targets in yemen, including the capital's international airport where the head of the world health organization narrowly escaped unhurt. moscow pushes back against growing speculation it may have been involved in the deadly crash of a passenger plane. tragedy strikes an australian sporting tradition. two sailors die during the annual sydney to hobart yacht race. and tributes roll in for the former indian prime minister, manmohan singh, who has died at the age of 92.

welcome to newsday. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has warned that his country's "just getting started" against the houthis in yemen after israel launched air strikes which reportedly killed at least six people. the united nations has called for restraint — warning that air strikes on ports in the red sea and airports pose grave risks to humanitarian operations. the ariel bombardment targeted the international airport in the capital, sanaa the israel defense forces said it was conducting "intelligence—based strikes on military targets belonging to the iran—backed houthi terrorist regime on the western coast and inland yemen". the strikes hit port towns and power stations — as well as the airport. a video from inside sanaa airport shows people running out of the terminal in a panic. ff the head of the world health organization, dr tedros — said the bombardment happened "meters away" as he was about to board a flight in sanaa. our correspondent shaimaa khalil has more

this is the second israeli airstrike on yemen in less than a week and it comes as this month has seen significant attacks, a significant rise in attacks by houthis in yemen here on israeli territory. this week alone has seen five attacks on israeli territory. only on saturday, there was a projectile launched from yemen. it was not intercepted and it landed in a public park in tel aviv. hours after that the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, vowed that there was going to be retaliation and he instructed the israeli forces to retaliate against those attacks. what we have seen today are attacks, or israeli air attacks on the sana'a international airport but also in the red sea port city of hodeidah. images and videos of panic among people inside sana'a airport as they rushed

and tried to get out of the place. also we saw plumes of smoke at the site. also you saw a great deal of destruction in hodeidah as a result of airstrikes. the israeli military struck targets saying that they struck targets used by iran—backed houthis to smuggle weapons into the region. they had two power stations in three ports and targets in and around the airport. the houthis have said this is a crime against yemeni people. we heard from one of the injured, we spoke describing how the runway was hit three times and how the tower was hit and how he could escape through the window. the houthis have vowed to continue their attacks until the end of the war in gaza but now we see a real focus from the israeli

leadership to go after the houthis, to go after the infrastructure and to go after the leadership and they say that they will meet a similar fate to hamas in gaza and to hezbollah in lebanon. both also backed by iran, both suffering devastating losses to their infrastructure and the killing of the leadership. meanwhile in central gaza, health officials say five journalists have been killed by an israeli strike. the strike hit a marked broadcast van outside al—awda hospital in the nuseirat refugee camp. one of the journalists had been expecting the birth of his child. the israeli military said those killed were members of a terrorist cell. winter is making life harder for the nearly 2 million internally displaced palestinians still in gaza. doctors working in the camps said three babies have died from the cold this week. hopes had been growing that israel and hamas could come to an agreement on returning the remaining hostages and a ceasefire soon. but those hopes have been dampened again, with both sides accusing the other of delaying a deal.

israeli negotiators claim hamas has reneged on previously resolved issues, whilst hamas negotiators hit out at israel for introducing new conditions that were never part of the discussions. i'm joined now by khaled elgindy director of the programme on palestine and palestinian—israeli affairs at the middle east institute in washington — he previously served as an adviser to the palestinian leadership in ramallah. good to have you here programme once again, thank you for joining us. first, let's talk about the strikes on yemen, what do you think the game plan with the houthis is and could impact the ceasefire talks on gaza? ~ ~ ., ,

gaza? well, i think that is the attem t, gaza? well, i think that is the attempt. the _ gaza? well, i think that is the attempt, the attempt - gaza? well, i think that is the attempt, the attempt by - gaza? well, i think that is the attempt, the attempt by the i attempt, the attempt by the houthis in yemen, like as below india lebanon, was to try and put pressure on israel to end the war in gaza sends the diplomatic process. it was not really producing much. and hezbollah has since been eliminated as a thread, there is a ceasefire there but also it has been decimated as a force. and so now, the only front outside of gaza is the houthi in yemen. and so, these rallies will be very keen to ensure that that doesn't happen, that there is a decoupling of the two and we see that with the strikes, most recently in the yemeni capital. and other ones. we understand that the houthis... of course,

we understand that the houthis are supported by iran but tehran has withdrawn support from aside and allowed hezbollah to strike a ceasefire agreement in lebanon. do you seek iran continuing that support for the houthis? well, i think we _ support for the houthis? well, i think we have _ support for the houthis? well, i think we have to _ support for the houthis? well, i think we have to understand l i think we have to understand the houthis are their own actor, of course they are supported by a ron but iran has not pulling all the strings here. this is a decision, i think, by the houthi leadership to continue this front and with iranian support, in the background. but at the end of the day, this is — our decision made from yemen. fin the day, this is - our decision made from yemen.— the day, this is - our decision made from yemen. on gaza, we do kee uink made from yemen. on gaza, we do keep uink that _ made from yemen. on gaza, we do keep uink that a _ made from yemen. on gaza, we do keep uink that a ceasefire - made from yemen. on gaza, we do keep uink that a ceasefire is - keep uink that a ceasefire is close, what do you think the sticking points are at this

