fire across the lebanon israel border in recent weeks. hezbollah says it is fighting israel to support hamas in gaza. the un secretary general antonio guterres has warned there is real risk that the crisis on the israel lebanon border could escalate. one rash move, one miscalculation could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border, and frankly beyond imagination. let us be clear, the people of the region and the people of the world cannot afford lebanon to become another gaza. the humanitarian situation in gaza is worsening after eight months of war. on x, the head of the world health organization said more than ten thousand palestinians are in gaza need urgent medical attention. he added that since the closure of the rafah crossing on may seven, no patients have been evacuated from the gaza strip. the us military said on thursday that a temporary pier off the coast of gaza has been re anchored, allowing the resumption of aid deliveries. the israeli army recently
interest rates have been held at 5.25% for the seventh time in a row by the bank of england, despite the rate of inflation hitting the bank s target level of 2% for the time in three years. of 2% for the first time in three years. economists have predicted that interest rates, which are currently at a 16 year high, won t be cut until august. with more, here s our chief economics correspondent, dharshini david. ok, so it s four bedrooms. first time buyerjames has his eye on his dream home in coventry. but getting the keys to the door has been more challenging than expected as higher mortgage rates have made the first rung of the housing ladder harder to grasp. we definitely had to make some cutbacks as a couple and look at our financial plan to see if we could afford the mortgage. with the rates being high, we ve had to save for effectively another year to come into line with that. it s also understanding, yeah, the term of the mortgage, you know, from looking at it, it s now
that breaking news a bit later on in the day. thank you for watching bbc news. you can reach me on twitter i m @bbcvishalasp. hello. this weekend will bring a change in the weather. we re not talking about a heat wave, we re not talking about wall to wall sunshine, but something a little warmer and brighter than we ve been used to over the last few days. the reason is high pressure which will be building its way in. this frontal system across eastern counties of england and south east scotland will provide some cloud and some splashes of rain to start the morning. this cloud will tend to break up through the day, although there is still the chance of one or two showers across eastern england and into eastern scotland. further west, a slice of sunshine. but then, we will see cloud rolling into northern ireland
a slice of sunshine. but then we will see cloud rolling into northern ireland and maybe some rain into western counties later on in the day. temperatures, well, a little higher than they have been of late, 10 degrees in lerwick, 15 perhaps as the high in glasgow. and then as we head through saturday night, we will see this zone of cloud with some areas of rainfall moving across northern ireland. and then turning cloudy for many other western parts as well, where we keep some clear skies towards the south east corner, well, there could be a touch of frost in one or two locations and also some fog patches to start sunday morning. milder out towards the west, where we will have more cloud thanks to this frontal system. but broadly speaking, high pressure is stilljust about in charge. there s not going to be a huge amount of rain. and while some eastern coasts will struggle temperature wise, further west, a feed of southerly winds will bring something a little bit warmer. but we will have
perhaps some early fog patches and some cloud lingering for parts of scotland and northern ireland, at least for a time. and with a feed of easterly winds, temperatures on some of the north sea coasts will struggle a little. iii degrees for aberdeen and for hull, but further west, highs of 17 or 18 degrees. high pressure stays with us as we head through the coming week. but the alignment, the orientation of this high will tend to bring us an easterly wind, which means these eastern coasts will always be on the chilly side. the highest temperatures further west. but for the most part, it is looking largely dry with some spells of sunshine. bye for now.