area, raising concern that wildfires could spread again. welcome to newsday. i'm steve lai. we start in seoul, where the suspended south korean president, yoon suk yeol, has finally been arrested over his short—lived martial law declaration in december. there have been angry scenes and clashes outside the presidential residence where there have been angry scenes and clashes throughout the morning. investigators forced entry into the president's home to arrest him early on wednesday morning. it was their second attempt to arrest him after being prevented by president yoon�*s security staff. in the last hour, president yoon himself has released a video message. in it, he said:

i'm joined now by our reporter rachel lee who is there for us outside the presidential residence. hopefully you can hear me this time around. get us up to speed with later now that president yoon been arrested. figs with later now that president yoon been arrested.- with later now that president yoon been arrested. as you can see here. _ yoon been arrested. as you can see here. the — yoon been arrested. as you can see here, the road _ yoon been arrested. as you can see here, the road is _ see here, the road is completely clear and now, there have been a lot of people here, especially a couple of hours ago, people were chanting, protesting against the execution of president yoon�*s arrest warrant, and some of them have even been camping out overnight in this freezing weather. it recorded minus eight celsius, but regardless of the cold temperature, people were staying out, protesting and rallying and trying to stop

the execution of arrest warrant of president yoon, but now it has been cleared out, as i said, and the suspended letter has now, is now heading to the government complex where the corruption investigation office is located, and president yoon also released a statement earlier before he headed there, saying he is now heading, he has decided to head their because of the safety concerns. with that, what happens next then, for both president yoon and those supporters that have now disbanded?— and those supporters that have now disbanded? right, so what is auoin now disbanded? right, so what is going to _ now disbanded? right, so what is going to happen _ now disbanded? right, so what is going to happen next, - is going to happen next, suspended president yoon will now head to the government

complex, as i said, he will now receive questioning about the interaction and the rest of the time he is currently staying in the sole detention centre of, and now it is unconstitutional inaudible they have to decide within 180 days with to inaudible they have to decide within180 days with to uphold the impeachment. inaudible that south korea will have two have an election within 60 days. the emotions. _ an election within 60 days. the emotions, the _ an election within 60 days. the emotions, the wheels are in motion now he has surrendered to authorities. thank you for getting us up to speed there.

let's get more analysis on this developing story. i'm joined now by henry haggard, former advisor on korean politics, us embassy in south korea, now a non—resident fellow at the baker institute. henry, thank you forjoining me to talk about this. firstly, what do you think it was i got this arrest over the line this time when it failed the first time when it failed the first time around?— time when it failed the first time around? thank you for havin: time around? thank you for having me _ time around? thank you for having me on. _ time around? thank you for having me on. i— time around? thank you for having me on. i think- time around? thank you for having me on. i think that l time around? thank you for- having me on. i think that most everyone who is watching this new that that was inevitable next phase, so i think that it was best to move on, certainly from an outside perspective. it was very positive together domestic legal procedure, the wheels moving and get this arrest and investigation done, because this is the process and it is really vital that south korea is now following its own rule of law, its own process. the president himself release a video saying, calling the

investigation illegal, but he has submitted to the arrest in order to prevent large shed. what do you make of the statements he has been making, calling these arrests against him as illegal? i calling these arrests against him as illegal?— him as illegal? i think that really the _ him as illegal? i think that really the story _ him as illegal? i think that really the story is - him as illegal? i think that l really the story is hopefully moving on from former president or deposed president yoon. he has committed to fight to the end. but i think that has much meaning. i think the vast majority of people in korea understand his declaration of illegal declaration of martial law was kind of, was the original sin, so this is so ink it is important that we are looking, i think you see people looking, i think you see people looking beyond to a lively presidential election. so i think it is important that he is going to get, take part in the investigation, but, really, what we're looking at is how this moves forward towards an