stage? i sticking points are at this state? ~' . ., stage? i think the fundamental calculations — stage? i think the fundamental calculations haven't _ stage? i think the fundamental calculations haven't really - calculations haven't really changed on the israeli side, on the hamas aside, how much has been greatly weakened in the past three or four months and thatis past three or four months and that is we consider reflected on the fact that we made a number of concessions in recent talks and there was optimism based on that that a deal could be imminent but israel's calculations, specifically prime minister netanyahu was not changed, this war has done really want is for political fortunes before october 7 of last year, he was a leader in decline, he was hugely unpopular, the october 7 attack last year increase that unpopularity but since then, he has managed to delay any kind of accountability for the failures of october 7 and has

rehabilitated himself and is now much more popular than he has been in many years and so, the war in gaza is working well for him, if an expanded, to other places as long as he projects this image that is world is reshaping the middle east in its own image, that is something that is quite popular about karin and is playing very well with israeli audiences. and there isn't really an incentive for him to and the war in gaza. because it's quite useful for him.— useful for him. ok, we will have to — useful for him. ok, we will have to leave _ useful for him. ok, we will have to leave it _ useful for him. ok, we will have to leave it there, - useful for him. ok, we will. have to leave it there, really good to get your perspective, many thanks forjoining us. thank you. staying in the region, syrian security forces have carried out an operation against loyalists of the ousted former president — bashar al—assad in the western province of tartous. the mission is in response to a deadly attack launched by pro—assad militas that killed at least fourteen fighters from the group that now controls most of the country. it comes as syria's islamist

leader, ahmad al—sharaa, threatens to crack down on anyone attempting to undermine the country's security. from damascus, lina sinjab reports. on high alert. security reenforcement is under way. the government has launched an operation against former members of the assad regime from the alawite community. the majority of them supported him and many are blamed for syria's bloodbath. while assad sought asylum in russia with his family, his followers are left to face prosecution here. many refuse to give up arms and could pose threats to the country's security. these protests erupted on wednesday in many alawite cities and towns. they are chanting about their alawite religious shrine that was vandalised in november. although there had since been reconciliation between the alawite and other communities, when the video was released yesterday tensions once again ramped up. locals reported that some religious leaders called for protesters to

take to the streets. this is mezzeh 86, a predominantly alawite neighbourhood that largely supported assad's regime. many here took part in the brutal crackdown against syrians, arresting and torturing people inside prisons. when videos were released of the vandalised alawite shrine, weeks later after the incident happened, protests took part here and some clashes were reported. but it appears that the main reason behind these protests in the alawite communities is to pressure for a general amnesty for the alawites and protect those who are close to assad. thousands of syrians disappeared in assad's prisons. the security forces who were behind the torturing and death of tens of thousands are mainly from the alawite community.

a general amnesty means no punishment for those with blood on their hands. families are still waiting for answers, for prosecution of the killers and forjustice to prevail so they can finally reconcile with their loss. lina sinjab, bbc news, damascus. russia says it won't speculate on suggestions from aviation experts that russian air defences may have struck the passenger plane that crashed in kazakhstan on wednesday, killing 38 people. 29 people on board survived. president putin's spokesman said it would be inappropriate to comment until an official investigation is complete. the azerbaijan airlines jet was travelling from baku to chechnya when it diverted to kazakhstan, before crashing near aktau. jonathan josephs reports. on board the stricken aeroplane, the passenger filming this notices some damage under the wing. back inside, despite oxygen masks and life jackets

being visible, those on board seem calm. it's not clear how long before the crash this was filmed. there were 62 passengers and five crew on board this azerbaijan airlines flight from baku to grozny in southern russia. amateur footage shows the pilot struggling to control the plane as it tries to land. the force of impact split the plane in two, with the front half destroyed by fire. the key question is why. i spoke to one military expert who said suggestions of a bird strike being responsible were unlikely. at the moment, evidence is still coming out, but the most likely hypothesis we see is that it was struck by an air defence missile, almost certainly russian, in the area over grozny where the plane was holding. ukrainian drones were active at the time, and this is commensurate with everything we've seen in the pilot's communication with air traffic control. and currently it's the only thing that fully fits the facts that we know.

