live from london. this is bbc news. a powerful earthquake hits ten bet. 95 people are dead and hundreds more injured, a huge rescue operation is continues. flood warnings are in force across large parts of the uk with a danger to life alert in south leicestershire. and mcdonalds staff say they are still facing sexual abuse and harassment despite the company promising to clean up behaviour at its uk operations. hello, i'm nicky schiller. we start with the latest on that major earthquake that has struck china's tibet region. chinese state media says at least 95 people have been

killed and dozen more injured. the dalai lama has said he is deeply sadden. search and rescue teams are pulling people out of buildings, that have collapsed, there is a huge amount of rubble on the ground, we are being told that many of the survivors, you can see one of them there, being pulled out on a stretcher, are now afraid to go inside buildings as there have been strong aftershocks that continue to shake this whole area. the magnitude 7.1 quake struck round 9am local time. let me give you an idea of where it happened.

the epicentre was tibetan city of shigatse which is holy for tibetan buddhists and is in the same region as mount everest. the tremors were also felt in neighbouring nepal's capital kathmandu as well as parts of northern india and bhutan. chinese state media say hundreds of houses have collapsed in mountain villages and power and water are cut off. we are hearing that power and water have been cut off. we are hearing that power and water have been cut off. temperatures in the area are well below zero. overnight it could be minus 16 in that area. overnight it could be minus 16 in that area. the chinese military has launched rescue efforts. you can see them searching through the rubble. it is using drones to reach those most in need as authorities start to assess the impact of the earthquake. quakes are common in the region, which lies on a major geological fault line. our china correspondent laura bicker gave this update from beijing. obviously we are several hours on from this earthquake, it happened at nine in the morning, in that as you say

remote mountainous area and now, we are beginning to see the impact of that 7.1 magnitude quake. we are seeing on cctv which is the chinese state broadcaster, many people being taken from underneath the rubble. now it does seem that rescuers have managed to reach the area, despite its distance from any major city. they have managed to reach some of the worst hit areas and the reason they have managed to do that, is because the chinese air force launched a drone, an unmanned drone which it flew right over the mount ever rest national park area to destroy to find the cities and villages that have been most affected. you can see i am here in beijing, you can see the tall buildings, that is not the case in those mounts nous regions, these houses are low lie, made of bricks and we have seen footage ofjust of bricks and we have seen

footage of just collapsed of bricks and we have seen footage ofjust collapsed and they have fallen on people and rescuers are combing through the rubble, trying to find survivors, we have also seen many people, elderly, children, out on the street being treated by both the army, by the police, and by rescuers themselves, hundreds of people, hundreds of rescuers have been despatched, president xi jinping announced this morning that he issued instructions to ensure that civilian casualties are at a minimum and those who are at a minimum and those who are lost their homes can be at least housed somewhere warm, and somewhere dry for the time being. that is going to be a challenge, becausejust being. that is going to be a challenge, because just as getting rescuers in there is going to be difficult it will be really difficult to get aid trucks into these mountainous regions so we are monitoring chinese state media, we are seeing the pictures coming in and hearing the updates through press conferences and the last one we had in the last hour,

said that 5 people had been killed and 135 have been injured. that is the latest figure we have. is that is our correspondents monitoring events in beijing. let's speak to journalist bhadra sharma who joins us from kathmandu. i understand that the tremors were felt as far as kathmandu? yes it was... many people who are still in their bed, they were sleeping actually, and it was a strong tremor, so... i woke up and i quickly noticed it is a strong powerful, powerfully strong, so ijust came out of my home, when i came out of my home, when i came to the area, many people were on the street or out of their home, because they have

noticed, we are used to, to come out of home anywhere we feel the tremor because many people had been experiencing this short of earthquake in the same years, and today's earthquake reminded me... in nearly 9,000 people had died. and you mentioned that earthquake, after than earthquake, after than earthquake, after than earthquake, a lot of the survivors went into buildings to try and save themselves but now we are seeing that a lot of the survivorings in this area are afraid to go inside the buildings after those strong aftershocks. == buildings after those strong aftershocks.— buildings after those strong aftershocks. , ., , , aftershocks. -- survivors. yes, in kathmandu _ aftershocks. -- survivors. yes, in kathmandu it _ aftershocks. -- survivors. yes, in kathmandu it seems - aftershocks. -- survivors. yes, in kathmandu it seems quite i in kathmandu it seems quite normal now because there are a few aftershocks, people are returning to normalcy but i

