by tehran on saturday. the white house has declined to comment on the strike. and despite further questions from reporters, white house press secretary karinejean—pierre said the biden adminstration didn't have "anything to share". earlier, us secretary of state antony blinken repeated calls for de—escalation in the middle east. the united states has not been involved in any offensive operations. what we are focused on, but the g7 is focused on, and it is reflected in our statement ended our conversation is our work to de—escalate tensions, to de—escalate tensions, to de—escalate from any potential conflict. you saw israel on the receiving end of an unprecedented attack, but our focus has been on, of course, making sure that is really —— israel can effectively defend itself, de—escalating tensions, avoiding conflict, and that remains our focus.

correspondent caroline hawley took us through it. explosion. according to the iranian authorities, iran's air defences were in action. no harm was done. on an iranian news agency, a reporter says he is outside a nuclear facility and that there's nothing going on. the international nuclear watchdog, the iaea, confirmed that there had been no damage to any nuclear sites. sweeping music plays. and in case anyone in iran woke up feeling worried, iranian tv showed pictures of calm in isfahan, complete with soothing music. at a rally of supporters of the regime, the president, ebrahim raisi, significantly, made no mention of last night's events, focusing instead on the barrage of missiles and drones iran fired at israel last weekend.

translation: this move | was necessary, obligatory, unifying and a source of pride and powerfor our great country. almost all of iran's missiles and drones were shot down by israel, with the help of the us, the uk and other allies. but this was a huge escalation, the first time iran had ever attacked israel directly, after decades of covert war. and it prompted international alarm. it was iran's response to this strike by israel on an iranian diplomatic compound in damascus at the start of the month, targeting a senior military commander — an attack, iran said, on its sovereign territory, to which it was bound to respond. i spoke earlier to behnam ben taleblu, a senior fellow at the foundation for defence of democracies.

always good to have you. how significant do you think the israeli strike was? i significant do you think the israeli strike was?- israeli strike was? i think with the _ israeli strike was? i think with the distance - israeli strike was? i think with the distance and - with the distance and perspective of time, it will become more and more significant. technically significant, politically significant, politically significant, perhaps even geo strategically significance. so much about the deterrence literature is both psychological and performative. in this instance, obviously, israel had promised in advance of iranmissile drone barrage if israeli territory was struck, iranian territory was struck, so for a matter of iran watchers and israel watchers out there, it was just a matter of when not if this response would come. some say that the lack of a public responses because the biden administration may have constrained the israelis from responding in the same parallel fashion, but actually the more that comes out about the strike, particularly abc news reporting and the israelis using aircraft rather than

drones, so reporting of the past 12 to 16 hours shows an exceptionally capable air force being able to either penetrate iranian air defences, meaning iranian air defences, meaning iranian air defences don't work orfiring them outside. iranian air defences don't work or firing them outside.- or firing them outside. what messa . e or firing them outside. what message are _ or firing them outside. what message are they _ or firing them outside. what message are they sending i or firing them outside. what message are they sending with that? . u, message are they sending with that? . , , that? technical capability, the abili to that? technical capability, the ability to actually _ that? technical capability, the ability to actually target - ability to actually target things that matter to the regime, tehran like to play the games of quantity has a quality of its own, but the israeli version of that is simply quality.. if the uranium spider for 300 projectiles ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, the israelis have reported to thus far have only fired three missiles, and in this instance have disabled at least part of a radar complex that may have been feeding into the larger picture that covers one of iran �*s nuclear facilities, so it sent a particularly salient message that the israelis can penetrate something the iranians hold dear and on the historic day, because april 19 is the supreme leader of iran �*s birthday. the leader of iran 's birthday. the iranians here _ leader of iran 's birthday. the iranians here have _ leader of iran 's birthday. the iranians here have indicated they do not want to retaliate, but do you think both sides are

able at this point to draw a line under this tit—for—tat escalation? line under this tit-for-tat escalation?— line under this tit-for-tat escalation? even if they do withdraw. _ escalation? even if they do withdraw, it _ escalation? even if they do withdraw, it certainly - escalation? even if they do l withdraw, it certainly doesn't do away with the shadow war that iran and israel have been fighting in the middle east. nor does it damage the islamic republic when it says that you israel. in fact, it might be worth noting that when all three parties are on the same page, something may be afoot here. ~ ., ~' page, something may be afoot here. ~ ., ,, ~ ., here. where do you think that leaves the _ here. where do you think that leaves the us? _ here. where do you think that leaves the us? we _ here. where do you think that leaves the us? we know - here. where do you think that leaves the us? we know that| here. where do you think that i leaves the us? we know that the us secretary of state kept repeating today de—escalation, de—escalation, how much influence do you think it has when, of course, both sides are eager, keen to show that they will not accept a retaliation? it's been the philosophy of the biden administration, de—escalation committee confliction while both iran and israel believe in deterrence by punishment, larger displays of force that convey a particularly salient political message. in the short term, the

