to a lexical analyst in tel aviv and in washington a former adviser to george bush. hello, and welcome. when a us president speaks at the white house, the world listens. it s a weighty responsibility. the white house, the world listens. and what is said at the podium is almost as important as what must not be said. and so it was yesterday when president biden, said this of the russian threat to ukraine. russia will be held accountable. if it invades, and it depends on what it invades, and it depends on what it does. if is one thing if it is a minor recursion and we end up having to do what we do. it is another thing if they are amassed on the border, it will be a disaster for russia. today the ukrainian president posted a stinging retort. in his tweet, volodymyr zelensky said. the white house has been scrambling to clean up president biden s gaffe. though maybe there was more truth to it than we might think. we will discuss it during the programme. in berlin today there was n
to an israeli offensive in rafah. the us ambassador called russia and china s vetos notjust cynical but petty. russia and china simply did not want to vote for a resolution that was penned by the united states because it would rather see us fail than to see this council succeed. even after inclusive consultations over weeks and weeks. even after negotiations and edits produced a draft that received overwhelming council support. and as you saw today, nearly every council member voted to put the full weight of this body behind the diplomatic efforts to secure an immediate and sustained ceasefire as part of a deal that leads to the release of all hostages, that will allow much more humanitarian aid to get into gaza. but once again russia put politics over progress. russia, who has carried out an unprovoked war on its neighbour, has the audacity and hypocrisy to throw stones when it lives in a glass house itself. so let s be honest, for all the fiery rhetoric, we all know that
hello, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast moving news, interviews and reaction. we begin in the middle east, where us secretary of state, antony blinken, is due to arrive in riyadh for his fifth visit to the region since the israel gaza war began. his trip follows days of airstrikes by the united states against iranian linked targets in iraq, syria and yemen. his trip follows days of air strikes ijy his trip follows days of air strikes by the us against iranian linked targets in iraq, syria and yemen. the us central command say it is planning more strikes on iran linked targets. as well as saudi arabia, he s expected to visit israel, egypt, qatar and the occupied west bank. he ll be hoping to secure a new truce between israel and hamas. this is in response to attacks on international shipping in the red sea and a drone attack injordan which killed three us soldiers at a military base injordan more than a week ago. mr blinken is also expected to discuss pushing more
a public inquiry into the scandal at the post office, which led to hundreds of workers being wrongly convicted of fraud and false accounting, will resume later. the inquiry into the post office horizon it system is entering its third year, and returns after a christmas break, aiming to get to the bottom of what caused the faulty software to make it look as if money had gone missing. the uk government has announced a plan to overturn hundreds of convictions, with some sub postmasters, who were genuinely guilty, also likely to be liable for compensation. the scandal is back in the spotlight after a tv drama aired over christmas. ben boulos has the latest. i haven t got that money. and i don t know where it s gone. joe hamilton, the don t know where it s gone. joe hamilton, the sub don t know where it s gone. joe hamilton, the sub postmistress provided in the recent itb drama has played a key drama in the fight forjustice. drama has played a key drama in the fight for justice.
hello i m vishala sri pathma. the levelling up and housing secretary michael gove has apologised on behalf of the government for the partygate video which has emerged. it shows conservative party staff enjoying drinks and dancing at a christmas gathering at their headquarters in december 2020 a time when social distancing restrictions were in place. london s metropolitan police service has said it is aware of and considering the footage. mr gove said the event was indefensible and apologised unreservedly as helen catt reports. 2020 was the year we saw this, and this, as people accepted strict curbs on their daily lives that the government said were necessary to keep them safe. but in december in a basement in conservative party headquarters, this. a christmas party, note the festive jumper, dancing and booze. socialising indoors with anyone except your own household or support bubble was banned, some at the party seemed worried that their event might be caught on