this was the view across the israel lebanon border earlier today where we ve seen a thick plume of black smoke in the sky as hostilities continue in that border area. so, let s start this hour by hearing from israel s prime minister. translation: last night, - i talked again with president biden. i do appreciate us steadfast position at the security council a position which backs our war effort. yesterday, i told president biden that we will fight until total victory, as long as it takes. the us understands this. i saw false reports that claimed the united states has prevented us from operational activities in the region. this is not true. israel is a sovereign country. our war decisions are based on our operational considerations. this is the live scene over the israel gaza border, where we ve seen continued bombardement this weekend. an israel military spokesman says it s expanding its ground operations in the southern and northern parts of the gaza strip. reuters is
16 countries take the stage in liverpool later for the second semifinal. sticking with the eurovision theme, we are in liverpool at the shopping centre right in the heart of liverpool, surrounded by these beautiful eggs, i will tell you about them later on. the bank of england is expected to raise interest rates again today to 4.5%, the highest level in 15 years. it will be the 12th consecutive hike since december 2021, meaning mortgage payments could rise further for millions of customers. our business correspondent hannah miller reports. this is the first home gheev has owned, bought with his girlfriend two months ago. but since they agreed their mortgage, the monthly payments have gone up twice in line with the base rate of interest set by the bank of england. when we were coming to find a mortgage, the fixed rates were astronomically high. we figured that if the bank of england base rate goes up by another two or three percentage points, we re actually better off staying
in what is being viewed in come circles as a sign that eurozone borrowing costs may soon reach their peak. the move mirrors the us federal reserve s quarter point rate rise on wednesday. central banks on both sides of the atlantic have dramatically raised rates since last year in response to a surge in inflation. professor christian de boissieu is emeritus professor of economics at the sorbonne university in paris. the lending service from the bank suggest that a credit crunch is looming. does that suggest to you that the era of credit cycle tightening has come to an end? i would first say that this credit cycle is not over yet. it is true that it cycle is not over yet. it is true thatitis cycle is not over yet. it is true that it is becoming more and more difficult for people to borrow, given the rising borrowing rates but if you take the example of the eurozone, i expect further increases in key rates before the fall. the cost of borrowing will continue to increase, there c
the energy regulator ofgem has asked suppliers to pause the forced installation of prepaid metres. it follows revelations that a debt collection company working for british gas broke into the homes of vulnerable people to install the metres. prepayment metres require customers to pay for their energy in advance. it s more expensive than paying by direct debit, but are sometimes the only option for people who have struggled to pay and are in debt to a supplier. ben king has more. an undercover reporter from the times newspaper joined a team of debt collectors, entering the home of a single father with three young children. they count as vulnerable. but, these workers from arvato financial solutions, working for british gas, opened the door and installed a prepayment meter anyway. installing prepayment meters by force is legal, but it s meant to be a last resort, and should not be done to vulnerable households. if people cannot afford to top up the meters, they will be left wit