hello, i'm helena humphrey. good to have you with us. we start in the middle east, where white house national security advisorjake sullivan has confirmed that the united states will impose new sanctions on iran in the coming days. the announcement comes after the iranian attack on israel last saturday, with more than 300 drones and missiles launched. according to the israeli defence forces, 99% of them were intercepted by israel's aerial defence system and its partners. well, iran says the attack was retaliation for a deadly strike on its consulate in the syrian capital damascus on i april. that attack killed a top iranian commander, alongside six others — including civilians. the us has vowed that its support for israel is ironclad but has urged restraint in its response. a senior us official says israel is not sharing its targeting of iran with washington, so the biden administration does not know how or when israeli retaliation will take place.

though some officials expect it to be a limited strike inside the country. tuesday morning the air drop missions continue in gaza — this time carried out by the us central command. for now, the united nations has voiced concerns, about escalating violence in the occupied west bank. it comes after a wave of attacks, sparked by the killing of an israeli teenager. the un accused israeli security forces of active participation in attacks on palestinians byjewish settlers. the vast majority of the international community considers the settlements in the west bank as illegal under international law. israel disputes this. uk prime minister rishi sunak has used a telephone call with israel's benjamin netanyahu to appeal for "calm heads," after iran's missile and drone attack over the weekend. while he emphasised the uk's support for israel's security, mr sunak said a significant escalation in tensions was in no—one�*s interests. lucy williamson reports from jerusalem.

israel's prime minister is weighing up the risks of another war before he's finished the existing one. today, he told new army recruits that operations in gaza were just one part of a wider conflict. translation: it's part of a bigger system. - you can see it. iran stands behind hamas, behind hezbollah, behind others. but we are determined to win there and defend ourselves in all arenas. new footage released by the army shows the moment the military focus here changed. the first interceptions of iranian missiles ordered from this control room. israel's ongoing conflicts with iranian—backed groups have been pushed into the shadows by a direct attack from tehran. how israel responds could take the world down a much more dangerous path, and international allies — the uk among them — have been lining up, urging benjamin netanyahu

to show restraint. today, the prime minister, rishi sunak, told his counterpart it was a moment for calm heads to prevail. but israel's former national security advisor says the iranian strike leaves israel with an opportunity to take on the groups it should have confronted before. we didn't wage a war against hezbollah two years ago — huge mistake. when you see them even growing, becoming stronger, you have to do something. should we wait? i think it would be a huge mistake to wait with hezbollah, with hamas and with the iranians. we have to alleviate this threat to israel, but it's notjust israel. the west is next. israel is already treading a tightrope in its conflict with hezbollah. this, an air strike on a senior hezbollah today, the army said. the war in gaza is where

the crisis began, over six months ago. the road north to gaza city today packed with people hoping to return to their homes, turned back again and again by the army. the war here has already inflamed israel's other conflicts. israel's next decision could push them into all—out war. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. we are learning the un security council will vote on thursday on a draft resolution supporting a palestinian bid for statehood. the veto is all but certain as washington has said establish an independence day should happen through direct negotiations with israel. the first seven jurors have been selected on day two of donald trump's historic hush money trial. the jury selection process proved complicated after day one of the proceedings when dozens of called jurors were dismissed after saying they couldn't be impartial in the case. the former us president faces

3a felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a payment to adult film star stormy daniels, who alleges she and mr trump had an affair in the 2000s. meanwhile, earlier in court, tensions grew high between mr trump and the presiding judge, justicejuan merchan, as our north america correspondent nada tawfik reports. the court session ran over in time because the judge was so eager to make headway in a jury selection. a dramatic moment came where donald trump was reprimanded for, as the judge said, audibly muttering and gesturing in front of one juror. he said he would not take jurors being intimidated in his courtroom. we had a point where several jurors said they could not be impartial, orfor personal reasons they were excused. both sides, the defence and the prosecution, got the opportunity to strike jurors they did not want to be seated. at one point, donald trump and his lawyers went far back

