causing flash flooding, with some places recording a year's worth of rain in a single day. good to have you with us. welcome to the programme, as we continue to watch and wait to see how israel will respond to the attack it faced from iran at the weekend. the israeli war cabinet has met five times so far to discuss what it should do next but still no decision has been made public. but the us and eu have said they are looking at imposing further sanctions on iran in response to the attack. the white house has said it will impose new sanctions targeting iran's missile and drone program. and eu foreign policy chief josep borrell said the bloc was working on it after a number of eu nations

requested a tough response. we will have more on what impact those sanctions might have shortly, but first, lucy williamson, reports from jerusalem on what israel is considering as a response. 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. with me is mohamed taha from bbc arabic. good morning. lots to talk now about new sanctions on iran. indeed, now the israeli response might be as anticipated, as quick and

snappy as we expected. now the talks about sanctions. israel is urging its allies, the uk in the us, to impose more sanctions on the iran missile programme and a 500 different individuals and entities. israel is pressuring to have a sanctions on iran oil exports and israel is also pushing into considering the revolutionary guard as a terror group. the us is considering them a terror group are not the uk and other countries. this is what israel is hoping to do. what we understand now, is that this iranian attack on israel on the weekend provided a lifeline to the government of israel. explain that in more detail because there is a lot of

conversations about prior to the attack on iran directly at israel, before that, the relations between israel and the us were fractured? indeed, eseciall the us were fractured? indeed, especially after _ the us were fractured? indeed, especially after the _ the us were fractured? indeed, especially after the killing - the us were fractured? indeed, especially after the killing of. especially after the killing of seven aid workers on i april. this created a massive pressure on israel to provide gaza with more humanitarian aid to allow more humanitarian aid to allow more aid to arrive, to discuss more aid to arrive, to discuss more seriously the truce with hamas. this attack that iran did meant israel looked like, in a defending position, and this pressure on israel became less. now, we do not see gaza headline for the news for many days, there are many people dying overnight from israeli

shelling in northern gaza and in different places. now the focus is about the israeli response on the iran attack. thank you. let's speak to abbas milani, a director of iranian studies at stanford university. welcome to bbc news. interested to get your take on how effective a new sanctions might be, if they are imposed on iran. if be, if they are imposed on iran. . ., , ., iran. if the sanctions are imposed. _ iran. if the sanctions are imposed, they _ iran. if the sanctions are imposed, they will - iran. if the sanctions are imposed, they will have | iran. if the sanctions are i imposed, they will have an impact, particularly because the economy is in a dangerous place. there are strikes all over, inflation is in the double digits, unemployment, the currency has lost an enormous amount of its value. it went from 40,000 down to

70,000. it is an economy that cannot sustain it.— cannot sustain it. interesting ou sa cannot sustain it. interesting you say that _ cannot sustain it. interesting you say that because - cannot sustain it. interesting you say that because when i cannot sustain it. interesting l you say that because when you look at russia, for example, strict sanctions were imposed on russia since the invasion of ukraine and even many years ago when i first annexed crimea and that it would seem to have not such a big impact on the russian economy.- such a big impact on the russian economy. part of that is because _ russian economy. part of that is because the _ russian economy. part of that is because the russian - russian economy. part of thati is because the russian central bank is more independent and has had more independence. the running and economy, there was no centre they can determine policy based on reasonable economic models. they really do go economic models. they really do 9° by economic models. they really do go by inaudible or the clerics and they have roar the economy to a dangerous moment. i think they know it. the number of strikes, the number of angry

people in the street, it is very clear. they are very worried that if this continues or there is anotherjolt that people might take to the streets. it is a fraught moment for them. ., streets. it is a fraught moment for them-— streets. it is a fraught moment for them. ., . ., for them. how concerned are you about what _ for them. how concerned are you about what israel— for them. how concerned are you about what israel will— for them. how concerned are you about what israel will do - for them. how concerned are you about what israel will do next - about what israel will do next and also how iran will respond? i think israel, the rhetoric is tough but i cannot imagine they would think that attacking iran is in their best interest. the community has come to their health, the help of the international community, they could repel these drones and missiles and if that help is not there i think israel is in a much more fraught military position. the economy also needs help. when you have the

un, the us, russia, china, britain, they all suggest a more cautious approach, i doubt thatis more cautious approach, i doubt that is relevant to attack and the will respond but i think they will calculate to respond in a way that is likely response that iran gave. they gave an unsuccessful response but the response that showed inaudible there will not allowed to go beyond that level. israel will do the same. thank you for your time. staying in the middle east, 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 has accused israeli's security forces of active participation in attacks

on palestinians byjewish settlers. the vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, although israel disputes this. here's hugo bachega. caught on cctv — a man setting fire to a car as israeli settlers storm a palestinian village in the occupied west bank. israeli soldiers watch outside and appear to do nothing. across the west bank on the weekend, israeli settlers went on a rampage. this was the village of mughayir near ramallah on saturday. settlers set houses and cars on fire, killing one man. jihad abu alia was 25 and planning to get married in june. translation: jihad was trying to prevent the settlers - from breaking the house door, where dozens of the town residents arrived in the home to prevent them from burning the house.