election. �* , ., ~' election. and you think then that this is _ election. and you think then that this is an _ election. and you think then that this is an encouraging l that this is an encouraging sign for south korea's mccarthy, the procedure has taken place and the political manoeuvring is if you like can move forward?— manoeuvring is if you like can move forward? definitely. what i have move forward? definitely. what i have said _ move forward? definitely. what i have said from _ move forward? definitely. what i have said from the _ move forward? definitely. what i have said from the beginning l i have said from the beginning as a group of eight and the page, the better. there is no grey area here, although the deposed president is trying to create a marterer complex and has been illegally arrested or questioned, but the reality is he has done something that did really... again, iam nota constitutional scholar, but from all normal perspectives, this is unconstitutional, so it is really important that they move onto the next phase. this is certainly from an outside perspective because the quicker that moves forward, the sooner

normal relations can be resumed between south korea and united states and other allies and partners. states and other allies and partnere— states and other allies and artners. w , ., ., partners. taking you up on that oint partners. taking you up on that point about _ partners. taking you up on that point about how _ partners. taking you up on that point about how this _ partners. taking you up on that point about how this has - partners. taking you up on that point about how this has been i point about how this has been looking from the outside, what sort of damage has done to south korea �*s reputation? i south korea '5 reputation? i don't think the reputation is really important thing here. south and the united states are allies, south korea and japan have a lasting relationship that is... and i think you saw the japanese and american foreign minister and secretary of state visiting. they understand that it is not about reputation, it's about the vital importance of the relationship with south korea in order to deter north korea in order to deter north korea in order to work together for shared prosperity of the com in this case, of these three countries. predation, sure, it has taken a hit, but ultimately

what we will see in six months or a year, we will be talking about the vitality of korea's democratic process. i think just as we did in the previous times with south korea has gone through domestic devotions, i think that is politically that is how south korea is approaching its democratic evolution, and so i think that is reputation and democratic... reputation is not such a key issue here. i think the issue issue here. i think the issue is how important is south korea to the united states or to japan or to other allies and partners, and the answer is south korea remains vitally important on the security front, the economic front, and i think within six months or a year we will be looking hopefully at this in the rear view and charting a more positive path forward. thank ou ve positive path forward. thank you very much _ positive path forward. thank you very much for _ positive path forward. thank you very much for your- you very much for your thoughts, henry. now we will

turn our attention to the middle east next. negotiators meeting in qatar have raised hopes that israel and hamas are on the verge of a ceasefire and hostage release deal after months of deadlock. qatar's foreign ministry said key issues have now been addressed, but israel has cautioned that the deal is not there yet. us presidentjoe biden and egyptian president abdel fattah el—sisi are calling on both sides to show flexibility to achieve a truce. a palestinian official told the bbc that the first stage of the deal will likely include the release of 3a israeli hostages, including women, children, the wounded and the sick. in return, its expected that israel will release 1,000 palestinian prisoners, including about 190 prisoners who have been serving sentences of 15 years or more. the final stage involves an agreement about the reconstruction of gaza — a process that could take years. for more on the situation, here's an update from our state department correspondent, tom bateman. the sense remains that these

two sides are extremely close to a deal and that an announcement could come either within hours or within days. but it is hoped for at some point this week and certainly before the inauguration of president trump next monday. now, we also had in washington a pretty significant intervention by the secretary of state antony blinken. both reiterating that the administration believes that they are on the brink of a deal here, but he also went into some details about the post—war plan that the administration wants to hand over to the trump team for what would happen in gaza in terms of both reconstruction, but also, future governance. and this is where things get really important because it gives you a sense of what the biden administration thinks it has achieved and its diplomacy and the wider region, that it can try and get backing for this.

what they are talking about is an interim governance proposal that would not involve the full control of the palestinian authority. that is the entity that was set up after the oslo accords that now has some form of self—governance in the occupied west bank. but, instead, there would be a mix of local politicians, some palestinian authority, but also, international partners, as mr blinken put it, the united nations. and critically on the issue of security, that it felt like this would largely be an internationally—led operation probably involving arab countries, although he did not name them. but what you have a sense of here is the way in which the administration is trying to placate both the israelis who don't want full palestinian control, but also arab countries who want to see some sort of progress towards palestinian self—governance for gaza. the administration i think trying to work a compromise, something that if they can get to, they would have been

