to impeach the acting president only days after he was appointed. one of the last functioning hospitals in northern gaza has been forcibly evacuated by the israeli military. the prime minister of nepal says there are too many tigers in his country and wants to give some away. hello. a nasa space probe has made history by flying closer to the sun than any other spacecraft. the parker solar probe was out of communication with nasa for three days after coming within six million kilometres of the sun's surface and facing temperatures of up to 1,000 celsius. the spacecraft will provide data about the properties of the sun, and will help forecast space—weather events that can affect life on earth, as pallab ghosh reports.

it seems like science fiction — sending an un—crewed spacecraft to the sun. nasa's parker solar probe was designed to withstand its scorching heat. but could it? nasa has now confirmed that it has. the spacecraft sent back a beacon signal indicating that it survived the closest ever approach to the sun. we have never had a human—made object so close to the sun. also, we had to not melt, that's why the parker has this heat shield that holds the instruments at room temperature and keeps the heat of the sun away. and these are just amazing feats, and so it's so amazing that we were so close and really getting to measure in detail this material up close. lift off of the mighty delta iv heavy rocket. there have been many missions to study the sun but there's so much more we can learn, especially about the sun's shimmering atmosphere. which we can see from earth during a total solar eclipse.

this new data from this very, incredibly close approach to the sun, just touching the surface of that corona, is going to hopefully give us a lot more information about exactly what's going on in our beautiful, beautiful sun that heats up and gives us light. close up, the sun's magnetic field twists and lifts its explosive surface. it's hoped that the solar probe will shed light on the processes that make this happen and how this solar turbulence affects us on earth. but they'll have to wait until the 1st of january before they see the initial data. pallab ghosh, bbc news. and pallabjoins me now. when i first saw this story, my thought was, how did it not melt?! an amazing achievement but so close to the sun. haw but so close to the sun. how did it not _

but so close to the sun. how did it not melt?! _ but so close to the sun. how did it not melt?! obviously, | but so close to the sun. how did it not melt?! obviously, it was designed not to melt. it has an experimental heat shield that keeps all the instruments at room temperature. quite where this room is on earth, one can only wonder! but it has worked. just because you build something, it doesn't necessarily mean it will succeed. it has succeeded, and this is a huge triumph for nasser, now, we are waiting for these results to show exactly how some of the processes of the sun work. what sort of temperatures are we talking about? it is not just the temperatures but the radiation as well. there are a whole string of numbers that are fairly meaningless, but it is extremely hot. the sun's surface is about 500 times cooler than the atmosphere, which can be up to 3 million celsius. why that happens, nobody knows. why the sun spits out charged particles called the solar wind, no one really knows why that happens, and the

twisting and turning that you saw in my report, you can think of the sun as this kind of featureless disk in the sky thatis featureless disk in the sky that is always there, but it is a tempestuous moving object, and if we can find out the processes that go on inside the sun, we will find out exactly why we see these wonderful phenomenon on earth like the northern lights, which happens when the solar wind crashes into our atmosphere, and how it affects our weather. so it's notjust kind of science stuff, it's quite practical, useful stuff about how this thing that we see everyday and maybe for granted actually works.- granted actually works. these efforts they — granted actually works. these efforts they are _ granted actually works. these efforts they are calling - granted actually works. these efforts they are calling it, - granted actually works. these efforts they are calling it, to l efforts they are calling it, to touch the sun, which i thought was nice. there are some long—standing mysteries that they hope to discover as well? that's right. it's about these internal processes, because no one knows for sure how the sun works. they have been lots of missions to the sun, astronomers have studied it

through ground—based telescopes, but they say touching the sun, it is 4 million miles! but that is still very, very close, closer than any spacecraft has ever been before. they aim to really find outjust how some of these processes work, and as i said in the report, we will have to wait a few days for the results to start rolling in. so a lot of excitement. a lot of excitement, and what an amazing achievement. thanks for bringing that to life for us. the political crisis in south korea has deepened after mps voted to impeach the acting president. there was chaos in parliament as lawmakers voted to impeach han duck—soo less than two weeks after he was appointed to the leadership. he'd succeeded the former president, yoon suk yeol, who was impeached after trying to impose martial law. han is accused of supporting the plan for martial law and then blocking the appointment ofjudges that parliament had chosen to oversee the case against the former president. this man, choi sang—mok, the finance minister, will now become south korea's

third president in two weeks. he said the government had ordered the military to step up vigilance amid fears north korea could take advantage of the political turmoil in the south. 0ur correspondentjean mackenzie has more from seoul. there were these dramatic and angry scenes in parliament earlier, as mps voted to remove the prime ministerfrom office, who has been standing in as the president ever since. in as the president ever since president yoon sung yeol was impeached himself less than two weeks ago. now, it is the opposition party here in south korea that has done this. they have a huge majority in parliament, and as they voted to impeach mr han, it was members of mr yoon�*s party, the ruling party, that leapt to their feet and surrounded the speaker of the house. they were shouting at him. they are angry that he's even allowed this vote to go ahead. this is the level of animosity here now between the two parties. so how did we get here? well, over the past couple of days, this row has erupted between the prime minister and the opposition party.

mr han has refused to appoint the judges that parliament had chosen to oversee mr yoon�*s impeachment trial. this is the court case that is going to decide whether mr yoon is ultimately barred from office, and the opposition party have decided that mr han, by refusing to appoint these judges, has been protecting the president, and so he's no longer fit to run the country. what this means is that the country's finance minister is now in charge. he's the third in command. but people here are asking, well, where is this going to end? because if the finance minister comes in and he also refuses to appoint thesejudges, then the opposition party could impeach him too. and they could continue doing this, effectively leaving south korea without a government. and this is now the level of political deadlock in this country, with both parties just shouting at each other and blaming each other for the chaos. germany's president has dissolved parliament after the collapse of the governing coalition in november. frank—walter steinmeier�*s announcement clears the way for elections in february to decide who will lead europe's largest economy.

