is to close blast furnaces in port talbot with 3,000 jobs to go. the union plan to savejobs has failed. so what does it say more generally about the green transition? also in the programme. a walk out in northern ireland. no government, no funding, no pay rises. is the standoff over stormont now a constiutional crisis. a constiutional crisis? and is it the demand for cocaine europe that has turned ecuador into a war zone with the drug cartels? is there a future for steel making in the uk? and if there is then what sort of sector does it become. that very issue has been under discussion today between unions representing the steel workers of south wales and the bosses of the tata steel making company. no official word of what has been agreed but we understand tata steel is to close both blast furnaces at its port talbot works with the loss of up to 3,000 jobs. instead of blast furnaces, tata have a plan backed by the british government to invest in a new, greener, electric ar
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,