the guarantors for. but that now all gets handed over to the trump administration. i'm joined now byjames dorsey, honorary fellow at the national university of singapore's middle east institute. adjunct senior fellow at the s rajaratnam school of international studies. different parties have said the deal is close. what's your sense of what it will take to get it across the line? we have seen this before of course, and i think one has to take this with a degree of caution. forthe take this with a degree of caution. for the last 11t months we have been repeatedly very close to a ceasefire deal, which in the end didn't happen. i think the second question is, as we are talking about a ceasefire, that is what is being negotiated, we may actually see is not a 3—phase agreement that is executed, but phase agreement that is violated, or a 3—phase agreement that is violated after the first phase. so i think you have to be very

cautious. the major issues here are that israel does not want to end the war. it is being pressured by the united states, it is responding to pressure by the united states, but it is essentially not achieving any of its war goals, and on the other hand, what thomas wants is an end to the war —— hamas wants. this agreement as it is drafted all the details that we know of, none of the details that have been leaked speak about an end of the war. the assumption is that the profits from one daily process of one phase to the other will effectively end the war, but i think that remains to be seen. would you be surprised if it didn't happen? what could scupper it? well, i think, just going on judge feeling, we are probably closer than we ever have been, and i think that is due to the pressure primarily coming from

president—elect donald trump. what is obviously clear is that neither the united states, sorry, neither israel, nor hamas want to get on the wrong side of donald trump. therefore, they are going through the motions. and to be fair, i think that hamas truly wants a ceasefire. hamas has problems not only in terms of the effect of the israeli attack on the cedars in gaza, but also, its lost popularity. it's numbers, according to opinion polls, almost down to single digits. so it has some serious problems and need to confront and can only confront those within to the war. what is going to stop this? the devil is always in the details. that is one part of it. the second part of his prime minister benjamin netanyahu, the israeli leader, has played games in the past, there is no

reason why one should assume that he won't play games this time. how do you think trump see israel's attacks on gaza? he has said that he wants the fighting to stop before he enters office, and you said yourself this is what is driving much of the discussions now. ~ ~' ., driving much of the discussions now. ~ ~ ., , driving much of the discussions now. ~ ~ . , now. well, i think that is part of it, but _ now. well, i think that is part of it, but the _ now. well, i think that is part of it, but the question - now. well, i think that is part of it, but the question reallyl of it, but the question really is — if we get a ceasefire, does trump take this a step further, does he try to use celebrity has? he has demonstrated he has the leverage in a way that outgoing us presidentjoe biden has not demonstrated that, but does he take that leveraged to try and get to a solution of the israeli—palestinian conflict? what would drive that is not so much that my trumpet�*s interest in the israeli palestinian conflict as such, but trump going back to the first administration wants to be

awarded the nobel peace prize in the middle east may be the way to do that, but that is a long way off. way to do that, but that is a long way off-— way to do that, but that is a long way off. james, thank you for our long way off. james, thank you for your insight _ long way off. james, thank you for your insight today. - always a pleasure, steve. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. treasury minister tulip siddiq has resigned from the government after growing pressure over an anti—corruption investigation in bangladesh. her aunt, sheikh hasina, is the former bangladeshi prime minister, and is being investigated over claims of a lucrative land grab. in a letter, ms siddiq said she had done nothing wrong, but the issue risked becoming a distraction for the government. the government has banned the import of cattle, pigs and sheep from germany after a case of foot and mouth disease was detected in berlin. there are no cases of the disease in the uk, but the chief vet said

"robust contingency plans" were being put in place to protect farmers and food security. the princess of wales has revealed she is in remission from cancer after making an emotional return to the london hospital where she received treatment. after visiting the royal marsden hospital, catherine — whose husband prince william is first in line to the throne — spoke of her "relief" and said she remained "focused on recovery." you're live with bbc news. firefighters in los angeles are braced for the return of strong winds of up to 100km/h on tuesday evening as they continue to battle fires that are still of control. exactly a week after the first fire, at least 12,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed, 25 people have died. you can see here the two largest fires — the palisades and eaton fires — which continue to burn. firefighters in los angeles are warning that

the strengthening winds may spread the flames further. 0ur los angeles correspondent emma vardy has this report. this is the moment looters enter an evacuated home in the palisades. they were later arrested and charged with stealing $200,000 worth of property. the promise that we made when we started this, that these criminals would be arrested, they would be prosecuted and they will be maximally punished. it isa it is a promise we are keeping. it's just one example of the crime wave authorities are tackling in the wake of the fires. joe biden has promised that la will get government money to help the massive recovery effort. it's going to cost tens of billions of dollars to get los angeles back to where it was. so we're going to need congress to step up to provide funding to get this done. despite talk of recovery, the flames are still spreading. this is ventura county, north of la, where a new fire broke out yesterday.

