Mister secretary, does the administration know at this point if u. S. Citizens were among the dead or those taken hostage . So, we have reports that several americans may be among the dead. We are very actively looking to verify those reports similarly, weve seen reports about hostages and their again, we are very actively trying to verify them. And we nail that down. Meaning that there could be some u. S. Citizens who have been taken hostage as well, mister secretary. Thats correct. Well be closely following that over the next two hours, also overnight, israel responded, launching huge retaliatory strikes on cars and cities, flattening residential buildings, and killing over 300 people in gaza so far, according to the palestinian mystery of that. Has lebanons Hezbollah Group fired the flames in solidarity with hamas at three is really positions. Were witnessing all of this as israel promises an aggressive response. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed, my vengeance, and sai
Sunak. Were asking all of those very Big Questions as. Sunak. Were asking all of those very Big Questions as. And as very Big Questions as. And as even very Big Questions as. And as ever, this show is absolutely nothing without you and your views. Let me know your thoughts on all of the stories well be discussing today by visiting gbnews. Com forward slash yours. Join that conversation there or message us on our socials. Were gbnews first of all though, heres the news with ray addison i thanks, darren. Good afternoon. 12 01 of our top stories. Sir keir starmer says the tories dont deserve to be in government for a moment longer. Thats after rishi sunak lost hundreds of councillors in the local elections, 102 of 107 councils have declared so far , councils have declared so far, with labour making major gains and the lib dems and the greens also doing well. Election expert sir john curtice says the final outcome could be the tories worst performance for 40 years, celebrating a mayoral vi
Violence in london a crime thats rising sharply. A 14 year old being killed in a playground in the middle of the day. Eriksen, 3 0. And in tonights football, Tottenham Hotspur have beaten the european champions, real madrid, at wembley. Coming up on sportsday on bbc news. A look at the new tennis world rankings, and andy murray falls out of the top 10 for the first time in three years. Good evening. The defence secretary, sir Michael Fallon, has resigned in the light of allegations about his past conduct. Hes admitted that his behaviour in the past may have fallen short of the high standards required. Sir michael had already apologised for putting his hand on the knee of a female journalist, in an incident more than a decade ago. Sir michael whos been one of the Prime Ministers strongest supporters in cabinet told the bbc he believed it was right that the issue of Sexual Harassment was now being taken very seriously. Live to our Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg with the latest. In thi
[inaudible conversations] today that ca committee convenes their sixth open hearing of 2017 to further examine russias interference in the elections. This is another opportunity for the committee and the American People to drill down on this vitally important docket. In 2016, a hostile foreign power reach down to the state and local levels to touch motor data. It employed relatively sophisticated cyber tools and capabilities and helped moscow to potentially build detailed knowledge of how our elections work. It was also another example of russian efforts to interfere into a democracy with the goal of undermining our system. In 2016, we were woefully unprepared to defend and respond, and im hopeful that we will not be caught flatfooted again. Our witnesses are here to tell us more about what happened in 2016, what that tells us about russian intentions, and what we should expect in 2018 and 2020. I am deeply concerned that if we do not work in lockstep with the states to secure our elec
Theres an expectation that at some point tonight, hell be meeting with members of the Freedom Caucus. We know of a couple that have been walking in to meet with the speaker. Thats happening ahead of a 7 00 p. M. Meeting for the entire republican conference. I asked how long it was expected to go. I was told there will be food. The its a time to come together and figure out there where theres room to reach consensus. This comes as two wings of the Republican Party met at the white house with a different reception today. First, the Freedom Caucus, the more conservative wing having what i was told by an attendee, was a dialogue with the president about exactly what was on the table to negotiate followed by that, the more moderate group, the tuesday group, just meeting at the white house this ooempk to tuck about where they could potentially compromise. Reporters got a sense from the chairman of the caucus earlier this afternoon exactly his reception for how that meeting went and where he