it wasn't the first time settlers attacked us, but we weren't expecting a huge number of them. the violence was sparked by the disappearance of this israeli boy, 14—year—old binyamin ahimeir. he went missing on friday, and a day later was found dead. the israeli army says he was murdered. the attacks show how tensions in the west bank are escalating. since the hamas attacks on 7 october, more than 460 palestinians and 13 israelis have been killed. if nothing changes, there will be even more violence. for this campaigner monitoring settlement activity, the situation is unprecedented. i think that the level of the settler violence is the highest that i remember. there is also a lot of support from the government, and probably from the public — at least their public — that the violence is kind of necessary against the "evil", which are the palestinians.

it's not only settler violence that's on the rise. raids by the israeli army have intensified, killing many palestinians. the israeli army says it's investigating the arson incident caught on cctv. but across the west bank, many palestinians are living in fear. they don't know when the next attack will come. hugo bachega, bbc news, jerusalem. let's turn now to the war in ukraine. for more than two years, bbc news russian service and its partners mediazona have been gathering and verifying the identities of more than 50,000 russian fighters killed in ukraine. that figure is 8 times more than the losses russia has acknowledged. the data collected by the bbc reveals that more russian fighters died in the second year of the war than the first — a reflection of how russian tactics have changed over time, and confirmation that the human cost of the war has only risen.

lead investigator 0lga ivshina has more. in russia, the number of walgreen that is growing fast. 5 november... 9 november... volunteers have sent us this video. here is the same cemetery from above. in the last two years, it has grown at twice in size. a pattern seen in graveyards all over russia. since the side of the invasion the bbc and its partners have verified photos of graves, social media posts and news articles to track down the number of russians are killed fighting in ukraine. so farwe have verified 50,000 names. 0ur have verified 50,000 names. our data shows that russia has lost 23% more troops in the second

year of the invasion competitive first. there was a shift in tactics. at first they relied on their professional soldiers. sincejanuary relied on their professional soldiers. since january 2023, russia started sending thousands of inexperienced troops. thousands of inexperienced troo s. thousands of inexperienced troos. ,, ., , ., thousands of inexperienced troos. ,, ., ., troops. the russians are now able to bring _ troops. the russians are now able to bring a _ troops. the russians are now able to bring a lot _ troops. the russians are now able to bring a lot more - able to bring a lot more firepower to bear against the ukrainian position when they go into the offensive. as long as the ukrainians are unable to shift the balance of firepower, the meat grinder tactics will very likely continue to be successful in taking limited areas of ground across the front. ,., , . . front. prisoners are recruited and sent _ front. prisoners are recruited and sent to _ front. prisoners are recruited and sent to war— front. prisoners are recruited and sent to war and - front. prisoners are recruited and sent to war and having . and sent to war and having crucial to these tactics. in return for six knots on the front line they were promised freedom, if they survived. to understand the average military lifespan, we have tracked down

more than 1000 inmates from the daily signed up to the day they died. 0ur daily signed up to the day they died. our data reveal that more than half of the prisoners have died within just 12 weeks of arriving at the front line. the prisoners _ arriving at the front line. the prisoners will _ arriving at the front line. the prisoners will be _ arriving at the front line. tue: prisoners will be sent arriving at the front line. tte: prisoners will be sent first arriving at the front line. "tt2 prisoners will be sent first to the ukrainian position and that would force the ukrainians to reveal themselves and engage possibly with artillery. they would then be able to conduct their own offensive against already free weekend ukrainian positions. already free weekend ukrainian ositions. ~ ., ., . . ., positions. while our account only includes _ positions. while our account only includes death - positions. while our account | only includes death recorded publicly, data from cemeteries across russia suggests the true figure is likely to be twice as high. the russian government did not respond for a comment. as russian forces continue to push on, pictures of new graves keep coming every day. let's take a quick look at some big stories we are following here in the uk today. mps backed a plan late on tuesday to ban anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes, effectively

ensuring it will become law. the uk will be the first country in the world to implement such a law. the measures, championed by prime minister rishi sunak, survived despite opposition from several leading tory figures — including ex—prime ministers borisjohnson and liz truss. the post office inquiry continues today. it will hear evidence from longman — a former post office investigator who was involved in the incorrect prosecution and conviction of a number of sub post masters. allan leighton, the ex—chairman of the post office will also be questioned at the inquiry. and staying with uk, news the latest inflation numbers are out this morning with economists forecasting another fall in the rate of inflation from the 3.4% seen in february. rising prices hit a peak in october of 2022, when inflation was at 11%. i'll be talking to a leading economist about this later in our business coverage.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