in social media posts of the jurors, saying that one man had posted to have donald trump "locked up". that man was struck from the jury. of those who were seated, they are a diverse group. a young black woman who is a teacher, a woman who is a nurse — an oncologist. the fourth person is originally from ireland, and an older man from puerto rico. the jurors who were sworn in so far are a diverse group, they have all assured the judge and both sides they can be impartial. this was a day where many got to see how various new yorkers feel about donald trump. some say they read several of his books and are a fan of the reality show he started before he became president. others say they heard negative things about how he treated women or theyjust were not fans. nevertheless, today has shown how time—consuming it will be to pick a jury but it is

a task that is possible. it was also a busy day on capitol hill with new developments setting the stage for a packed week. first, the house of representatives will vote on long—delayed funding for israel, ukraine, and other american allies. that's according to republican speaker mikejohnson. for months, mrjohnson has stalled a vote on the aid package amid opposition from some republicans over sending further support to kyiv. the new proposal separates ukraine aid from other funding, potentially giving the bill a better chance of passing in the house. his strategy has outraged many in his party, with a second republicanjoining efforts to oustjohnson from power over the plan on tuesday. that same day, house republicans delivered two articles of impeachment against homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas to the senate. they allege that mr mayorkas failed to enforce us immigration laws, kicking off a trial in the democratic—controlled

senate, which is expected to dismiss or table the charges later this week. with me is lisa desjardins, a correspondent for pbs newshour. good to have you with us. the people you have spoken to on the hill, how likely is it there are the votes there when it comes to this foreign aid bill now that it is split up into the four separate pieces? it is tricky business, it is unclear which of these bills will pass, if all of them will, each has different issues but in general there is a wider support for aid for israel, some democrats you want conditions on it and if you republicans as well. the euchareena piece is the most complex and right now it is not clear it has a majority of republicans, which is what speakerjohnson wants to prove that he is with his party, he will get over if you hurdles, the first one he hopes to get a majority and if he does not he will have to get two—thirds

supermajority of everyone, that is risky for him. if democrats pass the bill, republicans may see it is time for you to go. we will talk more and are in at any moment. with this bill, is there a point you can put in amendments as well, border security as well?— security as well? there are republicans _ security as well? there are republicans who _ security as well? there are republicans who say - security as well? there are republicans who say we i security as well? there are republicans who say we do security as well? there are - republicans who say we do not want to pass any aid for any foreign country especially ukraine until we deal with our border, they want a conservative bill that does not have a chance in the senate and certainly present will assign a but that does not matter. these republicans are instinctual, they want things even if they do not necessarily having majority. they will demand it. they see the border security before they will get onto any ukraine spending. we expect potentially an amendment process that will be important to watch but right now as we are speaking, we still do not have any text of any of these bills, speakerjohnson is trying to thread five needles

at once and it is not yet clear he can do that. it at once and it is not yet clear he can do that.— he can do that. it is tricky for mike _ he can do that. it is tricky for mike johnson. - he can do that. it is tricky for mike johnson. we - he can do that. it is tricky l for mike johnson. we heard for mike johnson. we heard rumblings for mikejohnson. we heard rumblings of credit potentially lead to his ousting. according to your sources, how close do you think we might be getting to that now? i you think we might be getting to that now?— to that now? i can only think ofthe to that now? i can only think of the house _ to that now? i can only think of the house of _ to that now? i can only think . of the house of representatives in term of an hour at a time and it is ourfor the moment he is safe by the thinnest of majorities. right now my account is 216 to keep him potentially and 215 who might not, so that is one vote. i know of one republican who has not come out publicly who said they might also vote to oust him. talking to marjorie taylor greene, the one who started this movement, she told me today things that made me think she is holding back for the moment. i think whatever happens with the euchareena bill for that the fate of ukraine and of mikejohnson. there is also israel as well

and could there be resistance there with democrats? how might there with democrats? how might the play out?— the play out? there is definite resistance _ the play out? there is definite resistance and _ the play out? there is definite resistance and a _ the play out? there is definite resistance and a complex - the play out? there is definite i resistance and a complex debate for democrats when it comes to israel aid is special because of what we see in gaza. the desperation there. the questions about how israel handles itself. should america impose conditions? some about foreign aid that requires a specific human rights be enforced by any ally, some who say we just need to say to israel you are clearly violating current parts of american law, others disagree. israel is a unifying force in a congress but not in this case, not on the way that then yahoo has handled it in this aid bill will test exact we were those divisions are.— divisions are. with those thin . s divisions are. with those things in _ divisions are. with those things in mind, - divisions are. with those things in mind, the - divisions are. with those - things in mind, the potential for a motion to vacate with speakerjohnson as well, thinking back to the previous

