you would have anticipated. these two countries were allies until this week. in fact, they were laying plans to hold joint naval exercises. on tuesday, iran said it attacked the bases of a group within pakistani balochistan. last night, pakistan responded in kind with precision strikes inside iran. it s hard to see any direct connection to what s happening in gaza but it perhaps reflects just how febrile the wider region has become. here s our analysis editor, ros atkins. ever since the israel gaza war started, there s been a fear the conflict could spread, and that s happening. across the middle east, we re seeing air strikes, bombings, assassinations and border raids. the most high profile escalation involves houthi rebels in yemen attacking shipping in the red sea, they say, in solidarity with palestinians. in response, the us and the uk have attacked houthi positions, most recently with us strikes on wednesday night. and a day before america began attacking the houthis,
throughout the programme. it s tuesday, the 9th of january. our main story. two formerjustice secretaries one conservative, the other labour are leading calls for the government to introduce legislation to quash the convictions of those caught up in the post office it scandal. the postal affairs minister, kevin hollinrake, said various options were being looked at to speed up appeals and compensate the victims. he said more talks would be held today and he hoped to announced a solution very shortly. here s our political correspondent, peter saull. i m the sub postmaster, so i m locked in and everyone else is locked out. so if you want to see my account. this is a scandal going back decades, and now a tv drama watched by millions has pushed it to the top of the political agenda. i know it s probably me because i m really rubbish with technology, but.| ve declared my cash, i ve declared my stock, i ve done it all three times and i still can t get it to balance. mr bates vs
of asian men is jailed for eight and a half years. china and russia have denounced a defence pact, agreed by the us, uk and australia, that will provide australia with nuclear powered attack submarines. russia said the pact would bring years of confrontation to asia. the chinese foreign ministry said the three countries were on a path of error and danger, calling the deal a violation of the aims of the international non proliferation treaty. here s the chinese foreign ministry spokesperson wang wenbin speaking at the daily press briefing. translation: china has repeatedly stressed that the aukus pact - and the three countries efforts to advance cooperation on nuclear submarines and other cutting edge military technology is typical cold war mentality. it will only spur an arms race and undermine the international nonproliferation regime and harm regional peace and stability. peace loving countries have expressed their serious concern and opposition. the three countries lates
his funeral will be held on the 5th ofjanuary and will be presided over by pope francis. world health officials call on beijing to share accurate covid data, as england becomes the latest country to control arrivals from china. queen guitarist brian may and members of england s women s football team are among those celebrated in the uk s new year s honours list. the former pope, benedict xvi, has died at the age of 95. the vatican says he passed away this morning at his residence there. his health had been worsening in recent weeks. benedict served as head of the roman catholic church for eight years until 2013, when he became the first pope in 600 years to announce his retirement. he was german by birth, and was known for his conservative theological outlook. bells tolling this was the moment his death was confirmed in rome. you can hear the bells ringing, in st peter s square in vatican city. the vatican says pope benedict s body will lie in state from monday in st peter s