now to the united states, and day two of donald trump's criminal trial has concluded in new york. the focus for the moment is selecting a jury to sit through the weeks of proceedings. so far, seven have been chosen, but dozens of potentialjurors have been excused, after saying they couldn't be impartial. this case marks the first time a us president — former or current — has faced a criminal trial. it's over allegations he tried to cover up hush money payments to the adult film star stormy daniels in 2016. mr trump denies the allegations, and speaking after the court wrapped up, he once again made unsubstantiated claims that the judge was conflicted.

the whole world is watching. this judge is so conflicted, you understand? there has never been a judge so conflicted as these. it is ridiculous. also, there is no crime. 0ur north america correspondent nada tawfik has more from new york. 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's 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 nurse. 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 apprentice, the reality show he starred in 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.

we will have coverage of day three of the trial here on bbc news as that lengthy jury selection process continues. join us later today for that. myanmar�*s military government says it has pardoned 3,300 prisoners and moved former leader aung san suu kyi from prison to house arrest. state media — quoting a spokesman for the junta — said extremely hot weather had caused ms suu kyi and other elderly prisoners to be relocated as a precaution against heatstroke. the nobel laureate has been in jail since she was ousted in a coup in 2021. it comes a week after the military suffered yet another significant defeat last week when it lost control of the main border crossing into thailand. after losing thousands of soldiers in recent battles to injury, desertion or surrenders, the army has imposed a national conscription law, meaning all males

between the ages of 18 and 35 can now be called up to fight. heavy rain has battered the gulf states, causing flash flooding — with some places recording a year's worth of rain in a single day. dubai airport was forced to divert incoming flights for around two hours but operations have since restarted. these pictures in dubai show cars washed away in the streets, as a fierce storm causes destruction across the gulf region. authorities in neighbouring 0man said 18 people had been killed by the extreme weather. there has also been heavy rains and majorflooding in pakistan. more than 40 people have died. the deluge caused houses to collapse and destroyed roads. flash floods also disrupted power supplies and the transport network. pakistan's national disaster authority has warned

of landslides and floods with more rain expected in the coming days. flooding has been reported in neighbouring afghanistan, where dozens of people were killed and hundreds of homes damaged. the lengthy process of voting in india's general election starts on friday and prime minister narendra modi is widely expected to win a third term in power. with 960 million registered voters, these will be the biggest elections the world has ever seen — and potentially the most expensive as well. devina gupta from the global story podcast has been looking at the numbers behind the election. here are five things you need to know about the world's biggest elections in india. 968 million voters eligible to cast their vote. million voters eligible to cast theirvote. 0ut million voters eligible to cast their vote. out of which nearly half of 471 million are women

and 18 million are first—time voters. second, voting breeze, nearly1 million voting breeze including the one over 15,000 feetin including the one over 15,000 feet in the himalayas which is the worlds highest polling breeze. in 2019, election officials travelled over 40 kilometres to set up a booth for just one voter. kilometres to set up a booth forjust one voter. to give opportunity to give everyone to have a say in the selection, this is the longest election since 1951, so people have 44 days to cast their vote between 19 april and 1june. all of these costs a lot of money, and we're talking about billions. conservative estimates has for this election cost at $15 billion, which could be the world's most expensive bill for elections. five, the size of the parliament. 500 and 43

members who will be elected, the current prime minister narendra modi is the front—runner. the opposition has united under a block called india. the opposition is from the congress party.- india. the opposition is from the congress party. there is a lot at stake. _ if you want more on this you can look for the latest episode of the global story podcast. it's available on bbc sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. we will have the top business stories right here, the uk inflation and more. see you in a moment. 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.

live from london. this is bbc news. higherfor longer, the chair of the fed has dashed hopes that interest rates will be cut anytime soon as he says us inflation is still too high. we will need a greater confidence inflation is moving systemically towards 2% before the appropriate policy.

in the uk, inflation is set to keep falling, with new figures out shortly. so has the economy finally turned a corner? also on the program, as indians prepare to head to the polls, we crunch the numbers of what's expected to be the world's most expensive election. and, going bananas, we consume billions every, but for how long? as adverse weather and soaring costs affect producers across the world, we peel back on an industry under threat. hello, if you just hello, if youjustjoining hello, if you justjoining us you own time of the top business stories. we start in the us where doubts are growing aboutjust how soon interest rates may be cut. the chair of the federal reservejerome powell said on tuesday that inflation was taking longer than expected to return to the central bank's

2% target and justify cuts to interest rates.