these holes in the surviving part of the fuselage will be examined by investigators. meanwhile, azerbaijan airlines have suspended all flights in the region. they have not grounded their other six embraer ei90s, suggesting the cause was not technical or mechanical. the aircraft has a good safety record. russia's government says no conclusion should be drawn until the kazakh—led investigation is complete. amongst those wanting answers will be those survivors who remarkably walked away. this man says his wife had been sitting next to him, but he hasn't seen her since the crash. this is the family of one of the flight attendants. in a video call, he reassures them, saying, "don't worry, tell mum not to worry. thank god we're safe." at baku's airport, large crowds queued up to pay their respects and lay flowers in memory of the dead, as families

across the region struggle to understand what caused their loved ones to perish. jonathan josephs, bbc news. australia's prime minister anthony albanese has expressed condolences after the heartbreaking deaths of two crew members, after incidents on separate yachts in the sydney to hobart yacht race. authorities say both crew members had been hit by booms — which is a large pole at the bottom of the sail — during a night of exceptionally stormy weather. chris rowbottom is a sports reporter with the australian broadcasting corporation in hobart, he gave us the latest. the two sailors are dead, as a result of similar incidents on different boats, both struck by that sail boom, one a border called flying fish arctos and another aboard a boat called bowline so the smaller boats that fled the incident occurred

over night of course, cpi was attempted by the crews of both boats but was unsuccessful. forcing the retirement of both boats from the rays, the worst tragedy in the sydney hobart yacht race since 1998, were six sailors were killed and 55 to be rescued as a result of a wild storm that battered the fleet and as i say, both of those yachts are now retired and its sure sent us shockwave through the entire race. it is indicative of a night of really wild weather, the conditions going into the race were described as boat breaking, there were 25 not wins nor the league that carried the fleet down these coast of new south wales, we saw 18 retirement so far including the favourite, master lock comanche which suffered main slot damage, they were on record pace before being forced to withdraw from

the race, i would say three this mast thing and another incident with a man overboard, tasmanian yacht called porco rosso lost australia during the race, they drifted 1.2 kilometres out to sea, a full—scale operation was about to be triggered before porco rosso actually retrieved at the rowing, thankfully, there were all ok in the end. so, the fleet is limping to hobart, the first finishes are expected in the early hours of tomorrow morning, tasmanian time but a tragic start to the race and as i say, the worst since 1988. —— 1998. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a 49—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of a double murder after two women were fatally stabbed in milton keynes in southern england. thames valley police said officers were called to a block of apartments in bletchley

and found the women, aged 38 and 2a, dead at the scene. more than a50 people crossed the english channel in small boats on christmas day, according to new home office figures. the data takes the total number of crossings this year to more than 35,000 — more than 21 percent higher than last year. prime minister sir keir starmer has made dismantling smuggling gangs one of his top priorities. the number of shoppers heading out for the boxing day sales appears to be returning to pre—pandemic levels, with footfall dropping by almost 8% across the uk compared with last year. but according to analysts numbers were up on christmas eve by 18% on last year. you're live with bbc news. south korea's constitutional court is set to hold the first hearing over the impeachment

of president yoon suk—yeol in coming hours, with his legal representatives attending. president yoon was impeached in parliament following his botched attempt to impose martial law. he maintains he did nothing wrong, and until thursday had defied requests by the court tosubmit documents, and avoided summons by investigators in a separate criminal case. the crisis intensified this week as the opposition democratic party vowed to impeach prime minister han duck—soo, who is also serving as acting president, claiming he is trying to delay the trial into president yoon. parliament is scheduled to meet later on friday afternoon, when the opposition says they will bring a vote to the floor. we hope to bring you an update when that happens. tributes have ben pouring in for the former indian prime minister, manmohan singh, who has died at the age of 92. mr singh was in office

for a decade, from 2004 until 2014, and was the first prime minister in india from the sikh faith. in a tribute post on social media, current prime ministeer narendra modi called his predecessor "one of india's most distinguished leaders". and us secretary of state anthony blinken also offered condolences on behalf of the us, referring to mr singh as "one of the greatest champions of the us—india strategic partnership". for more on his life, sophie long reports. almost bankrupt at the time manmohan singh entered party politics, india's image was to change, driven by a booming it sector, and much of this is put down to the liberalisation, the loosening of infamous bureaucratic controls introduced by manmohan singh after he became finance minister in 1991. he put the country on the path to achieving some of the fastest growth rates in the world. i, manmohan singh.. it also paved the way for him to become, in 2004, india's first sikh prime minister. he'll be remembered particularly for making the country talked about as an emerging economic giant. though much of india's1 billion—plus population was, in reality, largely untouched by the economic reforms, and poverty remained deep

and pervasive and job creation a massive challenge. india now had its place at the world's high tables, and as the global economy faltered and then went into crisis, india's role and manmohan singh's experience as an economist and international civil servant was crucial. thank you. the signing of a civilian nuclear agreement between india and the united states was a landmark of mr singh's premiership, especially given the concern about south asia as a potential nuclear flashpoint after both india and pakistan carried out underground tests in 1998. but the gun and grenade attack on luxury hotels and other targets in mumbai, which killed around 170 people, not only demonstrated india's vulnerability, it also revived the historic mutual suspicion between india and pakistan. a leader traditionally careful with his words, the prime minister was explicit in laying blame for an attack which he believed was meant to damage india's reputation as a rising world power.