quest for de—escalation can underwrite the next batch of escalation. we have seen that by the biden administration's build attempt to get iran to come back to the table for our nuclear deal. when you powell punchesit nuclear deal. when you powell punches it emboldens your adversary. it remains to be seen if there was some behind the scenes constraining up israel or some working out as to a quid pro quo, limiting the strike in iran but potentially widening the israeli campaign backin widening the israeli campaign back in rafah, back in gaza, which is the priority after six months after as well as courtney and more broadly and containing the iranian nuclear threat. ., �* , containing the iranian nuclear threat. ., v , containing the iranian nuclear threat. . �*, , threat. that's my last question. _ threat. that's my last question. where - threat. that's my last| question. where does threat. that's my last - question. where does this threat. that's my last _ question. where does this leave israel's war in gaza?— israel's war in gaza? takes the focus back _ israel's war in gaza? takes the focus back towards _ israel's war in gaza? takes the focus back towards rafah - israel's war in gaza? takes the focus back towards rafah and i focus back towards rafah and gaza, but also in the media limelight. it'sjust gaza, but also in the media limelight. it's just a gaza, but also in the media limelight. it'sjust a matter of green lighting that operation, the matter of the objects for prime minister netanyahu who is intent on carrying it out, but that comes with timetables, the optics and the politics of 2024, which is an election year here in washington. {iii an election year here in washington. an election year here in washinuton. , ., ~ washington. of course. thank ou so washington. of course. thank you so much _ washington. of course. thank you so much for— washington. of course. thank you so much forjoining -

washington. of course. thank you so much forjoining us - washington. of course. thankl you so much forjoining us here on bbc news. you so much for “oining us here on bbc news._ we're getting some news just in from iraq— the news agencies afp and reuters report that a huge blast has rocked a military base used by iraq's popular mobilisation forces, south baghdad. two security sources told reuters that the blast was a result of an unknown air strike, which happened around midnight local time. the p—m—f is an iraqi paramilitary force linked to iran. we're following these reports and will bring you updates as we get them. here in washington, democrats in the us house of representatives backed a measure to vote on an aid package for ukraine on saturday. the measure moves congress one step closer to approving a stalled package of military aid worth 61 billion dollars. the house will also vote on humanitarian assistance for israel and taiwan. speaker of the house mike johnson had long blocked the aid, and while it still faces resistance

from members of his own party, the bill is expected to pass with bipartisan support. congress will be voting in the wake of more deadly attacks on ukrainian civilians. on friday, russian missiles struck a rail station and a maternity hospital in the central dnipropetrovsk region. local officials say at least seven people were killed —— president volodymyr zelensky told nato members on friday that ukraine needs more air defence systems to counter russian strikes. putin must be brought down to earth, and our skies must become safe again. it is real. it depends fully on your choice. choice whether life is indeed equally valuable everywhere, choice whether you have equal attitude to all partners, choice whether we indeed are allies. with the ukraine aid bill looming in congress, ukrainian leaders say they're cautiously optimistic about the outcome of the vote. just before the show, i spoke to 0leksandra matviichuk, co—winner of the nobel peace prize in 2022 and head

of the center for civil liberties in kyiv. you have been crossing the country, speaking to people about what is happening in ukraine. you've been briefing members of congress as well. what message have you been telling people? probably two messages. first, this is not a war between two states. this is a war between two systems. authoritarianism and democracy. and either will not be able to stop putin in ukraine, he will go further, he will attack the next country. and the united states will have to send their people to europe to defend the world against authoritarianism. the second messages that we are in a crucial time. and we are ready to fight for ourfreedom and our human dignity, but we can't fight with empty hands.

