shaimaa khalil, thank ou ve on that front. shaimaa khalil, thank you very much _ on that front.h has gripped the united states. a woman who conspired to kill her abusive mother has been released early from prison. gypsy rose blanchard, pictured on your left, pleaded guilty to the second—degree murder of dee dee blanchard, on the right, in missouri in 2015. the 32—year—old plotted with her boyfriend, nicholas godejohn, to kill her mother following years of abuse. he stabbed dee dee blanchard to death with a knife her daughter gave him and the pair fled the scene. mike landis is an anchor on fox 49 news — he explained to me why the case had been so big in the us. yes, i think it's because it's been so controversial. 0bviously, any time you have a murder case, things seem cut and dry with a crime being committed. but because of this, with her background with gypsy, there was because if you've been following this case, her mother was suffering from what many people believe to be munchausen syndrome, where you basically fake an illness in a child of yours, to simply get attention rig

shaimaa khalil in banukok, mount marapi. shaimaa khalil in bangkok, thank _ mount marapi.u _ mount marapi. shaimaa khalil in bangkok, thank you for - mount marapi. shaimaa khalil in bangkok, thank you for the - mount marapi. shaimaa khalil in i bangkok, thank you for the update. some parts of the uk have been told to brace for further snow and icy conditions today after some areas saw major disruption over the weekend. a new met office yellow warning for ice across much of northern england, the midlands and northern wales is in place until midday today. cumbria saw some of the worst of the snow, with many being left without electricity and some having to find temporary accommodation. a friend who rang me at lunchtime yesterday said he couldn't get home and said, "can i come round to your house for lunch? " so he came at 12:00 yesterday, and he left at 10:00 this morning! he stayed with us last night. there was lots of people stuck and people putting people up and...just doing what we can to help. live now to our correspondent, yunus mulla, who's in cumbria in the north of

time ago on the intensifying ground offensive shaimaa.— offensive shaimaa.n intensi in: offensive shaimaa. they have been intensifying the _ offensive shaimaa. they have been intensifying the ground _ offensive shaimaa. they have been intensifying the ground offensive, i intensifying the ground offensive, intensifying the ground offensive, in khan younis, in the south, which is why you see this further exodus from khan younis, which is a place where people fled from the north in the beginning of the conflict. now people are fleeing again, this time from khan younis to the small southernmost city of rafah. as it stands, it is the most densely populated city in gaza right now, completely overwhelmed by people who are coming in and fleeing, but also the un saying they are now using makeshift shelters in open areas for people to stay because there basically is nowhere to go. it was interesting, just before we came on air, i saw some testimony from children in gaza talking about their new year wishes and all of them have said their wish is for the work to stop, b

shaimaa khalil, thank ou, last long enough? shaimaa khalil, thank you. in _ last long enough?on: police in prague say the man who carried out the country's worst mass shooting killed himself after realising he was surrounded. # after realising he was surrounded. so here it it is, i #. and still to come... we talk to slade, as the band marks 50 years of their extremely famous christmas single. coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on bbc news... blown away by the windies — england's cricketers slump to another series defeat on their white ball tour in the caribbean. the 16—year—old darts player luke littler has told the bbc he can't believe he's made it to the third round of the world championship on his debut. last night he defeated the uk open champion, andrew gilding, at alexandra palace in north london. 0ur sports correspondent andy swiss tells his remarkable story so far. for a place in the last 32. he's onlyjust done his gcses. he's chosen double ten. he's hit double ten. now he's teaching the darts world a lesson. at 16, luke littler from warrington is the new wo

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem. by rotesters. churches and homes ransacked by protesters-— protesters. in the aftermath the government _ protesters. in the aftermath the government promised . protesters. in the aftermath - the government promised money to help rebuild, but as they prepare for christmas, many are still living with the damage and shock of the attack as caroline davey�*s reports. joy and christmas hats. familiar celebrations mask painful memories. jaranwala's christians have lost much this year. this woman lives in the only room left of her family home. rebuilding is slow. life in this charred space, exhausting. translation: we are tired now. in this one room, there is no facility. there is no light. no water. everything is finished. we don't have anything. she and her family received two million rupees from the government, just over $7,000. she says that's not enough. translation: it takes a whole lifetime to build a house. - our parents saved each and every penny for the house and now it's all burned

