsidering his pick for attorney general, matt gaetz. it comes as the president—elect made two more picks on tuesday. it comes as us media reports vice president—electjd vance

first administration. now, the city of los angeles is gearing up for a standoff ahead of his next term in office. the la city council has passed a sanctuary city ordinance, which would prevent federal authorities from using local resources to enforce immigration laws. the city's public school system is also set to declare itself a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants and lgbtq students. tom homan — mr trumps incoming border tsar — says these kinds of moves would not stop the administration from carrying out its immigration policy. he's promised to follow through on mr trump's promise to carry out mass deportations. los angelesjoins other major us cities — including new york and boston — in vowing to withhold local resources forfederal immigration enforcement. joining me here in studio is bbc senior reporter bernd debusmannjr — who's been looking into this story. just zooming in on los angeles, what is it done here and

explain what the centricity means in practice? centricity is not a legal _ means in practice? centricity is not a legal term, - means in practice? centricity is not a legal term, it - means in practice? centricity is not a legal term, it meansj is not a legal term, it means different things in different places, in some places it is passed into ordinance like in los angeles where they won't allow local facilities, state police and personal to help in any enforcement mechanism. in other cities, it is more kind of an informal declaration that police would not go after him dominic —— on documents and immigrants. there is no more of a push that this, a sense of immigrants. there is no more of a push that this, a sense of urgency in the cities to urgency in the cities to formalise this process i had of formalise this process i had of president trump coming to president trump coming to office on generally 20th, as office on generally 20th, as you mentioned, he and tom homan you mentioned, he and tom homan have vowed mass deportations have vowed mass deportations and there's no one urgency to and there's no one urgency to it. �* , , ., it. �* , , ., it. it's interesting that part of it has — it. it's interesting that part it. it's interesting that part of it has — it. it's interesting that part of it has to _ it. it's interesting that part of it has to do _ it. it's interesting that part of it has to do with - of it has to _ it. it's interesting that part of it has to do _ it. it's interesting that part of it has to do with - it. it's interesting that part of it has to do with the - it. it's interesting that part i of it has to do with the school it. it's interesting that part of it has to do with the - it. it's interesting that part i of it has to do with the school districts, and the a huge districts, and the a huge school district but how big are school district but how big are worries that students could be worries that students could be deported by the trump deported by the trump administration?- administration?- deported by the trump administration? , ., _ administration? this move by the los angeles _ deported by the trump administration? , ., _ administration? this move by the los angeles _ administration? this move by the los angeles united - administration? this move by the los angeles united -

administration? this move by| the los angeles united school district reaffirms productions administration? this move by| the los angeles united school district reaffirms productions they had in of they had in place for undocumented students, los angeles is a city where many families are mixed and some are here legally and some are undocumented, and this takes those addictions and formalises them and extends them a bit to families and staff, and also in the case of los angeles for as your beauty to students as well, and in their cases, there were explicit, the school board said it was specifically about donald trump and the election, which is cc�*s as a wave zero fiorot and anti—immigrant sentiment. fiorot and anti-immigrant sentiment.— fiorot and anti-immigrant sentiment. ~ ., ., sentiment. we heard on the campaign — sentiment. we heard on the campaign trail— sentiment. we heard on the campaign trail that - sentiment. we heard on the campaign trail that donald l campaign trail that donald trump following for the mass deportation of millions of immigrants, and we heard several governors, gavin newsom among them in california, saying they would work against that, could we see an organisation on the local level and state level to oppose what donald trump wants to do? i think that's what we're seeing now but from a legal standpoint

they cannot prevent federal agents from coming into the cities and enforcing immigration laws, what this does and makes it more difficult to deport and detain the number of people that trump and holman are saying they want to and it requires a huge number of personnel and resources and makes it much more complicated to get there. tom homan is said specifically he wants the cities to get out of the way if they're not withheld, and that nothing will stop them, and donald trump has said himself there's no cost to get this type done. fin said himself there's no cost to get this type done.— get this type done. on the other side, _ get this type done. on the other side, there - get this type done. on the other side, there are - get this type done. on the | other side, there are many states, many cities, which include democratic areas, that the been struggling with migration, illegal immigration, we have seen in new lots

september of last year, lots evenin september of last year, lots even in cities where citizens are understanding about the reasons why undocumented citizens of left their countries are now in the us, and you have areas where the full city resources are being diverted to help process these undocumented immigrants and shove them. i imagine in some american cities we would see not maybe the cooperation with the trump administration but maybe they won't be in the way of those immigration enforcement priorities. bernd debusmann — enforcement priorities. bernd debusmann jr. _ enforcement priorities. bernd debusmann jr, thank - enforcement priorities. bernd debusmann jr, thank you - enforcement priorities. bernd debusmann jr, thank you so i enforcement priorities. bernd - debusmann jr, thank you so much debusmannjr, thank you so much for looking into that story for us. the woman at the centre of a mass rape trial in france — gisele pelicot — condemned the cowardice of the dozens of men accused of abusing her. 51 men are on trial, including her ex—husband, who is accused of inviting them to their house to rape her while she was unconscious. dominique pelicot has admitted to all the charges against him, and will be sentenced next month. ms pelicot, meanwhile,

has been giving evidence at a court in avignon, where andrew harding reports. this long trial is almost over. arriving in court this morning, gisele pelicot sounded weary. "yes, it's the final stretch," she said. her children are here, too, grappling with the fear that their father may also have abused them and even his own grandchildren. masked as usual, the 50 men accused of raping gisele pelicot as she lay drugged by her husband have now finished giving evidence. almost all still deny rape, but explicit video footage of their actions has been shown in court. speaking at the trial for a final time today, gisele pelicot condemned "male cowardice." translation: they all raped an unconscious i woman who was unable to give her consent.