we need weapons, and military support in the united states of congress has to be unblocked. i have read that you have been receiving while you're here some text messages from your friends who are on the front lines. what do they describe to you? that they are waiting for the russian attack with heavy artillery and they have no heavy artillery and it is his way to say how do me a gentle goodbye. that must be so difficult for you to read. it is a war. war is possibly the worst thing which can just happen in human life. and this is something which i can't get used to as a human. i can't get used to the numerous deaths on the battlefield. the numerous deaths, to the numerous deaths in occupied territories. we have to stop russia. russia will stop only

when it will be stopped. do you think that message that you have been sharing with people, those two messages, that they are resonating with people here in the us? i am sure that they resonate because we don'tjust have 2—party majority support, people for eight months blow this package, we have support of people in the united states of america. i visited seven american universities in different parts of the country. i always face valuable... because our fight for freedom is something which is very understandable in the united states. and we are fighting for freedom in all senses. freedom to be an independent country, not a russian colony, for freedom to preserve our ukrainian identity and not to be forced to re—educate our children as fascists. and for our freedom to have

our democratic choice. you wrote in the financial times that sometimes you are asked about the fact that ukraine can't expect to defeat russia on the battlefield, that it should take some sort of agreement, a deal, so that this terrible war can stop and come to an end. what do you respond to that? i understand that people who don't know the logic of the regime can have such wishful thinking, but you disarm ukraine, this will not come. 0ccupation will come. and i know what russian occupation is about to because i have been around it for ten years. it's a real horror. i spoke with hundreds of people who survived, they told me how they were beaten, raped, smashed into wooden boxes, their fingers were cuts, their nails were turned away. one woman told me how her i was took out with a spoon. ——0ne woman told me how her eye

was took out with a spoon. we cannot leave our people alone under russian occupation. we have no moral right to do this. these are war crimes and abuses that you have been documenting as part of your work. how do you think that has changed over the last three years as this war has been going on? it's become more and more intense. before, large scale war started, they pretended that they were a civilised country. you remember how russia tried to hide their crimes with russian weapons. russia didn't hide, and just recently, russia destroyed the energy power plant in ukraine, which means that we will have winter without electricity, heating, water, light, and internet immobile connections. heating, water, light, and internet ——and mobile connections. so we are expecting a very difficult future, but regardless of this, 73% of ukrainians according

to sociological polls tell that we will endure this war as long as it takes. we will not give up ourfreedom. so much a set precisely about that incredible resilience of ukrainian people. how are people coping now as this war has stretched into a third—year? we try to help each other. it's very difficult to live during a large—scale war. we live in an atmosphere of total uncertainty. you can'tjust plan your day, you can't plan your next several hours. you have never have an idea when the next russian air attacks start. you live in an atmosphere of constant fear about your loved ones. and you can cope with all of this only with helping each other. and now we see for this two years of �*s war, a huge

solidarity across the country, like ordinary people doing extraordinary things. and i don't know what will be in the future. i am just sure that freedom will prevail sooner or later. but i am confident that we will be in the history of the world, like people who went through these dramatic times with their dignity. thank you so much for the conversation today. thank you very much. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at another story making the headlines... the prime minister has called for an end to what he calls the uk's "sick note culture" in a speech on welfare reform. rishi sunak said he is considering moving responsibility for assessing fitness to work away from gps, to "specialist work and health professionals" in england. a record high of 2.8 million people were out of work in february, according to the office for national statistics. here's the prime minister speaking earlier. those with serious debilitating conditions should never be expected to work.

if you have a low level mobility issue, your employer could make reasonable adjustments, perhaps including adaptations to enable you to work from home, and if you are feeling anxious or depressed, then, of course, you should get the support and treatment you need to manage your condition. but that doesn't mean we should assume you cannot engage in work. the prime minister claims benefits have become a "lifestyle choice" for some, causing a spiralling welfare bill. but disability charities reacted with anger to his speech, branding the plans a "full—on assault on disabled people". you're live with bbc news. in new york — former president donald trump's latest appeal to halt his �*hush money�* trial was denied friday. the ruling — along with the completion ofjury selection that same day — sets the stage for opening arguments to take place as soon as monday. seven men and five women will consider evidence to determine whether the former president covered up a payment to adult film actress stormy daniels to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she says they had. mr trump denies any affair. (box

tx) outside the courthouse just shortly after the jury was selected, a man set himself on fire. police say the man threw "conspiracy based" pamphlets into the air before dousing himself in liquid, and setting himself alight. authorities say the man is alive in hospital — but is in critical condition. officials do not believe that he was targeting any person or group. a key member of the us federal reserve, which sets american interest rates, says the us is in "no hurry" over cutting interest rates. rafael bostic, the president of the atlanta fed, said the "much stronger" than expected us economy and jobs market had kept inflation too high to cut rates for now. expectations of delays to us rate cuts have hit world markets in recent days. 0ur economics editor faisal islam sat down with mr bostic ahead of the international monetary fund's spring meeting here in washington i have been saying for a long time that i expect the us economy to be strong, to continue to be strong, but not quite this strong. it's much