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.ld us more about the latest peace proposal from egypt. essentially this is a three stage proposal by egypt they could see the gradual release of hostages in exchange for palestinian prisoners, they could see different phases of pauses infighting they could lead to a ceasefire but essentially the safe delivery and distribution that is desperately needed in gaza, but also they have put in a proposal about governance, a governing body of expose could take over the administration of gaza after the war but here is what this plan is up against. it is up against israel's determination to expand its military operation, to expand and even the great offensive, we have seen it even into central gaza but also the continuing fire of rockets into israel as recently as this week. we had about before the firing, a barrage of rockets, for example, it is any business plan, it has been thought through with qatar, the big negotiators in this conflict, and has represented to hamas and has represented to ha

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem.his, i spoke to mark regev — a senior adviser to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. i started by asking him about those comments from the prime minister that israeli troops would "deepen the fighting" in gaza in the coming days. it means we will follow through on our goals which are threefold, on goal one, just back and over 30 are still in gaza, and to ensure situation where there is no longer a terror regime in gaza that can attack us the way we were attacked on october seventh and create a new reality in gaza which endures stability across the border and be good for isrealis and good for palestinians and the people of gaza too. and in the past few weeks the israelis have said publicly once the release of israeli hostages. and the mediation efforts and are taking place in the middle that would lead to a ceasefire. but what the comments from the prime minister mean for those mediation efforts? does it not scupper those efforts? 0n the contrary we believe if there is a chance t

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem.ined now by the representative of the un humanitarian affairs agency in ocha, gemma connell, who is right now in the south of the gaza strip, near rafah. she visited the al—aqsa hospital where many of the injured from the meghazi refugee camp were taken. thank camp were taken. you for coming on the programme. thank you for coming on the programme-— thank you for coming on the rouramme. ., ~ i. ., ., programme. thank you for having me. could ou programme. thank you for having me. could you tell— programme. thank you for having me. could you tell us _ programme. thank you for having me. could you tell us first _ programme. thank you for having me. could you tell us first of _ programme. thank you for having me. could you tell us first of all _ programme. thank you for having me. could you tell us first of alljust - could you tell us first of alljust what you saw? could you tell us first of all 'ust what you semi could you tell us first of all 'ust what you sawai could you tell us first o

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem.piking drinks. the remark is alleged to have been made on the same day he announced new measures to tackle the problem. our correspondent ione wells has more. quite a backlash today after the daily mirror reported these comments last night. they say that at the reception which happened on monday, a christmas reception forjournalists, political aides and ministers, they say that james cleverly was speaking to some of the guests and made a joke about drink spiking, the act of putting drugs or alcohol in somebody�*s drink without their consent. they say that he said to some of these fellow guests that the ideal spouse is one that was always "mildly "sedated so she doesn't know that there are better men out there." the newspaper also claims that he mentioned the drug rohypnol, which is frequently used in drink spiking. this came on the same day the government announced a raft of measures to try and tackle drink spiking. a spokesman for the home secretary has said that it was understood to

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem. are assuring you like pictures from bethlehem just a few moments was brought into the square. people have just come out, much fewer in number, and that has affected the economy in the town, and all festivities have been cancelled because of events in the gaza strip. these scenes of solidarity shown by the people there in bethlehem. they are watching what is happening in the gaza strip and have turned out today. those pictures from the last few minutes. we will keep an ion that and bring you more as it comes into us. the us department of defense has accused iran of launching the drone that damaged an oil tanker off the coast of india. the attack happened 320 kilometres southwest of veraval and caused a fire on board, which was extinguished. iran's foreign minister says it had nothing to do with the attacks. earlier i spoke to our south asia correspondent anbarasan ethirajan. he told me that the attack was also raising concerns about india's energy supplies. what is happening in the red sea in the past 48—hours has really shaken the commercial shippi

