brand has dozens of companies to its name, from virgin atlantic to galactic. but, after five decades in atlantic to galactic. but, afterfive decades in business, reinventing whole industries, sir richard branson has been tested as never before, both financially and emotionally. the pandemic left the 72 year old fighting to save his empire and his reputation. he faced questions over how he has used women to promote his brand, and sceptics have asked why someone who campaigns on climate change is sending rockets into space. the original rebel entrepreneur continues to grab the headlines and confound his critics. i ve come to miami to hear the whole story. sir richard branson, thank you so much for speaking to me and to the bbc. how are you? l’m to the bbc. how are you? i m aood. i to the bbc. how are you? i m good- i always to the bbc. how are you? ii fl good. i always think sitting down to do interviews like this is a bit like i ve never been a psychiatrist s chair, but
welcome to bbc news. we start with president biden who s made an impassioned defence of the good friday agreement 25 years after it was signed. he said northern ireland will not go back that the enemies of peace will not prevail. he was talking to students at ulster university where he talked about the need for renewal and repair it matters to me personally he said. the president is expected to land at dublin airport in the next half an hour the start of three days in ireland a mix of politics and events linked to his strong irish roots. more on that in a moment. but it s been a busy, busy day for the president. it started with a meeting with rishi sunak, both expressing their hope that power sharing can be restored. joe biden also met the leaders of the five main parties off camera he said he was in listening mode. these the pictures after the president spoke at the university, he clearly was enjoying every bit of the visit it was so obvious the way he en
ten people have been killed and eight injured in an explosion at a petrol station in the republic of ireland police say it appears to have been a tragic accident . protests continue in iran and around the world as three people are killed in the country. now on bbc news it s political thinking with nick robinson. welcome to political thinking. one question haunts the chancellor, any chancellor of any political party. it is what will the iss say because the verdict of the institute for fiscal studies on whether the numbers add up, any budget and what these days we have to call fiscal events, can be devastating for a politician. it is what will the ifs say. that word is treated like the word of god, not least broadcasters like the bbc who have experts from the ifs on our programmes all the time. my guest this week is the director of the ifs, pauljohnson. welcome to the programme. if the ifs is the word of god that makes you god. how does that feel? , , ., that feel? very
in the next hour, before conservative mps go into that committee room, and place their votes in a secret ballot we will be talking to some of them in the run up. good afternoon. the prime minister borisjohnson has addressed conservative mps to try and convince them to back him in a vote of confidence this evening. in an hours time, tory mps will start voting on whether they want mrjohnson to be replaced. he s been under increasing pressure following the publication of a report which looked into parties at downing street which broke covid rules. a vote of confidence was triggered after some conservative mps handed in letters calling on the pm to resign to sir graham brady, the chairman of an influential group of backbench mps, called the 1922 committee. for a vote to be held, at least 15% of conservative mps need to write a letter that works out at 5a. let s cross straight to college green in westminster now and my colleague victoria derbyshire: it s been a dramatic day and it