aida touma sliman in jerusalem, welcome aida touma sliman injerusalem, welcome to hardtalk. aida touma-sliman in jerusalem, welcome to hardtalk. aida touma-sliman in jerusalem, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it is a pleasure welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it is a pleasure to welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it is a pleasure to have welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it is a pleasure to have you - welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it is a pleasure to have you on - it is a pleasure to have you on the show. we ask you a simple first question, how much has changed for you and for your community in israel since 7 october? community in israel since 7 october? oh, you can think about it in october? oh, you can think about it in this october? oh, you can think about it in this way. - october? oh, you can think about it in this way. there i october? oh, you can think. about it in this way. there was about it in this way. there was a life, that is not so easy before 7 october,
in beirut on tuesday. hezbollah, a powerful paramilitary and political group in lebanon, has blamed that attack on what it says was flagra nt israeli aggression . israel has not commented. both hamas and hezbollah, banned terrorist organisations in many countries, have close ties to iran, which itself is holding a day of mourning after 84 people were killed by explosions near an event to mark the anniversary of the death of the iranian general qasem soleimani. the islamic state group has now said it carried out that attack in the southern city of kerman. alongside this, several nations have issued a warning to the houthi militants in yemen, who are also close to iran, to stop the attacks on shipping in the key lanes in the red sea. and, of course, the fighting in israel and gaza which has played a role in sparking all this there are reports of dozens more deaths from air strikes in southern gaza as israel continues its military operation. let s start with the funeral of th
it s 8am on thursday morning in singapore. we start in the middle east. iran s supreme leader, says there ll be a harsh response, after at least 95 people were killed by two explosions in the south eastern city of kerman. the blasts were near the saheb al zaman mosque, where thousands of people had gathered to mark the anniversary of the death of a senior general who was killed in a us drone strike in 2020. caroline hawley reports. the roads leading to the cemetery were packed with people who had gone to pay their respects to qasem soleimani. officials say the bombs had been planted in bags and were apparently set off by remote control. whoever did this was clearly aiming to cause mass casualties. the iranian red crescent said their efforts to evacuate the injured were complicated by the size of the crowds. the first bomb was followed swiftly by a second, more deadly explosion. it comes four years to the day since qasem soleimani was killed himself in an american drone attack
also on the programme. the latest developments in the middle east. including the funeral of a hamas deputy leader in lebanon. thousands of people were there. prince andrew and bill clinton are named in files relating to sex offenderjeffrey epstein. we ll look at what we ve learnt. and ai terrorism, stethescopes and keyboard keys. all in our weekly look at artificial intelligence ai. decoded is coming up. plenty of elections around the world this year. now know a bit more about what could be happening here in the uk. rishi sunak says the general election is likely to happen in the second half of this year . he didn t rule out it happening earlier but says his working assumption is later this year. opposition labour party leader keir starmer says sunak is squatting in downing street for months on end . here s our political editor chris mason reports. can i welcome to you this morning, rishi sunak, the prime minister? mansfield in nottinghamshire a town the conservatives
if you have joined if you havejoined us, you are welcome and we are looking at the top business stories. we start here in the uk, where there is some relief for millions of people facing soaring housing costs. lenders have started the new year by slashing the cost of mortgages as financial markets bet the bank of england will soon begin to cut interest rates from their 15 year high. from today banking giant hsbc becomes the first major lender to bring back mortgages below 4% since last march. it comes as rival halifax slashed almost a percentage point off some of its mortgage rates this week. and it s raised hopes of a price war between banks. hsbc is offering a five year fixed rate mortgage at 3.94%. it s only available to people remortgaging their home not to first time buyers. but it s far below rates of almost 6.5% that borrowers were facing just a few months ago. and it will be a welcome development for many uk households as our cost of living correspondent kevin peach