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem. ceasefire and the opening of a humanitarian corridor. he�*s given his first interview since the beginning of the war in gaza to an egyptian tv channel. lets take a listen to a bit of the interview. israel has not responded to the interview as yet. translation: what is happening in the palestinian territories this for more than a disaster, for more than a gen estate, palestinians have never seen anything like this. even during the catastrophe in 1948, what is happening today is far worse. a huge crime is being committed against palestinians over the past 79 days, notjust in gaza but also in the west bank and jerusalem. unfortunately, whenever the international community, the un security council and general assembly, try to stop the war, the us disrupts these attempts by using its veto and refusing to bring fighting to a halt. it is notjust marketers and people wounded in gaza, everything has been wiped out, houses, mosques, institutions, schools, everything, you cannot recognise gaza a

shaimaa khalil.ys it's preparing to resume shipping operations through the red sea and the gulf of aden. the announcement came after an international military operation, led by the united states, was deployed to prevent the targeting of commercial ships by drones from areas of yemen controlled by houthi rebels. maersk and other shipping companies stopped sending ships through the red sea and the suez canal earlier this month as a result of drone attacks. the danish shipping giant maersk says it's preparing to resume shipping operations through the red sea us central command said two days ago that a us navy destroyer had shot down four drones in the red sea launched from yemeni territory. king charles and queen camilla have led the royal family to church in sandringham for their annual christmas day service. hundreds of royal watchers, some of whom have been waiting since the early hours of the morning, greeted the monarch as he arrived. charles and camilla were joined by the prince and princess of wa

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem.ative of the un humanitarian affairs agency ocha, gemma connell, visited the al—aqsa hospital, where many of the injured from the maghazi refugee camp were taken. she described to us what she saw. what i saw again today, which i see every day that i'm here in gaza, is the absolute carnage and unprecedented suffering that's been caused by this war. i met a young nine—year—old boy, ahmed, who was hit by a strike not yesterday — with those images that you've ahmed came in with a traumatic injury to his head. he had been walking just outside the school that his family was sheltering in, and he passed away while i was in the hospital with him and his family. and it's stories like ahmed's that i hope make it to the world, because this nine—year—old child's doing what any nine—year—old child would be doing, except that that school was not a school, it was a shelter, and except that he died walking outside that school. that's the type of thing that we see here every day in gaza. the hospitals

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.incendiary comments from the turkish president, recep tayyip erdogan. at an event in ankara on wednesday, he said this about israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. translation: all the values of humanity have been - destroyed before our own eyes for the last 80 days. we saw israel's nazi camps in the stadiums, right? they are, in every sense, the way we were talking about hitler. how does benjamin netanyahu and hitler differ? is there anything that netanyahu does that is less than hitler? no. mr netanyahu hit back, saying mr erdogan was in no position to preach morality, accusing him of trying to commit genocide against kurdish people and imprisoning journalists. nathan thrall is the former project director of arab—israeli conflict at the crisis group. i asked him about the escalation of violence in the occupied west bank and northern israel. israel is now using drones to attack targets in the west bank. that is a development that we hadn't seen for some years, really going back

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem.the bbc spoke with gemma connell, a representative of the un humanitarian affairs agency, ocha. she recently visited the al—aqsa hospital where many of the injured from the meghazi refugee camp were taken. what i saw again today, which i see every day that i'm here in gaza, is the absolute carnage and unprecedented suffering that's been caused by this war. i met a young 9—year—old boy, ahmed. ahmed came in with a traumatic injury to his head. he had been walking just outside the school that his family was sheltering in, and he passed away while i was in the hospital with him and his family. and it's stories like ahmed's that i hope make it to the world, because this 9—year—old child's doing what any nine—year—old child would be doing, except that that school was not a school, it was a shelter, and except that he died walking outside that school. that's the type of thing that we see here every day in gaza. the hospitals are overcrowded, they are overburdened, they are working day and ni

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.asked the international court ofjustice for an urgent order to halt israel's military campaign in gaza. the filing claims israel's war against hamas is in violation of the i948 genocide convention, which makes it a crime to attempt to destroy a people in whole or in part. on friday, south african officials said the measure was... israel's foreign ministry has called the suit "baseless," saying... no hearing date has been set by the court. israel says it launched an extensive series of strikes against his brother targets in nearby lebanon. against targets in nearby lebanon. the attacks come in response to missiles fired over the border. these pictures released by the israeli defence forces show them striking what they describe as hezbollah infrastructure near wadi hamul in lebanon. israel says they hit a number of targets including launch sites and a military compound. the strikes impacted the iran—backed group's positioning near the border, though israel said it doesn't intend to open