crews battled through the night, but it's still uncontained. as well as the thousands of homes destroyed in an altadena alone, six schools have also burned. this one, 0dyssey charter school — you can see the playground. this of the younger children's classrooms, all destroyed. and here, 800 pupils aged between four and 13 now have little idea of where they'll go. with power and internet still down in large parts of los angeles, an idea by tesla owner elon musk has led to owners of his futuristic cybertrucks travelling to affected areas to provide wi—fi using the portable satellite system, starlink. you can't even make a phone call out here. so, there's certainly no internet out here. so, just being able to provide that is a critical need out here. and help continues to reach la in many forms. more than 800 prison inmates

being trained in firefighting skills have been working on the ground for days. and crews from mexico have also joined the unprecedented effort to deal with this historic disaster. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the former fox news presenter, pete hegseth, who donald trump wants to be his defence secretary, has been questioned over claims of sexual misconduct and his views on women by senators in washington. they are deciding whether he's suitable for the job. the 44—year—old said he wants to bring back a "warrior culture" to the pentagon. the start of the hearing was repeatedly interrupted by protesters. ukraine's army says it's carried out their largest strikes yet against military targets deep inside russia. kyiv said it targeted sites up to 1,100 kilometres from the border. these included a chemical plant in the bryansk region where shells and cruise missile components are reportedly made, an oil refinery in saratov, and a fuel depot in the neighbouring city of engels. president biden says the us will remove its designation of cuba as a state

sponsor of terrorism. the deal would see more than 550 prisoners in the communist country released by the time mr biden leaves office on monday. cuba was first added to washington's terrorism list in 1982, but was removed by president 0bama in 2015. the trump administration placed cuba back on the list in 2021. now for something completely different. if you are the parents of small children or spend a lot of time on tiktok, odds are you might be familiar with this. # the tree in the bog # and the bog down in the valley—oh! # 0h, row the raglan bog # the bog down in the valley—oh! he's called the tree of wisdom, the latest character to join the long—running children's tv show the wiggles. his crazy dance moves have seen him go viral around the world with millions of views and thousands of parents and kids trying their best to copy his unique moves. # the tree in the bog # and the bog down in the valley—oh! # 0h, row the raglan bog

# the bog down in the valley—oh! i was fortunate enough to be joined by the tree of wisdom himself, dominic field. i asked him how it feels to have recentlly gone viral for the dance moves he's been doing on the show for several years. it's been — it's been so cool. it's been so fun. i've been doing the tree for about six years and i've been dancing as wild as that for about six years, and then, how the internet works — someone picked it up, someone shared it and all of a sudden, i think in one month, it clocked over 150 million views. and, you know, all of a sudden, khloe kardashian has shared it on her instagram. she has 300 million followers. it's just blown up. so it's been crazy and ijust keep on dancing, keep on partying! yeah, absolutely. why not! and you say that you've been doing it for six years before it's actually taken

off, if you like. what do you put that down to, then? i have to say, your sheerjoy and enthusiasm has to play a big part in that in yourdancing? yeah, i think so. i mean, everyone who has come to the shows always enjoys them and that. i always get a lot of positive feedback off the back of shows. i think it's just been persistence. we've just kind of always — we've done the song for a few years now and ijust have so much fun doing it, genuinely. a lot of people ask if it is coffee or energy drinks or something. but it'sjust sheerjoy. i have so much fun doing it. and, so, i think that's just rubbed off. a few people have seen it and gone — yeah, i want to have fun like this guy! absolutely! and what do your family and friends and the rest of the wiggles think of the new found fame? the wiggles love it. it's so fun. they've loved being able to take the back seat and have me do all of the high—energy dancing and they can chill out in the back! and my friends, they've been seeing me do this at weddings and stuff like that for years. so this is no surprise