have spoken with a few locals in these... who told me problem with sound . they are, i have spoken with the police officers, they say more than... the police officers, they say more than. . ._ the police officers, they say more than... they have been deployed _ more than... they have been deployed on _ more than... they have been deployed on the _ more than... they have been deployed on the ground - more than... they have been deployed on the ground to i more than... they have beenl deployed on the ground to get the details of loss and damage in those areas.— in those areas. ok, the line is breakin: in those areas. ok, the line is breaking up — in those areas. ok, the line is breaking up a _ in those areas. ok, the line is breaking up a bit, _ in those areas. ok, the line is breaking up a bit, thank- in those areas. ok, the line is breaking up a bit, thank you l breaking up a bit, thank you very muchjoining us live breaking up a bit, thank you very much joining us live there from kathmandu, where those tremors were felt, you can get more on this story on the bbc news website and app and we will keep you updated here on bbc news. here in the uk, a number of major incidents have been declared as the country deals with severe weather,

ranging from ice and snow in the north of england, wales, and scotland, to flooding in the midlands. more than 180 flood warnings are in place across england — that means flooding is expected — and there's one severe flood warning, affecting caravan parks near barrow upon soar, which means there's potential danger to life. graham satchell reports. large parts of the leicestershire and lincolnshire countryside are under water this morning. in both counties, fire services have declared major incidents. my friend is coming. dozens of people have been rescued from cars and houses, as heavy rain and melting snow caused rivers to burst their banks. there are almost 200 flood warnings still in place across england, and one severe warning, meaning danger to life at this caravan park near barrow upon soar in leicestershire. east midlands ambulance service has for the first time declared a critical incident, saying flooding has significantly added to existing pressures of patient demand and a lack of beds in local hospitals. 50 children at ednam primary

school in lincolnshire had to be driven to safety by volunteers, after their school was cut off by the rising water. two inches of water in here. this is everything we'd bought from last year's flood that still hasn't been fitted yet. for many, like tom, who has twin three month old daughters, today will be about assessing the damage and starting to clean up. although the forecast is for drier, calmer weather in the coming days, there are new warnings for snow and ice in some parts, which could lead to more travel chaos. although the forecast is for drier, calmer weather in the coming days, there are new warnings for snow and ice in some parts, which could lead to more travel chaos. our reporter natasha turney is in leicestershire, which has seen some of the worst flooding, including a severe warning in barrow upon soar.

our reporter natasha turney is in leicestershire, which has that flood water is expected to rise over the next few hours, and it is causing a lot of problems in the local area. we have a few houses up this way, which have been affected, and this pub behind me here, we have had the brewery team this morning in trying to salvage what they can of the brewery equipment. that's flooded for the second time, then, in two years. this water level is expected to rise with the latest flood warning, but there are 300 flood alerts out across the uk, and one severe warning. now that is just up the road from here in barrow on soar, where they have evacuated people living in a caravan park because of that expected rise in the flooding, and it could be a possible danger to life. now, we have had a number of schools closed, the roads and railways affected, and a number of airports as well. manchester and bristol airport,

they were closed for a while and then re—opened, but liverpooljohn lennon, that has been closed, we are told, until 10am this morning. as the flood levels dissipate in some places, in others they are expected to rise, like here. people are preparing for what they do in that, but most people getting ready then for that big clearup ahead. and natasha, what are the authorities doing, have they set up emergency centres for people who are affected to go to? yes, there is an emergency refuge centre at the memorial church hall up the road, in barrow upon soar, for everyone affected by that severe alert. you will know if you are in that area because your phone will go off with a loud buzz alert to let you know to be alert for rising floodwater. in the local area here they have had an emergency meeting by the parish council,

and it was decided they are going to put barriers up to try and stop people and cars going through the floodwater, where it is making it worse in different areas. so plans in place, but yeah, i think everyone looking to that clear up ahead which could be long and difficult. is there any respite on the way, in terms of the forecast for the next few days? yes, there is in places. today we are looking at lovely blue sky, not rain happening here at the moment, so here at least, there is some reprieve, but different areas of the country, well, that could differ, and as i said, up in liverpool, there are still problems with the airport there, causing restrictions on flights, so the advice given by the local authorities is to keep an eye on your area, keep those floodwatch alerts handy, and keep an eye on that all—important weather forecast

to see what is coming our way, over the next few days. and a reminder we have the very latest on the floods on our online live page with our correspondents across the worst hit areas. you'll find that on the bbc news website and app. liverpooljohn lennon airport mentioned there aberdeen the latest to suspend flights. heavy snow, freezing rain and sub—zeros temperatures are also causing problems for millions of people across the united states. at least five people have died as a huge winter storm sweeps across the eastern us. tens of thousands have been left without power, with thousands of flights cancelled or delayed, and disruption to schools, colleges and businesses. our north america correspondent, david willis, reports. across central and southern states, all the way to the east coast, america is experiencing some of its heaviest snowfalls on record. dumps of up to 16 inches

