more than 60 million americans are in the grip of a huge winter storm that could bring the heaviest snow — and lowest temperatures — in a decade. several inches of snow have been dumped on eastern parts of the us. it's all part of a polar vortex sweeping down from the arctic. missouri, kansas and kentucky are among those declaring a state of emergency. graham satchell reports. the snow is heavy, thick and relentless. this is stjoseph, missouri, where blizzard conditions have brought much of the state to a standstill. tens of millions of americans are bracing themselves for what's predicted to be the heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures in more than a decade. travel has been badly affected. this is louisville airport in kentucky. across the states, thousands of flights have been cancelled or delayed.

conditions on the road have been described as treacherous, with snow and ice causing major problems. this roadway is very slick, very, very slick. so let me get some traction here and watch my feet. are you ready for this? that's what we're dealing with out here. and it's not getting any better, it's getting worse. the weather people are calling this a polar vortex, freezing conditions brought down from the arctic. in kansas, the temperature is forecast to get down to —29 celsius. when you get these subzero temperatures, these subzero wind chills, we know that it can have a negative impact notjust on our workforce, but also our residents. and so we're making sure we address all of those issues. in utah, the heavy snow caused an avalanche, caught on camera by a passing motorist. as you can see, he puts up his windowjust in time. graham satchell, bbc news.

we will have the latest, live from new york, in a few moments time. and for constant updates, you can follow the live page on the bbc website and app. weather warnings are in place here in the uk, too. as weekend snow starts to melt, more than 170 flood warnings are in place across england and wales. an amber weather warning for snow is still in place across northern england — with yellow warnings for ice, snow and rain across much of the uk. heavy snow this morning forced manchester airport to close its runways. they're now reopening. yesterday some areas were hit by power cuts, and delays to flights and on the roads. for those worst affected — rescue teams had to help with essentialjourneys. a senior hamas official has shown the bbc a list of 3a hostages that he says the group is willing to release in the first stage of a potential ceasefire

agreement with israel. it is unclear how many of them are alive. among those named are ten women and eleven older male hostages, as well as young children hamas previously claimed were killed in an israeli air strike. the israeli prime minister's office has denied reports that hamas had provided israel with a hostage list. let's speak to our correspondent emir nader who's injerusalem for us. bring us up to date on the latest on the ceasefire talks. that's right, over the weekend, the ceasefire negotiations held in doha have started again. we know that there is an israeli delegation there, the hamas delegation, the us special middle east envoy is there. there are still a number of key sticking points in the ceasefire negotiations, that have been long running, including the demand by hamas

for a complete israeli withdrawal, and we understand that the first stage of the ceasefire deal, they would like to extend it into a permanent ceasefire deal. the israeli side, we understand, would like to know in the first set of hostages that would be released in the ceasefire, you mentioned the 34 in the ceasefire, you mentioned the 3a names published by hamas overnight. the israeli side wanted to know what conditions they are in, how many are alive, and how many are not. but there is obviously now more focus on the condition of those 34 focus on the condition of those 3a israelis who are being kept hostage by hamas after this list was published yesterday evening. list was published yesterday evenina. , ., , ., evening. these hostages have been held _ evening. these hostages have been held for— evening. these hostages have been held for more _ evening. these hostages have been held for more than - evening. these hostages have been held for more than a - evening. these hostages have| been held for more than a year now. pressure on netanyahu grows by the day, with repeated calls for those hostages to be released and hamas to do so. is there increasing pressure on him, does it feel like now?

that's right. i think the fact that hamas made the list public was part of a negotiating tactic. i think we saw on saturday hamas published a video of one of the young female hostages, a 19—year—old soldier. that could be seen as a way to put pressure on the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, from the hostage's families. in gaza, there remains pressure on hamas. a weekend of very heavy bombardment by the israeli military, negotiations began at the weekend, and we saw palestinians killed in the gaza strip, including many women and children. behind this is obviously the fact that there is going to be a change of administration in the us in two weeks, with the incoming president, donald trump. i think there is an agreement amongst many sides that the

particular architecture that has been used now as part of the negotiation talks may be affected by the change of administration, so there is that time pressure there as well on the ceasefire negotiations, to see what progress could be made in the next two weeks. in progress could be made in the next two weeks.— progress could be made in the next two weeks. in the last few hours, it next two weeks. in the last few hours. it has — next two weeks. in the last few hours, it has emerged - next two weeks. in the last few hours, it has emerged there . next two weeks. in the last few| hours, it has emerged there has been a shooting on israelis in the west bank. what we know about that? we the west bank. what we know about that?— the west bank. what we know about that? we have 'ust been caettin about that? we have 'ust been getting the h about that? we have 'ust been getting the details _ about that? we have just been getting the details in. - getting the details in. understand that three people have been killed in an israeli civilian bus that was driving near the israeli settlement there. that is in the northern part of the occupied palestinian west bank. the israeli ambulance service has said amongst those three that were killed were two elderly women. the israeli military says it has imposed a cord around the area and we

understand it is conducting searches to try to locate whether the shooters were there. in the other palestinian territory, we are talking about the west bank, but there has been ongoing unrest since the start of the israeli gaza war, we have seen hundreds of palestinians killed, dozens of israelis. just yesterday there was a palestinian teenager who was a palestinian teenager who was shot dead in an israeli raid, where the israeli army says they have been conducting operations against militant groups based there. we have not yet had a direct comment on the killing, but we understand that it is under review by the israeli military. all this shows you the level of unrest in the west bank.— shows you the level of unrest in the west bank. thank you for the update _ in the west bank. thank you for the update from _ in the west bank. thank you for the update from jerusalem. - the government here is unveiling a new pledge to cut the number of patients in england waiting more than 18 weeks for medical treatment.