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, tel aviv. the netherlands, as senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for gaza. the us state department welcomed the appointment, releasing a statement saying: spokesman matthew miller also said in the statement: meanwhile, palestinian president mahmoud abbas gave his first interview since the war began in gaza. he's called for a full ceasefire and the opening of a humanitarian corridor. translation: what's happening in the palestinian territories - is far beyond a disaster and far more than a genocide. the palestinians have never seen anything like this. even during the nakba catastrophe in 19118, what's happening today is far worse. a huge crime is being committed against the palestinians over the past 79 days, not just in gaza but also in the west bank and jerusalem. unfortunately, whenever the international community, the un security council and general assembly try to stop the war, the us disrupts these attempts by using its veto and refusing to bring fighting to a halt. it's no

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, tel aviv.abbas has called for a full ceasefire and the opening of a humanitarian corridor. he's given his first interview since the beginning of the war in gaza to an egyptian tv channel. he's accused israel of trying to push palestinians into egypt's sinai. israel hasn't responded to his interview yet. translation: what's happening in the palestinian territories - is far beyond than a disaster and far more than a genocide. the palestinians have never seen anything like this. even during the nakba catastrophe in i948, what's happening today is far worse. a huge crime is being committed against the palestinians over the past 79 days, notjust in gaza but also in the west bank and jerusalem. unfortunately, whenever the international community, the un security council and general assembly try to stop the war, the us disrupts these attempts by using its veto and refusing to bring fighting to a halt. it's notjust marytrs and people wounded in gaza, everything has been wiped out — houses, mosques, ins

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, tel aviv.r of the netherlands, as senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for gaza. the us state department welcomed the appointment, releasing a statement saying "we look forward to coordinating closely with ms kaag and the un office for project services on efforts to accelerate and streamline the delivery of live—saving humanitarian relief to palestinian civilians in gaza." spokesman matthew miller also said in the statement the united states has provided more than $110 million in humanitarian assistance for palestinians in gaza and the west bank since october 7. meanwhile, palestinian president mahmoud abbas gave his first interview since the war began in gaza. he's called for a full ceasefire and the opening of a humanitarian corridor. translation: what's happening in the palestinian territories - is far beyond a disaster and far more than a genocide. the palestinians have never seen anything like this. even during the nakba catastrophe in 19118, what's happening today is far wor

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.mentioned incendiary comments from the turkish president, recep tayyip erdogan. at an event in ankara on wednesday, he said this about israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. translation: all the values of humanity have been - destroyed before our own eyes for the last 80 days. we saw israel's nazi camps in the stadiums, right? they are, in every sense, the way we were talking about hitler. how does benjamin netanyahu and hitler differ? is there anything that netanyahu does that is less than hitler? no. dr brandon friedman is the director of research at the moshe dayan center at tel aviv university. he gave me his assessment of how far israel was achieving its goals in gaza. i think israel is currently fighting on seven different fronts, according to our defense minister, and so the war is quite complex. not only is israel deeply engaged on the ground in gaza, but we're facing attacks in the north in both lebanon and syria and attacks from iraq as well. and to a certain degree, yo

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem.s is the view of gaza right now, as seen from southern israel. just a few hours ago, we had a spokesperson for the israeli government saying with regard to those hostages that we heard about just a few moments ago, saying that, actually, in his view hamas responded to military pressure when it came to hostage releases, therefore the pressure would continue. earlier i spoke to to world health organization spokesperson, doctor margaret harris. i started by asking her what sort of medical aid is currently available to people in gaza. so what's available is minimal and absolutely overwhelmed. we've got officially nine of the 36 health facilities. we normally have 36, we've only got nine. they're really partially functioning for the whole of gaza, and the nine partially functioning are in the south. now, there are hospitals in the north, but they are really functioning more as shelters. they do have a lot of injured and sick people there. they've also got a lot of internally displaced peopl

