officials are calling this an act of terror. what do you make no just from the details act of terror. what do you make no just from the details we have and that these are taxpayer in russia? obviously there is a taxpayer in russia? obviously there is a lot taxpayer in russia? obviously there is a lot we taxpayer in russia? obviously there is a lot we do taxpayer in russia? obviously there is a lot we do not - taxpayer in russia? obviously there is a lot we do not know, but it fits a pattern of attacks we have seen, including last year by jihadists attacks we have seen, including last year byjihadists linked to the islamic state, which is probably the islamic state khorasan, which is in central asia, and has carried out attacks in moscow and this attacks in moscow and this attack is close to their home territory. attack is close to their home territo . ~ attack is close to their home territory- territory. we know the sites that are targeted, territory. we know the s
craig williams and laura saunders, on the date of the general election. on the campaign trail, labour is setting out changes to the process for someone to legally change their gender. the party is also offering to provide hundreds of thousands more dental appointments on the nhs. the lib dems release their analysis on hospital waiting times. leader sir ed davey claimed the country has ten days to save the nhs. the snp sjohn swinney will give a speech on brexit. while the dup is launching its manifesto in northern ireland. so it is a busy day for all of the parties today. we ll touch on all of the above in this programme, but let s start with the election betting investigation. here s tobias elwood speaking to the bbc radio 4 today. this betting saga has been deeply unhelpful, self inflicted distraction, and in what world they thought this was acceptable is beyond belief. the prime minister has expressed his anger, he said that at the leaders s question time debate. it has bee
just from the details we have, of what we ve seen and that these attacks in russia? obviously, there is a lot we do not know but it fits a pattern of attacks we have seen, including last year byjihadists linked to the islamic state probably from the islamic state khorasan, which is their branch in central asia, and has carried out attacks in moscow and this attack is close to their home territory. can we infer anything? we know the sites that were targeted, two churches, one a synagogue these are religious venues. can we make anything from that in terms of what was actually targeted? so, the islamic state and individuals that follow it see themselves as part of a religious struggle. they see a western war on islam and they see awar a war done by christians and dues on religious targets. jews. by striking religious targets, they believe they re defending their faith. as you said earlier, we re still working to confirm a lot of the facts here and figure out exactly who w
were also set ablaze. six of the attackers are reported to have been killed in what is thought to have been an islamist attack in a region which is predominately muslim. the governor of dagestan sergei melikov said they were trying to understand the motive behind the attack. translation: of course, we understand what s behind the organisation of these terrorist attacks. we understand what the organisers were trying to achieve. subsequent operational research and investigative measures will be carried out until all participants and their sleeper cells are identified and, of course, they had been preparing for this, course, they had been preparing forthis, including course, they had been preparing for this, including from abroad. the situation is now under the control of the government authorities and. let s speak to matthew schmidt, an associate professor of national security and political science at the university of new haven. good to have you on the programme. once again, d