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
Its 9am in singapore, iam in london, and 9am in the philippines, where Anti Terror Forces are searching for the militant group which first kidnapped, and then killed a german tourist. Juergen kantners death was apparently filmed by members of the abu sayyaf group. Its thought he was killed after their Ransom Demands were not met. Mr kantner had been abducted from a yacht last november. The philippines government says it lost some of its best men trying to rescue him. Our asia editor, michael bristow, reports. Its thoughtJurgen Kantner was beheaded. Abu sayyaf militants wanted 600,000 for his release, but the deadline for payment passed on sunday. The german yachtsman was kidnapped in november. His boat was found drifting in the sea in the southern philippines. His partner was killed in the abduction. The Philippine Army had spent the last few days looking for mr kantner. The insurgents could have killed him because he was too ill to move around. The German Government wondered what kind
Its 9am in singapore, iam in london, and 9am in the philippines, where Anti Terror Forces are searching for the militant group which first kidnapped, and then killed a german tourist. Juergen kantners death was apparently filmed by members of the abu sayyaf group. Its thought he was killed after their Ransom Demands were not met. Mr kantner had been abducted from a yacht last november. The philippines government says it lost some of its best men trying to rescue him. Our asia editor, michael bristow, reports. Its thoughtJurgen Kantner was beheaded. Abu sayyaf militants wanted 600,000 for his release, but the deadline for payment passed on sunday. The german yachtsman was kidnapped in november. His boat was found drifting in the sea in the southern philippines. His partner was killed in the abduction. The Philippine Army had spent the last few days looking for mr kantner. The insurgents could have killed him because he was too ill to move around. The German Government wondered what kind
0ur correspondent shaimaa khalil has more details. security personnel will remain in their posts, they will continue to defend the nation, that s what the taiwanese president tsai ing wen has said. and even though china announced that these military exercises which started on saturday right after she came back from the united states have ended on monday, we have at least eight warships still in taiwanese water, eight chinese warships. so the drills may have concluded but the presence, the chinese presence is still there, the tension is still there. we have had three days of military exercises, chinese military exercises around taiwan, 0perationjoint sword where china simulated or practiced precision attacks on taiwanese targets, simulated surrounding taiwan, but also we ve had jets flying into taiwanese airspace to taiwan s east and this dramatic
in their posts, they will continue to defend the nation, that s what the taiwanese president tsai ing wen has said. and even though china announced that these military exercises which started on saturday right after she came back from the united states have ended on monday, we have at least eight warships still in taiwanese water, eight chinese warships. so the drills may have concluded but the presence, the chinese presence is still there, the tension is still there. we have had three days of military exercises, chinese military exercises around taiwan, 0perationjoint sword where china simulated or practiced precision attacks on taiwanese targets, simulated surrounding taiwan, but also we ve had jets flying into taiwanese airspace to taiwan s east and this dramatic animation video that showed china attacking taiwan by sea, air and hitting some targets in taiwan with explosions. so quite dramatic exercises there.