pippa crerar and daily mail columnist sarah vine. hello and welcome. at the 2019 election, borisjohnson captured a slew of northern constituencies in england with the promise to level up the country. the government said it would rebalance the economy, share the prosperity of london, to address long standing underinvestment in the regions. and now we have the policy, a bill published today by the levelling up secretary michael gove which, finally, spells out how they aim to achieve it. this white paper lays out a long term economic and plan to make opportunity more equal. it shifts power and opportunity towards the north end midlands, scotland, wales and northern ireland. it guarantees increase investment in overlooked and undervalued communities. in research and development, in education and skills, and transport and broadband, in urban parks and decent homes, and grassroots ports and local culture and in fighting crime and tackling anti social behavior. it gives local comm
the statement can not be independently verified. the qassem brigades named three of the hostages and said it would name the other four later. the prime minister has warned that the uk s democracy is being targeted by extremists. in a speech outside downing street, rishi sunak also warned that george galloway s by election win in rochdale was beyond alarming , as he accused the new mp of dismissing the hamas attacks on israel last october. president putin s most outspoken critic, alexei navalny, has been buried in moscow as thousands of people gathered to pay their respects. there was a heavy police presence in the russian capital, and human rights groups say dozens of his supporters have been detained. on alternatives sides of the atlantic this week, we have had two elections, that were intriguingly similar. in michigan, in a democratic primary, the size of the protest vote surpassed all expectations, over 100,00 people withheld their votes from president biden, and instead
of bajaur is near pakistan s border with afghanistan. it s not immediately clear what caused the explosion, though police suspect it was a suicide bomber. no organisation has admitted carrying out the attack. our pakistan correspondent caroline davies has the latest, from the capital islamabad. a sunday afternoon political rally by one of pakistan s biggest religious parties. hundreds crowded in, flags, chance then the explosion. this is one of the raleigh s organisers on stage at the time it happened. his ears are still ringing from the blast. what do you remember after the explosion? it was remember after the explosion? it was in ured remember after the explosion? it was injured peeple remember after the explosion? it was injured people around, remember after the explosion? it was injured people around, dead - remember after the explosion? it was injured people around, dead bodies. it was like doomsday, local people try to help the injured. there were not enough ambula
office is improving, i am incredibly grateful to the long serving minister of the armed forces whose experience has provided the basis for this paper. we are grateful to the hundreds of individuals who contributed to its drafting. not to mention the many members of this house, most of what we have learned from you is encapsulated in this document. this is likely to be one of my last appearances at this dispatch box. it has been the greatest privileges to serve the secretary of state for the last four years. i would like to thank my team and members of the house for their support. we all have a common interest in defending this fine country. defence is the most important and more important than ever. the next ten years will be even more unstable. the men and women of armed forces are second to none and britain s place in the world is anchored in their professionalism and sacrifice. i believe you will increasingly call upon them in the years ahead and we be sure that they are r