how did this happen? that s an excellent question, katy. the balloon was able to get past our west coast anti-balloon defense system, the seattle space needle, but once it was here, we were able to keep an eye on it with our sophisticated tracking technology of going like this. our thanks to saturday night live there. there are rising dramatic tensions, however, between the united states and china after a white house decision to shoot down that massive spy balloon. we ll walk through what happened and take a look at the growing fallout. plus a powerful earthquake leaves hundreds of people dead in turkey and syria. this morning rescue crews are searching through the rubble for any survivors. and heading into 2024, democrats have approved a new primary calendar, reshaping the way the party picks its precedential nominees, but there are still some potential challenges ahead. good morning and welcome to way too early on this monday, february 6th. i m jonathan lemire
welcome to the programme. it was budget day here in britain today. a big set piece annual event in which the chancellor stairs into the crystal ball, and tries to predict the future and how best to steer the uk economy through it. the obstacles in his way are common to europe and the united states. high inflation, higher interest rates, and since the pandemic, an intractably acute labour shortage. this graph trackjob vacancies across europe since august 2022, historically high after the pandemic, but you will see the uk, the red line at the very top, is struggling more than most. with 1.1 million vacancies. if more people are employed, more people are paying tax. the good news for the chancellor is that the uk will swerve recession this year thanks to growth returning by the summer. but the economy will still contract by 0.2%. and any brighter news, is tempered by slower growth over the long term. mr hunt said the uk would only grow by 1.8% next year and byjust 2.5% in 2025
new york city mayor as he is the masses of illegal immigrants arriving in the big apple will, quote, destroy the city. never in my life have i had a problem that i did not see an ending to. i don t see an ending to this. i don t see an ending to this. this issue will destroy new york city. reporter: according to the mayor s office, there are now over 110,000 migrants in new york city. over 13,000 of which were bussed if by the state of texas. now, mayor adams went on to say that the city s going to have a $12 billion deficit, cuts will have to be made to support the arrivals of illegal immigrants, and that every service in new york city will be impacted, as he says the city is overrun. it s going to come to your neighborhoods. all of us are going to be impacted by this. i said it last year when we had 15,000, and i m telling you now, 110,000, the city we knew, we re about to lose. and we re all in this together. reporter: meanwhile the first day of classes kicked off
it s friday the 8th of december. the home office has told mps that the uk has given rwanda a further £100 million as part of the government s plan to relocate some asylum seekers there. the funding is in addition to the £140 million paid to kigali last year. legal challenges have so far prevented any asylum seekers from being sent to rwanda. our political correspondent peter saulljoins us now. we will have more on this story laterfrom our we will have more on this story later from our political correspondent to see exactly how the money has been spent so far, what we have been told so far by the prime minister when it comes to spending on the silent deal with rwanda. let s talk to peter saull in westminster. good morning. that s it, the explanation needed in terms of what we have been told. we thought £140 million had been told. yesterday we had from the prime minister, ain t no money has been spent on this deal, talking about the amendments now being proposed to the
Whether Angela Merkel can remain chancellor when germans go to the polls later this year . And Behind The Scenes at the white house. Well speak to a reporter about his dinner with the president , and finding out Donald Trumps favourite modern invention. Welcome to the programme. Im katty kay in washington. Clive myrie is in london. We are learning a lot today about the firing of the head of the fbi and we are hearing it from the president. Mr Trump Hasjust called mr comey a showboat and a grandstander. He also revealed he was determined to fire the director anyway, whatever the Justice Department recommended. Mr trump also reasserted the claim, that mr comey told him three times that he personally wasnt under investigation over ties to russia. Mr trump made those comments in an interview with nbc news thats just been released. He isa he is a showboat. He is a grandstander. The fbi has been in turmoil. You know it, dynamic, Everybody Knows it. You take a look at the fbi a year ago, it w