in depth led seven states to declare a state of emergency, and left nearly a quarter of a million people without power, as the temperatures plunged. blizzard conditions caused thousands of flights to either be cancelled or delayed. and at least five people have reportedly died in the storm. and so treacherous are the driving conditions, particularly at night, that officials are urging residents to stay at home. fresh powder, right? yeah, it's fresh. improvisation, the name of the game for those determined to travel. the storm left the us capitol building in washington dc cloaked in a veil of snow. schools cancelled lessons, boosting attendance at the city's annual snowball fight. participants take part at their own risk. you may not believe it from these pictures, but no casualties were reported. i did not come here to make friends, that's for sure. -

there's no tiring of it for those with a fur coat. pandas bao li and qing bao were pictured frolicking in the winter wonderland at washington's national zoo. sent from china in an attempt at warming relations between the two nations, this was their first snowfall in the us, and both were clearly determined to make the most of it. david willis, bbc news. a line of breaking news out of south korea, this all round the arrest warrant for the impeached president, we are hearing from the south korean news agency a south korean court has reissued that warrant to arrest the impeached president. you will remember they had seven days for the original one and the security services that were trying to do that arrest warrant couldn't get into if presidential compound because the president's guards and other

people kept them away, we are now hearing that the south korean court has reissued that arrest warrant. we will get you more on it as it comes in. we will get you more on it as it comes in. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

the issue of grooming gangs has dominated the headlines here in the uk over the last few days, in part due to posts on social media from elon musk. now the academic who led a seven year inquiry into child sexual abuse says the "time has passed" for another national investigation into grooming gangs. opposition parties are pushing the government to open one — with the conservatives claiming during previous reviews it was not clear how widespread the issue was. speaking to the today programme on bbc radio 4, professor alexis jay was asked

whether there's a good argument for another national inquiry. i don't agree with that in the sense of requiring further, more detailed national inquiries into child sexual exploitation. we have learned quite a lot from what those review that have already been undertaken, but locally, people need to step up to the mark, and do the sorts of things that have been recommended. i think there is something like 400 recommendations that we identified through a national charity, in all the reviews that had already been carried out, and many of those were simply not met. last night, the home secretary, yvette cooper, told mps that legislation making it mandatory to report child sexual abuse would be introduced in the spring. keir starmer condemned what he said were lies and

misinformation being spread about grooming gangs. our chief political correspondent henry zeffman explains how we got here. though this has propelled to the top of the headlines here in the uk in an unconventional manner, ie by the world's richest man posting about it nonstop, where it has got to politically by this morning is a conventional government v opposition dispute. the government's view, the labour party's view, kier starmer�*s view is there does not need to be a new national inquiry into grooming gangs, but instead the government needs to implement the recommendations of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse which spent several years investigating abuse in various forms and reported in 2022. the opposition's view is there does need to be a new national inquiry into grooming gangs, alexis jay led that report and she has given herfirst interview, you heard a bit there, so it is a very

important intervention she says there doesn't need to be a new inquiry, notjust because she says her inquiry was the final definitive word, what she was arguing, is that if there are more inquiries, ora new inquiry, then that risks slowing down action which she believes is needed to protect children who are victims of sexual exploitation. where do you see this going politically next? i think we still have that very live debate about whether there should or should not be an inquiry. the conservative party is going to try to force a vote on that in the house of commons tomorrow. it is not completely certain they will be able to have that vote, if they do i don't think they would win it but they would seek to generate political energy saying the labour party over there are voting against this and the conservatives are voting for it. this is a classic parliamentary tactic, but moving forward beyond that, i think

the question will be about how implement the recommendations of that report which came out in 2022. they are saying, hang on a second, why are we getting all the heat when the conservative government that was in place in 2022, when this inquiry reported and then in place for nearly two years after didn't implement the recommendations? and i am sure we will hear more of that from the labour party, from the labour government but nevertheless they are in government, the onus is on them, yesterday, they announced various measures they would be bringing forward first and a lot of people will be watching to see how commemorations are due to be held in france, marking ten years since the islamist gun attack at the offices of the satirical magazine, charlie hebdo. 12 people were killed, including several of its best—known cartoonists.