ministers want to lower the figure by nearly half a million over the next year — with more patient choice and greater access to community diagnostic centres and surgical hubs. they say the changes will help them meet a key election pledge made by sir keir starmer. our health editor hugh pym reports. getting checks and tests closer to home, and more quickly. that's the aim of the network of community diagnostic centres in england. examples include scans and endoscopies. as part of the new plan to cut waiting lists, opening times will be extended to 12 hours a day, seven days a week, so more work can be done away from hospitals. the nhs app will be upgraded to allow more patients to book treatments and appointments. it will also make it easier for people to exercise their right to choose an nhs or private provider for their care. for the head of nhs england, amanda pritchard, it means more control over the process for patients and a more efficient health service. we are really ambitious about continuing the progress that we've made on reducing

the longest waits for care now, to get to the place where we can deliver the 18 week standard by the end of this parliament, and that is both about putting the additional capacity in place, and changing the way that we work. and that builds on the great progress that colleagues across the nhs have made over the past couple of years, particularly in tackling those longest waits. currently, about 59% of patients are getting their appointment or treatment, or being given the all clear, within 18 weeks. three million are waiting longer. the government said it wants to get to 92% by the end of this parliament. and as a first milestone, it will be 65% by march 2026. officials say that means a reduction in the longer waits of 450,000. ministers have already said they will deliver an extra two million appointments a year byjuly. they say measures in the new plan will add another 1.5 million after that. there's a level of respect that comes in there as well. the prime minister will today unveil what's billed as an elective reform plan. he says it'll deliver

on the promise to end backlogs and offer greater convenience to patients. some medical experts say they welcome the ideas in the plan, but have questioned what can be achieved. we particularly advocate the use of surgical hubs, we're supportive of one stop clinics, and we're also supportive of gps requesting investigations. whether or not this will achieve the government's aims to make sure that everybody, or 92% of the population, are seen within 18 weeks by the end of this term of government, remains yet to be seen. others have expressed concern that planned treatment is being prioritised at the expense of emergency care. ministers deny this, but the extreme pressure in most hospital a&e departments right now is certainly concentrating the minds of health leaders. hugh pym, bbc news. let's speak to our chief political correspondent henry zeffman.

good morning, welcome to the programme. what does this feel like to you? is it another government reset, a way for the government reset, a way for the government to start the new year with a big policy initiative? i year with a big policy initiative?— year with a big policy initiative? i think it is exactly _ initiative? i think it is exactly that. - initiative? ithink it is exactly that. the - initiative? i think it is. exactly that. the most initiative? i think it is - exactly that. the most obvious point is it is really striking that it point is it is really striking thatitis point is it is really striking that it is health that keir starmer is talking about at the start of this year. sometimes you get from prime minister is a new year speech which spans the terrain of government policy. this one is focused on health, and i think it is a recognition from the very top of government that, for many voters, the thing that they will be judged on voters, the thing that they will bejudged on is the voters, the thing that they will be judged on is the extent or otherwise of improvements in the health service over the coming years. remember, it is probably four years or so until the next general election. if you speak to strategists in keir starmer�*s team, they would say, well, if the nhs, the national health service, if it improves, they will probably be

re—elected, if it gets worse, they well will not be. this is just the first moment. just for christmas, keir starmer did what was more of a clear reset moment, when he unveiled what he called six milestones were trying to live in code change. —— he called six milestones for change. keir starmer is trying to remind british voters, the british public, what the agenda that he laid out towards the end of last year comprised. fits end of last year comprised. as politicians return to work in westminster, what are they going to be making of the increasing criticism of the prime minister we are hearing from elon musk, the owner of x, as he seems to be weighing increasingly into uk politics? even this morning, i say this morning uk time, i don't think it is morning where elon musk is, he has been firing off a post after post, post on

twitter about a variety of uk politicians. you seem to have discovered gordon brown this morning, the former uk prime minister, he has been coming in for some stick, 14 years after he left office, 15 years now. so it is a total fascination that elon musk clearly has with uk politics. but zeroing in specifically on the grooming gangs scandal of some years ago, and insisting that there should be various acts of condemnation for leaders and politicians, and other officials from back then, but also calling for a new inquiry. yesterday, just weeks after elon musk had been openly floating the idea that he might donate to the reform party, led by nigel farage, yesterday he declared that he was not cut out to be the leader of reform. that is unquestionably having an impact in the uk. people are talking about the grooming gangs issue, in a way that they

simply would not be if the world's richest man had not been posting about it on the social media site that he owns. the broader question of why elon musk, an incoming member of donald trump's cabinet who was born in south africa, lives in the us and has massive companies, why he is obsessed with the internal machinations of british politics, one of the smaller parties in the uk, i can't help you with that. h0 can't help you with that. no doubt that _ can't help you with that. no doubt that is _ can't help you with that. no doubt that is going to be on the minds of many people in westminster, and political observers. in particular, when it comes to the relationship that he has with nigel farage, and that sense that he is criticising him now after being very positive towards him, talking about money coming in, what do you read into that? it is really embarrassing for nigel farage, to say the very least. yesterday morning he was on the bbc, boasting that elon musk was not the support of reform had made it a cool party with many young people, he described elon musk as a hero.

within hours of that, elon musk orsay within hours of that, elon musk or say that nigel farage should not be the leader of reform and started talking about a man called rupert lowe, the mp for great yarmouth, also elected in the july great yarmouth, also elected in thejuly general election, started talking about whether he should be the leader instead. it is deeply destabilising, embarrassing for nigel farage. the reason for it is very important. there is a substantive disagreement there, which is that elon musk believes that tommy robinson, who is currently in prison in this country for contempt of court, should play a role this country for contempt of court, sh