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.k s largest police forces rose sharply in the weeks following the hamas attack on israel. data released by 31 forces show incidents peaked in larger urban areas including west yorkshire, the west midlands, greater manchester and merseyside. there was also an increase in islamophobic offences, which campaigners say is "deeply worrying". however, hate crime overall appears to have fallen significantly over the last decade. a patient with e.coli has died in scotland, after an outbreak that's affected at least 30 people across the uk. health officials warned on christmas eve that some batches of mrs kirkham's lancashire cheeses might be contaminated. the company says that, so far, all tests have come back negative, but as a precaution it is withdrawing all its cheeses from sale. officials say investigations are continuing into any links between the e.coli cases and the recalled cheeses. prices for homes bought with a mortgage in the uk have ended the year 1.8% lower compared to december la

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem. or the suffering of its people. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem. the israeli military says it's withdrawing some reservist troops from gaza to give them a break, in preparation forfurther fighting into next year. the idf said five brigades had been released, but they'd be needed back in gaza soon, as the campaign to eradicate hamas would go on. here's idf spokesperson, rear admiral daniel hagari making those comments. these days we are also adjusting the plan of forces' deployment in gaza and in the array of the service. some of the reserve soldiers will return to theirfamilies and theirjobs this week. this will allow a significant relief for the economy, and will allow them to gather strength ahead of the coming activities in the new year. the fighting will continue, and we will need them. these adjustments are meant to ensure planning and preparation for the rest of the 2024. the idf must plan ahead with the understanding that will be required for and the continuation of the fig

shaimaa khalil sent this report.m the children of bethlehem to the world — the city looks nothing like its festive self this time of year. there are no celebrations, but there's lots of solidarity. the latin patriarchate ofjerusalem, pierbattista pizzaballa, made a point of entering the church of nativity wearing the traditional black—and—white chequered palestinian scarf. there's no atmosphere of feast, because we are in a war. a terrible war. and we are here to pray — but also tonight to ask not just for the ceasefire — ceasefire is not enough. we have to stop these hostilities and to turn the page. because violence generates only violence. on days like this, jawdat and his father would have been talking about christmas preparations. not this year. jawdat�*s family is stuck in northern gaza. he tries to reassure his father that he will make it out alive and that they will be together again, but his dad is overcome with grief. a week ago, jawdat�*s grandmother nahida was shot twice in the stomach. his aunt samar rus

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.orrespondent sally nabil on what the us has been saying about those attacks on iranian—backed targets in iraq. they say that it comes in response to strikes that have targeted us military bases in iraq before. since the beginning of the war in gaza, militant groups in iraq believed to be sponsored by iran have launched dozens of drone attacks targeting us military bases whether in iraq or in syria. just yesterday, on christmas day, three us servicemen were injured. we believe that one of them is in a critical condition, according to a statement issued by the us secretary of defense. they were injured as a result of a drone attack carried out by one of the militant groups operating in iraq and believed to be supported by iran. and so the us strike came in response to that, and the statement issued by the secretary of defense said said that these strikes were proportionate and precise and that that us will do whatever it takes to protect its own nationals, whether inside or outside the c

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.rael has responded furiously to south africa s application, on friday, to the international court ofjustice, to rule that israel has carried out, what it called, genocidal acts in gaza. israeli foreign ministry spokesperson lior haiat says... he goes on to say... 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell is injerusalem and told us more about that response from the israelis. the israeli government isn't sitting today because it's the jewish sabbath. but this was a very strongly worded response that we had from the foreign ministry spokesperson. at the same time, though, i think some of it would be expected, it's often quite a difficult relationship with south africa because of the fact it has very strong support for the palestinian cause, often identifies, the ruling anc party in south africa, between the palestinian nationalist struggle and its own past struggle against apartheid. and we heard about those gun battles in khan younis. what more can you tell us about what's happening? s

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.overnment of taiwan has accused china of mounting a major misinformation campaign, to try to influence the outcome of the island's presidential election that's taking place next month. taiwan's ruling democratic progressive party, or dpp, is seeking an unprecedented third consecutive win. but the ruling party is loathed in beijing, which has long laid claim to taiwan. china's air force has also increased incursions across the taiwan strait in recent weeks. rupert wingfield—hayes has that story. it's 6am and this fighter base on the coast of taiwan is already a hive of activity. on the apron, mirage 2000 fighter jets from taiwan's rapid reaction squadrons, theirjob to meet any incoming threats to taiwan's airspace. these taiwanese fighter jets being scrambled behind me here are heading out into the taiwan strait to confront chinese aircraft that are coming across the strait and probing taiwan's airspace. this is now happening multiple times every day. these pictures are from chinese tel