there is enough evidence to show that, given the sophistication and military precision of the attack, it must have had the support of some official agencies in pakistan. although he became caught up in political challenges that have tested every indian prime minister, manmohan singh's particular place in the country's history was equipping it to better embrace globalisation, but he always hoped india would show that doesn't have to mean leaving the poor behind. commemorations have been held across countries in the indian ocean on thursday

to mark the 20th anniversary of the catastrophic tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people. the massive waves — which were caused by an earthquake — devastated indonesia, thailand, and sri lanka. our correspondent andrew harding covered the tragedy there at the time and has this report. this was aceh 20 years ago, just after the great wave had come ashore. i remember walking through the ruins, a haunting landscape, but above all, i remember marwadah. she was 11 then, bruised and alone, orphaned by the tsunami. but a few days later she discovered one relative had survived, her big sister, mutiyah. we followed the girls as marwadah returned to school and the sisters moved to a new home, hauntingly close to a mass grave. "i'm scared of

ghosts," she told me. even if they are all my relatives and neighbours, i don't want to sleep here." the years passed and then came the tenth anniversary of the tsunami. she screams hey! i missed you so much! it's so good to see you! look at you, you're huge! i'm so big. you are big. marwadah was now a 21—year—old student, full of life, bouncing back like indonesia itself, but still wrestling with the loss of her parents. no, um, my life without my parents, of course, very sad. um, because there is nobody caring about me. and now, 20 years have gone by. a stranded boat kept as a memorial here. but aceh's physical wounds have healed in a country now preoccupied

with new challenges. hi, guys. as for marwadah, she's traded in a career in teaching to become a travel vlogger, offering advice for tourists on low budgets. a life no longer defined by the tsunami. and i have patience so i can be useful for people. so i feel happy and i feel proud of me. and look now at the beach where the tsunami hit, wiping out herfamily and her village all those years ago. today, that's marwadah on a jet ski, 20 years on. andrew harding, bbc news. that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello there. the stagnant air at the moment

is trapping a lot of misty low clouds and fog across our shores and it feels quite chilly because it's damp as well — only six or seven during the day on thursday. a similar story as we head through friday. some of that fog could linger all day in places and give some hazardous conditions on the roads with those very poor visibilities. as i say, it's because we've got this area of high pressure with us. it's trapping that low level cloud. further north, yes, we've got a weather front with us that's given some more persistent rain across scotland in particular, some parts of northern ireland. but it's trapping that really cold air to the north, and it's with us once again as we go through the remainder of the night. where we have breaks in the cloud, temperatures will dip close to freezing and also fill in with more mist and fog in these areas. so again, another really grey and murky start for many of us on friday under this area of high pressure.

we might find a little bit more breeze picking up in the north, which means that that may aid the lifting of the mist and fog here, and some brighter weather developing to the east of the grampians, but not promised here. perhaps a little brighter in northern ireland, but again, parts of the north—east of england, north wales more favoured for some brighter breaks. but for many of us, it's just grey, misty and it'll feel quite damp again, i think, just really light nuisance value drizzle keeping it at sevens and eights in places. some of that fog even on relatively low hills such as the chilterns and the downs, lingering all day. then, as we go through the night friday night into saturday, we do start to see that weather front making progress further south across scotland, so introducing some clearer skies in the north. but it's the same as usual. business as usual further south — it's misty, murky, grey and dank, so temperatures generally above freezing by night. and on saturday that weather front promises to introduce a bit of patchy rain further south across northern england, northern ireland. but to the north of it means brighter skies but with some showers, a little bit wintry over the hills and still that cloudy, misty, murky weather further south. perhaps a few breaks developing as we head into sunday, but we do have to wait probably until next week to get the really cold air filtering back

southwards once again, and with it potential for some really turbulent weather as well. but by sunday, we might see a few more brighter breaks in the south instead. in the north, some heavier rain and perhaps some hill snow, too. more online.

voice-over: 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. to fully commit to a cause is to put the political above the personal. it has lifelong ramifications, not just for the activist, but for those closest to them. and no—one knows this better than my guest today, the writer gillian slovo, whose parents, joe slovo and ruth first, were hugely important figures in south africa's liberation struggle against apartheid. from teenage, gillian�*s home has been in the uk and her recent writing digs deep into british culture.

but how much distance is there from her extraordinary