history with getting a speaker, how complicated it was, how much chaos for this well for congress? mil much chaos for this well for congress?— much chaos for this well for congress? all that is, all the chaos. congress? all that is, all the chaos- if— congress? all that is, all the chaos. if speaker _ congress? all that is, all the chaos. if speakerjohnson i congress? all that is, all the chaos. if speakerjohnson is | chaos. if speakerjohnson is shown the door, it may happen in the next week or two, we will be for even longer period of time searching for the next speaker. he could be the entire summer. there is a strange scenario, if you have watched west wing, it was like a plot from the show, there is a mathematical possibility that democrats could somehow take advantage of these a strange combination of republican division and elected democratic speaker even though there is a republican majority. it is unlikely but a year ago i would have said it is completely unlikely that any speaker would have been shown the door. thank ou so have been shown the door. thank you so much _ have been shown the door. thank you so much for— have been shown the door. thank you so much for bringing - have been shown the door. thank you so much for bringing us - have been shown the door. thank you so much for bringing us all i you so much for bringing us all of that, agree to talk to you. around the world and across

the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a big story out of the uk. a �*smoke—free generation'. presented by the health secretary, mps have backed the plan to ban anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes. most of the opposition came from the conservative party, with several representatives, including former prime minister liz truss, voting against the bill, arguing it would limit personal freedom. there was widespread agreement to the parties that the government idea is a good idea, except when you look amongst the conservative party. around 60 conservative mps voted against this and around 100 abstained. it was a free vote, able to vote how they chose, but plenty decided they would not back rishi sunak. the bill passed by 383 votes to 67. if they become law, the uk's smoking laws will be among the strictest in the world. the approach is thought to have been inspired by the similar law in new zealand,

later repealed by a new administration. you're live with bbc news. some pictures to bring you now of a devastating fire that engulfed denmark's historic old stock exchange building in the centre of copenhagen. the building dates back to the year 1625, and is one of the city's oldest buildings, currently housing the danish chamber of commerce. copenhagen residents and staff from a nearby museum rushed to rescue a number of historic paintings. it took hours to get the fire under control due to the amount of scaffolding on the building, which made it harder for responders to get through to the flames. the cause of the fire has not yet been determined. we're just days away before the largest election the world has ever seen as people in india head to the polls for its general election. just under one billion people are eligible to vote — that's roughly one in eight of the entire global population, and more than 13

million indian citizens who live abroad can also cast ballots, but they'll need to return to india in person to do so. voting takes place over six weeks, beginning 19 april — that's this friday. it will conclude on 1june. the election result are expected to come three days later on june 4th. polls suggest the prime minister narendra modi will win a third consecutive term. but as our south asia correspondent yogita limaye reports, throughout india, he's a controversial figure. cheering. narendra modi is the reigning superstar of indian politics. rallies like these are an integral part of an indian election, but only a few leaders have evoked such a response in the country's history. what we are seeing here is the confidence of the party that very much believes it's going to win another resounding victory.

and what we've also seen amidst the crowd is confidence about being indian on the global stage — one of the things that prime minister modi's tenure will be remembered for. mr modi is a divisive figure. but here, among his mostly hindu following, he can do no wrong. translation: he's like god for me. - he's made women like us feel safe. translation: he's a good - speaker and he has built drains and roads and villages and cities. no—one had done that till now. building infrastructure has been one of the strengths of mr modi's government. a few miles from the rally in uttar pradesh, we saw a road that was made just over a year ago and met farmer ashoke singh transporting his produce. translation: we can move freely now, and security - is better, too.