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.s asked the international court ofjustice for an urgent order to halt israel's military campaign in gaza. the filing claims israel's war against hamas is in violation of the 19118 genocide convention, which makes it a crime to attempt to destroy a people in whole or in part. on friday, south african officials said the measure was quote: "necessary in this case to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the palestinian people." israel's foreign ministry has called the suit "baseless," saying "israel has made it clear that the residents of the gaza strip are not the enemy, and is making every effort to limit harm to the non—involved and to allow humanitarian aid to enter the gaza strip." no hearing date has been set by the court. israel says it launched an extensive series of strikes against hezbollah targets in nearby lebanon. the attacks come in response to missiles fired over the border. these pictures released by the israeli defence forces show them stri

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.tary force is on his first foreign tour since fighting broke out in april between his forces and sudan's army. lieutenant general mohammed hamdan dagalo, popularly known as hemedti — visited ethiopia on thursday to meet the country's prime minister. he also visited uganda as part of his tour for diplomatic talks with the country's president. on both visits, the general spoke of the need for a swift end to the war. but diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire between the warring sides have made little progress. meanwhile, militia forces recently taken control of one of sudan's major cities and the last remaining sanctuary for civilians — wad madani. the conflict has killed 12,000 people and caused one of the world's largest displacement crisis. the international organization for migration says that over 7.1 million people have been internally displaced. earlier, i spoke to kholood kair, an analyst and founding director of khartoum based think tank confluence advisory about the situation

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.ir vehicle was recovered from the river esk near glaisdale in north—east england. it follows heavy rain and flooding caused by storm gerrit. 100 homes have been damaged by a mini—tornado which ripped through part of greater manchester when the storm blew in. police declared a major incident in tameside after roofs were torn off homes, trees were blown down and walls collapsed. there were no reports of any injuries. areas surrounding stalybridge were the worst affected, including the village of millbrook. fiona trott reports. the eye of the storm. so strong that some homes couldn't even keep the residents safe. they'll evacuate us now. this tree smashed through a roof just metres from where maisie pilkington slept. if you was to get a wrecking ball and go through a house, it was like, cos i opened the door and i thought, "oh, my god". in daylight, the damage was clearer to see. metal and glass not strong enough. lead not heavy enough to withstand the force of this tornado on her street.

our correspondent shaimaa khalil sent this report from jerusalem. explosions.s an extensive network of hamas tunnels into dust. these idf pictures show a well—equipped infrastructure of long and branched out tunnels in which the army says senior hamas members moved and operated. in central gaza, more than 150,000 people were ordered to evacuate two of the area's biggest refugee camps. and this is where they were told to go for safety — the area of deir al—balah, itself reeling from the aftermath of strikes. translation: we were sitting in our homes peacefully - and all of a sudden, a missile hit and destroyed my house, my neighbour's house, the whole neighbourhood. my children are displaced now, we don't know where to go. have mercy on us, help us. it's a devastating situation. people are sleeping on the streets. in rafah, now gaza's most densely populated town, according to the un, there's no let—up in the bombardment. children were killed here, 26 people were killed here. i'm terrified. i'm scared and the thought of me being killed or my other brother being k

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.aiwan has accused china of mounting a major disinformation campaign, aimed at influencing the outcome of the island's presidential election next month. taiwan's ruling democratic progressive party is seeking an unprecedented third consecutive win. but the dpp is loathed in beijing, which has long laid claim to taiwan. in recent weeks, china's air force has increased incursions across the taiwan strait. but china says taiwan's government has played up military threats in the run—up to the election, by highlighting the nearby presence of chinese warships and fighter jets. rupert wingfield—hayes has this story. it's 6am, and this fighter base on the coast of taiwan is already a hive of activity. on the apron, mirage 2000 fighter jets from taiwan's rapid reaction squadrons, theirjob to meet any incoming threats to taiwan's airspace. these taiwanese fighter jets being scrambled behind me here are heading out into the taiwan strait to confront chinese aircraft that are coming across the stra

