council spokespersonjohn kirby. we believe that the attack injordan was a planned resource facilitated by in umbrella group called the islamic resistance of iraq, by an umbrella group called the islamic resistance of iraq, which contains multiple groups including the kateib hezbollah. former uk defence secretary ben wallace spoke to the bbc. kateib says it has suspended forces to to embarrassment. us presidentjoe biden said he has decided how to return to the attack, in a manner of our choosing. iran warned it would retaliate against any attack on what it called its interest. what we make of all this? mary anne marsh is still with us. and philip rycroft. philip, we ve got this morning that the us will not hesitate to strike. at the same time, walking really fine line between making sure the tensions in the middle east do not escalate into a wider conflict, particularly when it comes to iran and the groups that it comes to iran and the groups that it controls throughout that
full fledged invasion in february last year or in 2022, most experts feared last year or in 2022, most experts feared that last year or in 2022, most experts feared that russia would control the key feared that russia would control the key kyiv feared that russia would control the key kyiv within days and all of you can key kyiv within days and all of you can weeks. the reality is that the ukrainians were able to push lrack the ukrainians were able to push back the the ukrainians were able to push back the russian forces and they have back the russian forces and they have liberated 50% of the territory that russia occupied at the beginning of the war. they have enabled beginning of the war. they have enabled to inflict heavy losses on the russian armed forces, more than 300 casualties, thousands of armed vehicles 300 casualties, thousands of armed vehicles have been destroyed and hurrdreds vehicles have been destroyed and hundreds of planes. this i
helped to slow down the rate of price increases for non food products, which eased injanuary down from over 3% in december. i m joined now by shanti kelemen, chief investment officer at m&g wealth. good morning. this isjust what we want to hear before the bank of england has its first meeting of 2024, which happens on thursday. meeting of 2024, which happens on thursday- on thursday. yes, we will have a decision on thursday. yes, we will have a decision from on thursday. yes, we will have a decision from them - on thursday. yes, we will have a decision from them on - a decision from them on interest rates, wiley expected to keep rates unchanged and thatis to keep rates unchanged and that is positive news for inflation and a prices, on the other side we do have the economy still not in a recession and wage growth has been pretty strong. there are some factors balancing inflation, thinking it might not be a sharp drop in the next few months. to not be a sharp drop in the
the americans say the attack happened at a base known as tower 22, right on the syrian jordanian border. it s one of many american bases across the region. there have been dozens of drone and missile attacks in recent months, but no american personnel have been killed until now. joe biden, seen here attending church, was quick to point the finger. it s not necessarily a tipping point into uncontrolled escalation between the united states and iran, but it s another very dangerous step because, as i say, the us will have to respond even more strongly than it s done to previous attacks. carefully cultivated over years, iran has a wide network of allies and proxies operating in countries across the middle east. they re all opposed to israel and the united states. it s sometimes called the axis of resistance. there are pro iranian militias in lebanon, the palestinian territories, gaza and the west bank, plus iraq and syria. and far to the south, there s also the houthis in yemen.
together they have been targeted over 150 times, since october 7, by iranian linked proxies. yesterday the target was tower 22, a us outpost onjordan s north eastern border with syria. an enemy drone hit the living quarters on base killing three soldiers and injuring at least 3a others. according to cbs, the drone was flown in at the same time as a us drone was returning to base from a mission. reportedly the air defence system had been switched off to allow the american drone in, but that also let in the enemy drone which flew in on a much flatter trajectory. washington has blamed iranian backed militant groups with president biden saying this weekend the us would choose when and how to hit back. i want to point out that we had a tough day last night. we lost three brave souls on an attack on one of our bases. we shall respond. in the last hour, the white house national security spokesman, john kirby, said washington was not seeking a wider conflict in the middle east. we do