but unemployment and price rise are big issues for us. the realities on the ground might be mixed, but the picture that reaches voters overwhelmingly one that the ruling party wants people to see. mr modi's bjp runs an exhaustive and unparalleled campaign, door to door, as well as on social media. it is a crucial power to influence what people believe to be true. ultimately, it will affect how they vote. yogita limaye, bbc news, mairead. meanwhile, police in india say a maoist leader was among at least 29 rebels killed during a gun fight with security forces. the deadly shoot—out was part of a decades—long revolt against india's government. it of course comes the same

week as india's significant general election, which i discussed with the editor in chief of foreign policy, ravi agrawal. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. talk to us about this, is it the latter half of that sentence, and a short nation, thatis sentence, and a short nation, that is the key here to his potential to securing another five years?— five years? certainly a big art of five years? certainly a big part of it- _ five years? certainly a big part of it. when _ five years? certainly a big part of it. when we - five years? certainly a big part of it. when we see i part of it. when we see assured, there is a competency projects. when you speak to voters, they like this notion of a rising voters, they like this notion ofa rising india, and india that has found its voice in the world, and india that hosted the 620 world, and india that hosted the g20 with miranda murray's face on billboards all over the country, he is good at marketing, travelling around the world and meeting leaders.

they like those things when they see it. he has also been remarkably successful using the state to give people things that they need, whether it is subsidies, the construction of toilets, electricity lines, gas connections, things that make him popular with women as well. he is very popular. he is canny and smart with the deployment of services and using the state, welfarism, basically. the reason however an illiberal aspect to it where india still is a democracy despite the declining honour several rankings for democracy. it is becoming illiberal in a classic sense, when you look at liberal democracies around the world where it is focused less on secularism, for example, less on its liberalism, individual choice and rights. instead

migratory projects himself as a ceo type figure who makes tough decisions, even as some of this comes with an authoritarian banned, by and large much of this as popular as well which is why he keeps winning. let's talk about _ is why he keeps winning. let's talk about the _ is why he keeps winning. let's talk about the opposition. - is why he keeps winning. let's talk about the opposition. the party is against the national developmental inclusive allies, grouping together more than two dozen opposition parties including congress. it was dominant for many years up until the bgp took office in 2014 and has not gained the same traction. why is that? several reasons. when the congress was booted out of power a decade ago, it was off the back of several high—profile corruption scans, and it has struggled to recover since then. it is also led by a leader who is a diagnosed, the great grandson of india's first

prime minister in one of its founding fathers. he has really not been able to project himself as a convincing national level leader, and so for all of those reasons, the bgp has had a free run of being able to project itself as the party they can get things done. some of this has to do with what we were discussing earlier, democracy is challenged in india because some of the pillars of democracy are imperilled, freedom of the press, an independentjudiciary. the government has been able to use some of the levers of the state to encourage cases against prominent members of the opposition. the congress party has not been able to access its bank accounts for quite some time. some of this could have caused me because of genuine corruption, we do not know, we will find out, but the opposition was they are being stymied and that all of this is part of a piece of a very

dominant modi and his party, looking to transform the nature of what india is from what used to be a secular republic to one thatis to be a secular republic to one that is retraumatising culture and religion in the state affairs and primarily one religion, hinduism, of which 80% of the population is a part of. in 80% of the population is a part of. ., ., 80% of the population is a part of. . ., , . 80% of the population is a part of. ., ., , ., ., of. in all of this i want to ask about _ of. in all of this i want to ask about what - of. in all of this i want to ask about what the - of. in all of this i want to - ask about what the potential of ask about what the potential of a third term means for india's place in the world, the third term going to modi and the relationship you believe that india will continue to accord. a third term domestically could be many things in terms of the agenda, the hindu first agenda of this government, it could really come to fruition, legislatively. if they win more seats in parliament, eventually wins seats in the upper house as well, it really has a free

reign to take some of the changes that i want to do and that really has been in its manifesto for quite a while. globally i think we will see less of a change, i think the assertive more confident india we have come to see in the last few years is a trend line and they will not change dramatically. remember that india has long been what was called non—aligned and it did not want to get involved in great power competition. that has begun to change a little bit as the asserted itself more, a more muscularforeign policy and try to take advantage of global affairs. the war in ukraine, before the war began, in 2022, india only bought 1% of russia's total crude exports and survey that is upwards of 50% of the crude is upwards of 50% of the crude is so even though the west has been sanctioning russia in a tough way to prevent it from getting revenue, india has