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.unched an extensive series of strikes against hezbollah targets in neighbouring lebanon. it says the attacks are in response to missiles fired over the border. these pictures released by the israeli defence forces show them hitting what they describe as "hezbollah infrastructure" near wadi hamul in lebanon. israel says they hit a number of targets, including missile launch sites and a military compound. israel and hezbollah have traded strikes in the wake of hamas's 7 october attacks. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has warned that the lebanese capital beirut would be "turned into gaza" if hezbollah started an all—out war. the us—mexico border has been in focus this week, with top officials from both countries agreeing on thursday to work more closely to tackle a record number of migrant crossings. the agreement came a day after us secretary of state antony blinken met mexican president andres manuel lopez 0brador in mexico city. members of us congress have pressured the bide

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem. i spoke to rear admiral dr chris parry, a former royal navy warfare officer, for more information on the attacks. well, i think it's a continuation of the pressure that iran, through the houthis, is trying to apply to free world nations to try and offset the support that they're giving to israel. they're not too fussy about some of the vessels that they are attacking. originally, of course, they said they were attacking those with israeli connections. they've become a lot less discriminating since, and i think they're just trying to make trouble in one of the chokepoints of the maritime trading system. you mentioned that the choke points. so talk to us about that bab el mundo, so talk to us about that ——bab al—mandab that particular section of the red sea. tell us why that's so important and why they've targeted that. one of the things i've said over the years is that the sea is the physical equivalent of the world wide web, and you get sort of chokepoints where the geography constrai

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem.ho spokesperson, doctor margaret harris, in geneva. i began by asking her what sort of medical aid is currently available to people in gaza. so what's available is minimal and absolutely overwhelmed. we've got officially nine of the 36 health facilities. we normally have 36, but they are partially functioning ——we normally have 36, now we have nine, but they are partially functioning throughout the whole of gaza. the name partially functioning her in the south. there are hospitals in the north, but they are really functioning more as shelters. they do have a lot of injured and sick people there. they've also got a lot of internally displaced people, but they have so few medical staff, so few supplies that they are not really able to do what you or i would understand as health care beyond just oversee people who are dying. one of my colleagues described them as little more than hospices at this stage. are medical supplies and people able to move around at all, or constant air strikes, i

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.maged by a mini tornado, which ripped through a part of greater manchester. police declared a major incident in tameside after roofs were torn off homes, trees were blown down and walls collapsed. there were no reports of any injuries. elsewhere, three men died after their vehicle plunged into the river esk in north yorkshire — police said the weather conditions had "made driving hazardous." fiona trott reports. the eye of the storm. so strong that some homes couldn't even keep the residents safe. they'll evacuate us now. this tree smashed through a roofjust metres from where maisie pilkington slept. if you was to get a wrecking ball and go through the house, it was like, because i opened the door and i thought, "oh, my god." in daylight, the damage was clearer to see. metal and glass not strong enough, lead not heavy enough to withstand the force of this tornado on her street. what seems to have happened is the tree's hit the roof, gone through my bathroom, so the whole roof and ceili

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem.g drinks. the remark is alleged to have been made on the same day he announced new measures to tackle the problem. with more on this, let's cross to the newsroom. here is our political correspondent ione wells. a huge detraction from government messaging on spiking drinks and calls for him to resign.— calls for him to resign. that's riaht, calls for him to resign. that's right. quite — calls for him to resign. that's right. quite a _ calls for him to resign. that's right, quite a backlash - calls for him to resign. that's right, quite a backlash today| calls for him to resign. that's - right, quite a backlash today after the daily mirror reported these comments last night. they say that at the reception which happened on monday, a christmas reception for journalists, political aides and ministers, they say that james cleverly was speaking to some of the guests and made a joke about drag spiking, the act of putting drugs or alcohol in somebody�*s drink without their consent. they say th

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.ping company maersk has said it is ready to resume sailings through the red sea, despite a threat of drone and missile attacks by rebels in yemen, who say they're acting in support of hamas. the company says it has scheduled several dozen container vessels for the coming weeks, but its plans could change depending on risk assessments. the world's biggest shipping company, msc, said one of its ships had been hit by a missile on tuesday. one of the largest newspapers in the us, the new york times, is suing the companies behind chatgpt — 0penai and microsoft. the times alleges that the powerful artificial intelligence programme used millions of articles for training without permission. the newspaper is seeking damages, as well as an order that the companies stop using its content and destroy the data. the defendants are yet to respond to the lawsuit. earlier, we spoke to professor pamela samuelson from the berkeley law school and asked her — from a copyright law perspective — whether she

