donald trump dismisses the woman who won a sexual assault case against him as a whackjob as he again claims he s the victim of a political vendetta. and from defending human rights on television to rocking out at night at eurovision, the lawyer turned pop star representing australia. and coming up on bbc news, west ham look to reach their first european final in 47 years as they take on az alkmaar in the first leg of their european conference league semifinal. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. interest rates are at their highest in 15 years, after the bank of england raised them to 4.5%, making it more expensive to borrow but better for savers. the increase is an attempt by the bank of england to curb people s spending and bring down inflation that s the rate at which prices are rising which was just over 10% in march. but the bank also upgraded the prospects for the uk economy now no longer forecasting the economy will shrink but grow modestly over t
16 countries take the stage in liverpool later for the second semifinal. sticking with the eurovision theme, we are in liverpool at the shopping centre right in the heart of liverpool, surrounded by these beautiful eggs, i will tell you about them later on. the bank of england is expected to raise interest rates again today to 4.5%, the highest level in 15 years. it will be the 12th consecutive hike since december 2021, meaning mortgage payments could rise further for millions of customers. our business correspondent hannah miller reports. this is the first home gheev has owned, bought with his girlfriend two months ago. but since they agreed their mortgage, the monthly payments have gone up twice in line with the base rate of interest set by the bank of england. when we were coming to find a mortgage, the fixed rates were astronomically high. we figured that if the bank of england base rate goes up by another two or three percentage points, we re actually better off staying
Our international editor, jeremy bowen has the latest. A few minutes after the attack, the building in irans diplomatic compound in a well off central area of damascus seems to be on fire. The israeli strike destroyed the iranian consulate. It was a Precision Attack against a Senior Commander who will have worked hard to keep his movements secret. Despite that, Israeli Intelligence must have tracked general Mohamed Reza Zahedi to the meeting he was having in damascus. He was the Senior Iranian general in syria and lebanon two countries iran regards as critical parts in what it says is its system of forward defence, the so called axis of resistance. In damascus the syrian Foreign Minister said the general and others who died were killed by israel. Translation we strongly condemn this Criminal Act L carried out by the zionist enemy. These attacks can only be met by further steadfastness, further support for the Palestinian People and further resistance whether in iraq or in southern leba
World central kitchen founderjose andres said the idf also put out a statement saying that it is concerns over a wider regional conflict continue to grow after syrian Officials Say at least 11 people were killed on monday in a suspected israeli strike on the iranian Consulate Building in the capital damascus. Irans revolutionary guards says seven of its officers, including three senior commanders, are among the dead. Pictures of the aftermath show a multi Story Building reduced to rubble. Irans Foreign Minister says the strike is a breach of all International Conventions and has called for a response from the international community. The Israeli Military has not commented as of yet. But, if it was behind the attack, it would mark a clear ecscalation of the repeated strikes against iranian linked targets in the region. Senior us and israeli officials held a two hour Virtual Meeting on monday to discuss alternative proposals to an Israeli Military invasion of rafah in the Southern Gaza s
defense s first witness. meanwhile, we ll tell you why the former president is asking for his federal 2020 election trial to be televised live. new this morning, republican senator tim scott abruptly drops out of the presidential race, even shocking his staffers. what he told them on a call right after. overseas, the world health organization says gaza s main hospital is no longer functioning with several babies dying and more still at risk. also, the u.s. military launches air strikes for the third time on locations in syria used by iran in retaliation for attacks on u.s. troops in the region. and back at home, there are only five days left for congress to come to a deal to avert a government shutdown. the new house speaker has a plan, but does he have the votes? and we begin this very busy hour inside a new york city courtroom where former president trump s eldest son, donald trump jr. has taken the stand again. this time he s the first witness for the defense in