not one of them reported it to the police. it's time for a change to our macho, patriarchal society, one that trivialises rape. inside the courtroom here, gisele pelicot has been speaking again of her refusal to feel shame as a victim. asked, for instance, about why she kept using the family name "pelicot", she said because she wanted it to be associated with her, not her husband, and that she wanted her grandchildren to feel proud of it. in his own last comments, dominique pelicot spoke of his fantasy of making a strong woman submit to him. but it is gisele that the public are here to support. ijust hope that her case will help justice to change. she does it to give strength to all the women who don't| have the courage to go

on trial to fight. - the verdicts are still a month away, but it is gisele pelicot�*s defiant image that is spreading, inspiring, and perhaps changing france. andrew harding, bbc news, avignon. let's turn to some other important news around the world. the charity doctors without borders says it's stopping operations across the haitian capital port—au—prince because of an escalation in violence and threats its staff received from members of the haitian police. the news comes against the backdrop of a widening humanitarian and security crisis in the country, amid rampant gang violence. police in brazil have arrested five people suspected of planning to kill brazil's president — luiz inacio lula da silva — in 2022. the five allegedly plotted to kill the president and his vice presidentjust two weeks before their inaguration. brazilian media is reporting that four of the accused are active members of the military and the fifth a serving member

in the police force. police say the suspects named the operation �*green and yellow dagger�* in a nod to the colours on the brazilian flag. the us department ofjustice will ask a judge to force google to sell its popular web browser — chrome — on wednesday. that's according to bloomberg news. in august, a judge ruled that google illegally monopolized the search market and has been considering what penalities to put in place. google has come out against the doj's proposal — saying that selling its internet browser will harm consumers and businesses. germany's defence minister says damage to two undersea telecom cables in the baltic sea looks like an act of sabotage. a 730—mile, or1,170 kilometre, cable between finland and germany was severed on monday, as an internet link between lithuania and sweden's gotland island also stopped working. finland and cyber security firm cinia say the cable was most likely severed by an outside force. the incident comes at a time of

heightened tension with russia. before we go — tennis legend rafael nadal has officially played his final match. he'll retire with 22 grand slam titles — second only to novak djokovic. nadal also won an olympic gold medalfor spain in both singles and doubles. the spaniard ended his career in front of a home crowd, losing in two sets at an event in malaga. the 38—year—old leaves behind a legendary legacy, particularly in paris — where you see here his image projected in front of the eiffel tower. nadal won the french open a record 1a times, earning him the nickname the king of clay. that's all from us here in washington, i am carl nasman, thank you for watching, stay tuned, plenty more coming up at the top of the hour on bbc

news. hello. this cold spell of weather does look set to last for another few days, before what could be quite a dramatic change over the weekend. more on that in a moment. in the short term, for the day ahead, after a frosty and icy start, we will see quite a lot of sunshine. still some wintry showers and a cold northerly wind, that wind coming all the way from the arctic, ushering in further wintry showers, particularly in those spots exposed to the wind. so, many places, actually, after that frosty icy start having a decent day with quite a lot of sunshine. but eastern england will see some showers, a mix of rain, sleet and snow. a few for wales, the south—west of england, some wintry showers for northern ireland and frequent snow showers continuing in the north of scotland. further accumulations of snow here with some pretty brisk winds, so temperatures at best — north to south — 2—8 degrees.

factor in the strength of the wind, it is going to feel colder than that, and temperatures certainly dropping away during the night. another cold night. still some wintry showers, but i think they'll tend to clear away from the east coast. a few more into these western parts, particularly in the north—west of scotland. and by the end of the night, you may have noticed there some rain and perhaps some snow pushing towards the far south—west of england, in association with this area of low pressure. now, the centre of this low is set to stay away to the south of us, but it may just get close enough for the south—west of england to see some rain, sleet and hill snow. could even see something wintry across the channel islands. elsewhere, quite a lot of sunshine around. still some wintry showers in spots exposed to the wind and it is again going to feel cold for the time of year. now, on friday, again, we'll see some wintry showers, particularly around the coast, but we could see some rain, sleet and snow getting inland at times.

most places, though, by the end of the day should be dry. still rather cold, but there is a change on the way for the weekend in the shape of this deep area of low pressure, the centre of which is expected to stay to the north—west of us. but notice all these isobars, some very strong winds, some heavy rain sweeping across the uk. but with that, it is expected to turn much milder.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. iran's islamic government is under enormous pressure — both in its role as regional power confronting israel, and in terms of its internal stability. 0n the home front, there is no sign of a let—up in the confrontation between the iranian internal security apparatus, and those women in the country demanding life and freedom, and an end to what some un officials have termed "gender apartheid". my guest today is massoumeh ebtekar, a former vice

president in iran for women and family affairs.