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem.n the middle east during his christmas eve mass at the vatican. speaking from st peter's basilica, the pontiff said that jesus�* message of peace was being drowned out by what he called the "futile logic of war". translation: tonight, - our hearts are in bethlehem, where the prince of peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world. four months ago, the christian community in pakistan saw nearly two dozen of their churches and many homes ransacked by protesters in the punjab city of jara nwala. in the aftermath, the government promised money to help rebuild. but as they prepare for christmas, many are still living with the damage and shock of the attack. our pakistan correspondent, caroline davies reports. music plays cheering joy and christmas hats. familiar celebrations mask painful memories. jaranwala's christians have lost much this year. this woman lives in the only room left of her family hom

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem. launching a drone which damaged an oil tanker off the coast of india. the attack happened 320 kilometres southwest of veraval and caused a fire on board, which was extinguished. america says it has shot down for drones in the same waters. the pentagon blamed iran directly for the drone attack but iran's foreign minister denies this. translation: for foreign minister denies this. translation:— foreign minister denies this. translation: for us, regional security is— translation: for us, regional security is very _ translation: for us, regional security is very important. - translation: for us, regional security is very important. we i translation: for us, regional. security is very important. we are not seeking to expand the scope of war. the solution to the problem is not to establish a so—called coalition and the red sea to stop the bloodshed of women, children and civilians in the gaza strip and the west bank. civilians in the gaza strip and the west bank-— civilians in the gaza stri

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem.a representative of the un humanitarian affairs agency 0cha, gemma connell, who is right now in the south of the gaza strip, near rafah. she visited the al—aqsa hospital, where many of the injured from the maghazi refugee camp were taken, and started by telling us what she saw there. what i saw again today, which i see every day that i'm here in gaza, is the absolute carnage and unprecedented suffering that's been caused by this war. i met a young nine—year—old boy, ahmed, who was hit by a strike not yesterday — with those images that you've just seen — but today, which is an indication that this is going on every hour, every minute. ahmed came in with a traumatic injury to his head. he had been walking just outside the school that his family was sheltering in, and he passed away while i was in the hospital with him and his family. and it's stories like ahmed's that i hope make it to the world, because this nine—year—old child's doing what any nine—year—old child would be doing, except

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem.us now are one of the largest newspapers, the new york times, is suing the companies be hind chatgpt as well as microsoft. the new york times alleges that the power official active diligence programme use millions of his articles for training without permission. the newspaper is seeking damages as well as in order that the company stop using its content and destroy the data. the defenders are yet to respond to the lawsuit. earlier my colleague spoke to riley in makkah from los angeles you provided more contacts. angeles you provided more contacte— angeles you provided more contacts. ~ ., , ., contacts. we reported it as of this morning. _ contacts. we reported it as of this morning, which - contacts. we reported it as of this morning, which is - contacts. we reported it as of this morning, which is that i contacts. we reported it as of| this morning, which is that the new york times believes that 0penai has been infringing on is copyright as well as microsoft. we reported the story thi

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem. let me take you back alive to the pictures in bethlehem.he picture to the right, that's nativity scene in the rubble that has been depicted and created, we will show you the closer pictures earlier, but a very quiet bethlehem in the run—up to christmas. the us department of defense has accused iran of launching the drone that damaged an oil tanker off the coast of india. the attack happened 320 kilometres southwest of veraval and caused a fire on board, which was extinguished. let's speak now to our correspondent. anbarasan ethirajan is in delhi1. the embassy saying they had nothing to do with this, but tell us the latest you are hearing.- to do with this, but tell us the latest you are hearing. what is happening _ latest you are hearing. what is happening in — latest you are hearing. what is happening in the _ latest you are hearing. what is happening in the red _ latest you are hearing. what is happening in the red sea - latest you are hearing. what is happening in the red sea in - latest you are hearing. what is| happening in the red sea