Live in east jerusalem. The United Nations and the us have expressed concern about israels plans for a military operation in rafah. The city, at the south western edge of gaza, has seen the arrival of hundreds of thousands of palestinians taking refuge from the fighting elsewhere in the strip. The Israeli Military had previously urged civilians to go there but now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has approved plans for an assault on hamas militants believed to be based there. The un issued this warning. I think the consequences of a Ground Operation in rafah under the current circumstances would be catastrophic for the people of gaza, for the palestinians. It would be catastrophic for the humanitarian situation. It would be catastrophic or around. The us is one of israels most important supporters but it seems that the Israeli Government has not shared details of the planned assault on rafah with officials in washington. Heres Us National Security council spokesman, john kirb
of widespread unrest. taiwan s president tsai ing wen has pledged to bolster the island s combat power and defences in a major speech on taiwan s national day. now on bbc news, political thinking with nick robinson. hello and welcome to political thinking. there is one question which haunts the chancellor, haunts any chancellor of any political party stopping it is, what will the iss say? because the verdict of the institute for fiscal studies on whether the numbers add up, any budget or what we these days have to call fiscal event can be devastating for a politician. that verdict is treated like the word of god, not least by broadcasters like the bbc who have experts from the iss on our programmes all the time. our guest is the director of the institute for fiscal studies, the ifs, paul johnston, welcome to political thinking. if the ifs is the word of god, that makes you got. how does that feel? very stran . e! got. how does that feel? very strange! the got. how does that
of the institute for fiscal studies on whether the numbers add up, in any budget, or what these days we have to call fiscal event, can be devastating for a politician. that verdict is treated like the word of god, not least by 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? very strange. he chuckles all we are, as it were, we are a research institute who happen to work on fiscal things, which means public spending and tax, and when the government or the opposition make big announcements on tax and spending, we analyse it and we analyse it off the back of decades of experience we ve got. with the numbers, with understanding of what this stuff means. so we are able to say, do these add up? will it achieve what the chancellor says it will achieve? and what are the risks? when martin le
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
the health secretary will meet representatives from the british medical association and other unions later this morning, in a bid to avert future strike action. and tributes pour in forjeff beck, one of the most influential rock guitarists of all time, who has died at the age of 78. hello and welcome to bbc news. a russian mercenary group fighting in ukraine says it has found the body of one of two british aid workers reported missing over the weekend. christopher parry and andrew bagshaw were last seen on friday heading to the town of soledar, which has seen fierce fighting in recent weeks. the claim has not been verified by the foreign office and the wagner group of mercenaries did not give a name. gareth barlow has this report. chris parry and andrew bagshaw went missing on friday, while travelling to the town of soledar. ukrainian police have since been conducting investigations into their disappearance. but now, unconfirmed reports from accounts linked to russia s wagner