to them, the dance moves. and it must get quite a reaction now for your live shows. it must be hot in demand? yeah, we've started doing it second—last song of the show. so, it's kind of our big closer. and there is a bit of hype built around it. so, you know, it does build a bit more pressure but that just means more energy comes out. and what does it mean for the tree of wisdom, the character you play on the wiggles? more air time, perhaps? a spin—off? who knows what is in the works! we're always looking to "branch" out! laughter we've got so much cool stuff coming out, including this country album, so i might have to become the cactus of wisdom for the country album! i'm... and you're good with the puns, too. got to appreciate that. and you are the tree of wisdom, though. have you got any life advice for us you can dispense? look, the tree of wisdom is all about energy. whatever you're doing in life, give it 100%.

give it your all, come on! very ha rd to very hard to follow that. before we go, a reminder of our top story — anti—corruption investigators in south korea have arrested the suspended president, yoon suk yeol. he's been taken away for questioning on charges of insurrection and abuse of power over his attempt to impose martial law. a statement from the president said he had decided to give himself up to avoid "bloodshed", though it didn't mean he agreed with the investigation. we will have more on this throughout the day on bbc news. hello. 0ur weather may well be turning a bit murkier right now, but it was a pretty stunning end to the day on tuesday with lovely sunsets here in highlands, scotland. we have a number of these sunset pictures sent to us from our weather watchers. we had a significantjump

in temperatures over the last 21t hours. fylingdales in north yorkshire was monday's coldest spot atjust 3 degrees, but we had temperatures jump up here by 7 degrees celsius from monday into tuesday. tuesday itself was a day of variable cloud and a bit of sunshine at times. now, high pressure is dominating our weather picture for the next few days, bringing a quiet spell of weather and often feeding up some pretty mild air too. however, mild weather at this time of the year doesn't necessarily equate to sunny weather, and right now, what we're seeing is extensive low cloud. we've got some mist and fog around, and the low cloud is also bringing a few patches of drizzle with it too, particularly across parts of wales and western areas of england. so, although it's a frost—free start to your day on wednesday morning, it's going to be pretty murky with mist and fog for wales, western areas of england and quite murky conditions through the vale of york. a few fog patches in the midlands too. some of these fog patches may well linger all day, but i think for most areas, you'll see a bit of sunshine coming through, the best of that for scotland, the far north of england. may well stay rather cloudy for east anglia and southeast england,

some of that cloud could stay quite low with occasional mist patches still around into the afternoon. temperatures for most of us into double figures, so we're on the mild side for the time of year. and with this area of high pressure staying with us wednesday, thursday into friday as well, not going to be great changes in our weather pattern day by day. so thursday morning, again, a few mist and fog patches around initially, perhaps a little bit more in the way of sunshine extending across scotland into northern england, the north midlands and wales. but, again, we'll probably have some low cloud and mist hanging on across parts of east anglia and southern counties of england. temperatures generally around 7—10 degrees, so we're running a little bit above average for the time of year, and quite mild there for west scotland and northern ireland. friday, the high pressure is still with us, but into the weekend, this weak weather front is going to move in off the atlantic. the front weakens as it runs into our area of high pressure. and so saturday, a dry day, sunday, we'll see the clouds thicken with outbreaks of light rain spreading in. there'll be a few showers around next week, but for the time being, the weather staying mostly on the mild side.

it will cut jobs ahead of an "intense year" for the company. we'll have the details. plus how india is looking to benefit from the administration of us president—elect donald trump.

hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. before we get to our top stories, we begin in south korea where investigators have arrested impeached president yoon suk—yeol. he is the country's first ever first sitting president to be arrested. he was detained after an hours long stand—off at his residence. the police had attempted to arrest him earlier this month — but failed to do so following a stand off with the presidential security service. so far there hasn't been a major impact on korean marketsjust yet, with the benchmark kospi index currently trading 0.3% higher. to the united states now, where social media giant meta has said it will cut its workforce by 5%. plans by the owner of facebook and instagram to lay off workers come on the same day that another of america's tech giants, microsoft, said it would pause hiring in a major unit in america. michelle fleury reports from new york. in a memo to staff mark

zuckerberg said 2025 will be an intense year for the company