the magazine has released a special edition, proclaiming itself "indestructible" on the front cover. the attack was carried out by two brothers to punish the magazine for publishing caricatures of the prophet muhammad. we expect president macron to arrive at the scene shortly, because he is going to lead the commemorations on the tenth anniversary of that gun attack, it sparked international outcry at the time, the phrase i am charlie became a slogan for freedom of speech. now this actually happened around seven minutes' time, ten years ago, a black car drove up to the charlie hebdo building, and two masked gunmen both dressed in black and armed with assault rifles got out and approached the office, they then burst into an address before they realised they had

got the wrong one, they moved down the street to number ten, where the charlie hebdo offices were on the second floor. once inside, the men which we now know to be those brothers asked maintenance staff where the mag zeeb'll offices were before they shot dead the caretaker, and then they went into the offices where those cartoonists and the staff of charlie hebdo were. they then opened fire. they killed the editors police bodyguard, before asking for the editor and indeed for cartoonists by name, and then they killed them, along with three other staff and a guest attending the meeting. so at the time witnesses said they into the offices where those cartoonists and the staff of charlie hebdo were. they then opened fire. they killed the

editors police bodyguard, before asking for the editor andindeed before asking for the editor and indeed for cartoonists by name, and then they killed them, along with three other staff and a guest attending the meeting. so at the time witnesses said they heard the gunmen shouting "we have ale revenged the prophet muhammad and god is great" in arabic while calling out the name of the journalist, while calling out the name of thejournalist, you remember the journalist, you remember thejournalist, you remember the attack was carried out after the magazine published those caricatures of the prophet muhammad. now you will remember at the time out, this was a dramatic scene, police arrived at the scene, just as the gunmen were leaving the building, thejournalists there, and the workers had taken refuge on the nearby roofs, they filmed the gunmen getting out of the car and shooting at a police vehicle, before driving off. you remember, you may rememberfrom the time there was dramatic images, the cars windscreen riddled with bullets but those officers amazingly escaped unhurt and the car sped off, it did stop, and there was then footage of the gunmen getting out of the vehicle, who shot a

police officer on a nearby pavement. one of the attackers walked up to the injured officer and he was on the pave. and shot him dead at close range. then returned to the car, and drove away. it was a little while later that the get away car was found abandoned after apparently crashing into another vehicle. the high jackers took another car and they disappeared at paris was put on a maximum alert at that time a major security operation was launched round 500 police were deployed to the streets of the capital on that day, and then this lasted for a couple of days, it was on the morning of days, it was on the morning of the ninth january two days later, that the manhunt entered its final phase as they closed in on the suspects, about 35 kilometres from paris, so very shortly we are expecting president macron there to join

those commemoration, marking ten years since the islamist gun attack on the offices of charlie hebdo. we he will be live in paris, so stay with us, here on bbc news. we are looking at sharp overnight frost, particularly on wednesday and thursday night. the risk still of snow and ice but it looks like by the weekend, we will see something a bit less cold coming our way, not so today, the low pressure that brought all the rain that caused the flooding and the snow has moved away, but we are all in this north—westerly airflow, around you can see from the blues on that chart it will be another cold day today. so a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine, we have seen a few wintry showers and snow shower, they will continue across the north of scotland, a wintry mix of showers coming in across the west, few of those getting inland and temperatures today,

3-9, inland and temperatures today, 3—9, so another day for wrapping up warmly, this evening and overnight we continue with the snow showers in the north of scotland, a few of those blowing in across northern ireland, isle of man, north—west ng lands, north—west wales, we will see freezing fog patches form under clearer skies and light winds and by the end of night we will have rain starting to show its hand in south—west england, but a widespread frost again, the risks of ice tomorrow morning, on damp surfaces, and we could see temperatures fall away as low as minus eight. tomorrow any freezing fog will be slow to clear, a lot of dry weather round, we are also looking at the risk of snow showers still across the far north of the country. . and we have also got the rain coming in across southern england. on its leading edge we could also see some wintriness on especially the tops of the hills, this is an area we haven't really seen much snow and the met office has a weather warning out, 2—5 centimetres but the exact position could change, we think

it will be south of the m4 corridor but this system will move away, which means on thursday we open the doors to still northerly winds, still some snow showers, some freezing fog once again slow to clear, central england, south and east england, north wales and east england, north wales and the snow showers in the north accompanied by a blustery wind. temperatures 3—4 degree, seven in the channel islands. then the outlook sees the chance of rain, and some snow, on friday, for some of us but it gets a little bit less cold.

this is bbc news, the headlines... a powerful earthquake hits china's tibet region near mount everest. chinese state media say 95 people are dead and hundreds more injured. commemorations are taking place in paris to mark the tenth anniversary of the terror attack on the satirical magazine charlie had to after it published cartoons of the prophet muhammad. —— charlie hebdo. we expect president macron to join the others who are marking the tenth anniversary of the islamist attack at the offices of the satirical news magazine

charlie hebdo.