translation: l have - in the past weeks spoken to leaders of the opposition and the ruling coalition after the no confidence vote. i've explored options for another coalition but have not been able to establish a majority. therefore, i am convinced that for the good of our country, new elections are now the right way forward. let's speak to the former minister for economic affairs in germany under angela merkel�*s governnment, peter altmaier. good to see you. mr steinmeier also alluding to germany's political instability in his speech in saying the country needs stability at the moment. how likely is it that this election will provide that stability? i this election will provide that stabili ? , . , stability? i expect this election _ stability? i expect this election in _ stability? i expect this election in seven - stability? i expect this l election in seven weeks' stability? i expect this - election in seven weeks' time to provide a new government,

but a new government may be stable, but probably, as from the beginning ofjune or the end of may. that is the normal procedure after an election. you will have a coalition government, which will be composed of two or three different parties, meaning germany has been paralysed in some important areas for more than 1.5 years now, because the previous coalition was unable to find compromises, and now we will see an ongoing paralysis in important fields, especially when it comes to the newly elected president trump in the us, and the russian war against ukraine. europe will have to speak with one voice and make clear statements, speak with one voice and make clearstatements, but speak with one voice and make clear statements, but i'm afraid the german government is not in a position to lead or

pronounce clearly a certain course. i have just looked at the latest opinion polls as well, because campaigning is already under way. the far right alternative for germany, afd, is polling second at the moment. could you see a situation where they could be part of the coalition. i expected this to be close in the polls for a long time already. it is a consequence of mistakes made by other political parties, but whatever the result will be, no other political party is ready to enter a coalition with the right—wing extremist party afd. that will mean they will remain in opposition. that is good news for europe, good news for germany, but in the election, it will be more difficult to compose a strong and efficient

government opposed by the other democratic parties of the centre. how much are the afd setting the terms on the agenda of the things being debated between the parties when it comes to big issues like immigration, and i guess, the faltering economy? as far as the afd is concerned, they cannot be a part of the government because they have no clear firewall to the extremist right—wing political ideas floating in some parts. but right-wing political ideas floating in some parts. but in terms of these _ floating in some parts. but in terms of these weeks - floating in some parts. but inj terms of these weeks leading floating in some parts. but in i terms of these weeks leading up to the election, what people are talking about, the issues,... issues, . .. the most important issues,... the most important issue for the time being is economic reform. germany has the lowest growth expectations of all 0ecd countries, and second, of course, immigration has been and will be an important issue, but contrary to what the afd has been saying all the time,

of course we will act in coherence with european union law and in coherence with german constitutional law as well. but you have already said you don't think germany can lead in europe at the moment because of the political uncertainty that exists. given it is europe's largest economy and has been a leader when it comes to issues like the war in ukraine, what do you think it means for the rest of europe? i think the rest of europe will have to put their efforts together. i expect french president emmanuel macron will play a more important role in the coming weeks and perhaps months. he has strengthened the relationship with both president trump and my minister keir starmer, and with the polish prime minister task, so at least some coordination is guaranteed, but still, europe will be underperforming, given the fact we have not only

germany but a couple of other governments as well in a state of paralysis. governments as well in a state of paralysis-— of paralysis. peter altmeier, aood to of paralysis. peter altmeier, good to get _ of paralysis. peter altmeier, good to get your _ of paralysis. peter altmeier, good to get your thoughts. l good to get your thoughts. thanks forjoining us. thank you. prime minister sir keir starmer has paid tribute to his brother nick, who has died aged 60. sir keir described his younger brother as a "wonderful man". a spokesman said he died peacefully on boxing day after a fight against cancer. the prime minister had been going on holiday with his family on friday, but it is understood he will now stay at home. one of the last functioning hospitals in northern gaza has been forcibly evacuated by the israeli military. the kamal adwan hospital has been under siege by the idf for weeks. staff say air strikes overnight that targeted the area killed 50 people. the head of the nursing department at the hospital told the bbc the army had given them a 15—minute warning to evacuate patients and staff into the courtyard. the israeli army subsequently entered the hospital and has been removing the patients that remained. israel has not commented on the evacuation. let's speak to

dr mimi syed in deir al balah. she is an emergency physician from the united states on her second medical mission to gaza. mimi, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us. i'm sure it has been traumatic for everyone dealing with the events that have been taking place, but first, what are you hearing about where these patients are being taken to? hi, thank you for having me. it has been terrible. actually, i never thought coming back my second time that things would get worse. it is in fact worse. i understand that patients are being completely evacuated. the hospital is completely under siege. there is only one other one they could go to, which is al—shafa in gaza city, which is definitely not capable of taking care of that number of people. we expect a large number of patients coming into central gaza, where i am. this hospital is nowhere near

equipped to take care of that number of patients. we are heavily burdened and there are no resources at the hospital the patients that are already coming here. i can't imagine what will happen in the next few days. when you say it is worse on this visit there last time, tell us why. yes, i was here in august and in khan younis and elsewhere, and seeing multiple casualties. most of the patients i was seeing our women and children, and again, i am seeing the same. about 70% of the cases are women and children, and in fact, all of them have been civilians. we are seeing the same type of shrapnel injuries, blast injuries, facial injuries, things that are so difficult to take care of, but now on top of it, i have been working in a paediatric emergency department and we are seeing the result of this aggression. we are seeing many cases of dehydration and kidney failure. the contamination out of the water is incredible. the

e. coli is terrible. there is no chlorine to tilt of the water. the water has a high level of sodium salt from sea water and there is no way to filter it, so patients are going back into their tents and encampments going back into their ten