bought it on the cheap. india was see in doing so is preventing oil prices from going up globally and there is some merit to that argument. mystically this is popular in india like the fact that they haveis india like the fact that they have is nimble nonideological foreign policy that allows it to take advantage of affairs. always good to talk with you, thank you. let's turn to some important news around the world. heavy rain battered gulf states causing flash flooding — with some places recording a year's worth of rain in a single day. the dubai airport was forced to divert incoming flights for around two hours. cars washed away in the streets, as a fierce storm causes destruction across the gulf region. the international monetary fund declared the global economy as quote �*remarkably resilient�* and forecast another year of slow and steady growth on tuesday. and in a big surprise, the imf predicted russia's economy will grow faster than all other advanced economies, including the us. however, economists cautioned that further escalation in the middle east could surge

global food and energy prices. nasa says that a small metal object that crashed into a florida home earlier this month was part of the international space station. it came from some 5800 pounds of hardware that was dumped by the space station and expected to fully burn up on re—entry to earth. instead, it went through the ceiling of a home. no—one was hurt. stay with us here on bbc news. more for you at the top of the hour. hello there. tuesday was another fairly cool day, winds a little bit lighter. but we had further showers, some heavy with hail and thunder once again. next few days, it's pretty similar, it stays on the chilly side. there will be further showers or longer spells of rain, a bit of sunshine. nights will be cool. we're still in this chilly air mass, as you can see here, for wednesday. so it means things starting off rather chilly. further showers across eastern

areas, and this tangle of weather fronts will bring thicker cloud and some rain to western parts of the uk through the day. so we'll start with some showers across eastern scotland, some snow on the hills, showers, windy weather affecting the northeast of england. could be quite cold and windy for north sea coasts of yorkshire. this area of cloud and rain pushes across the hebrides, northern ireland down into parts of wales, southwest england through the course of the day. in between, there will be some sunshine around, but it's going to be a cooler day, we think, temperatures 9—11 celsius for most of us, single digits along north sea coasts. the showers linger on for a while through wednesday night before it turns drier and clearer with lighter winds across england and wales. so, here it will turn quite chilly. temperatures recovering, though, in the northwest as wetter and windier weather starts to move in thanks to this little area of low pressure, which will bring wet and windy weather to the northern half of the country through the day on thursday. this area of high pressure will tend to keep things drier in the south. so england and wales starting off chilly but bright, plenty of sunshine, wetter, cloudier windier weather

will move across scotland, northern ireland and down into parts of north wales, northern england, the north midlands. southern england, south wales will do pretty well with staying dry, i think, with some sunshine, lighter winds here. so temperatures around 14 celsius, but windier, wetter, cooler further north. that area of low pressure clears away gradually during the course of friday, high pressure starts to topple in, but we could start off with a few showers through central, southern and eastern areas on friday, a brisk northerly breeze affecting much of the country, particularly towards the east. lighter winds further south and west, variable clouds, some sunshine, temperatures could be up to 14—15 celsius degrees in the south. still quite cool in the north. now into the weekend, we're expecting this area of high pressure to move in. so i think it'll be turning a lot drier, but we could see quite a bit of cloud around. that depends on what we'll see with temperatures. if we see some sunshine, then we could see the high teens across some central and southern areas. if it's cloudier, it could be a bit cooler than this.

v0|ce—0ver: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. hello and welcome. this week, we're unpicking the news that 0penai and meta are reported to have made a giant leap with their ai

tools. they're about to unveil bots that reason. we've got the journalist who broke the story to help us understand what it all means. we're also going to focus on donald trump's social media platform truth social. we'll speak to an academic who's assessing its impact on news coverage in the us, and we'll speak to the programmer who was there right at the start. but our first guest today is the executive chairman of sky news. david rhodes has thejob of keeping the rolling news channel relevant in the age of social media — a tough gig, but he's well qualified. he's held jobs at cbs and bloomberg, and his career began back in the �*90s at rupert murdoch's fox news. let's start off with david rhodes, who's here in the media show studio. hi, david. thanks for coming in. thanks. — thank you guys for having me. let's go back quite a few years to when you were vice president of news for fox. how did you get that gig?