more strong and resilient than i expected. the one thing i would add on this is that inflation is still higher than i would like. we need to get inflation all the way down. i am comfortable with it taking a little longer for inflation to come all the way down if we are continuing to create a lot of jobs. so i am not in a rush to get to 2%. the thing i have to make sure of is the economy doesn't move and the other direction, so we can start to move away —— so we start to move away —— so we start to move away —— so we start to move away from her target. i'm going to stay vigilant and make sure if that does happen we are ready to act. in terms ofjobs created, those numbers keep shocking, the economy numbers, the gdp numbers. also, is this the gdp numbers. also, is this the result of what the us government has been doing, pumping the economy? it's a combination of things that have all added up to a much more resilient consumer, and businesses have also been able

to fill in because we've had a lot of immigration, a lot of the supply chain challenges that happen during the pandemic, they are done now as well. it's a combination of factors that has caused us to really continue to be able to grow. really continue to be able to crow. , ., , y really continue to be able to crow. , ., _ ., really continue to be able to crow. w, _ ., , really continue to be able to crow. , ., , , ., ., , , , ,, grow. obviously what happens us interest rates, _ grow. obviously what happens us interest rates, you _ grow. obviously what happens us interest rates, you help _ grow. obviously what happens us interest rates, you help decide i interest rates, you help decide those and your current best estimate is that those us interest rates which you have put up to deal with inflation only come down a little bit this year and may be at the back end of the year. that's exactly right. _ back end of the year. that's exactly right. the _ back end of the year. that's exactly right. the us - back end of the year. that's i exactly right. the us economy will continue to grow through 2024. at that growth will come with a cost, which is then inflation will come down very, very slowly. because of that, it's going to be important for us to keep our policy at a restrictive level. we will be able to ease some of that restrictiveness at the end of 2024. i think we probably won't get two targets until well in the 2025, so another thing that i try to tell folks as let's be patient. let's not be in a

hurry, especially since there's so much stuff happening on the unemployment side.— so much stuff happening on the unemployment side. what do you think the impact _ unemployment side. what do you think the impact of _ unemployment side. what do you think the impact of the _ unemployment side. what do you think the impact of the us - think the impact of the us government, the biden policies on essentially borrowing money to help develop the advanced green technologies and chip technologies to reinvigorate the industrial base to do things that previously maybe you would be happy to be done autonomously. i think where i am ., , ., , ., am on this right now, trying to understand — am on this right now, trying to understand how _ am on this right now, trying to understand how this _ am on this right now, trying to understand how this is - am on this right now, trying to understand how this is rolling l understand how this is rolling out in the implications for that for other parts of the economy. can they find workers? can they source imports to their production? and we will have to see how that is. what do ou have to see how that is. what do you make _ have to see how that is. what do you make of _ have to see how that is. what do you make of some - have to see how that is. what l do you make of some concerns have to see how that is. what - do you make of some concerns in the market about the fiscal position in the us of debt now heading above 100% of the size of your economy, of the borrowing of the annual deficit now being kind of around 6% into the horizon. the us

treasury is concerned about fiscal sustainability. should the world be? it’s fiscal sustainability. should the world be? fiscal sustainability. should theworld be? �*, ., ., the world be? it's important to have the context, _ the world be? it's important to have the context, over- the world be? it's important to have the context, over the - the world be? it's important to have the context, over the last effectively a decade, interest rates have been at historic lows. so the carrying cost, the burden of interest payments on debt have just been very low. we are now in a different environment. and as interest rates go up, that line item is going to get larger and larger, and i think it's going to spark conversations between policymakers because it will be hard to ignore that. they will start to crowd out other things. i do think this is going to be a more salient issue at these higher interest rate levels. to me, i think the bigger question is, is the economy being managed in a way that gives people confidence that gives people confidence that the us will continue to be a sound, solid and highest—quality place to invest money in? mt; highest-quality place to invest money in?— money in? my view is that we want to try — money in? my view is that we want to try to _ money in? my view is that we want to try to make _ money in? my view is that we want to try to make sure - money in? my view is that we want to try to make sure that | want to try to make sure that

everyone knows, the global public is everyone knows, the global n-ubli , . everyone knows, the global ..ubli , . , everyone knows, the global --ubli , ., , ., public is looking at us that way and — public is looking at us that way and is _ public is looking at us that way and is making - public is looking at us that way and is making these l way and is making these assessments. to the extent that we act responsibly, we do things that increase confidence rather than reduce it, then it can go on for a long time. the biggest election in the world is under way in india — with millions waiting in line to vote despite very high temperatures. in total, almost a billion people are eligible to cast their ballots — that's roughly one in eight of the world's population. the election will be held in phases over the next six weeks — with the result announced on the 4th ofjune. 0ur south asia correspondent yogita limaye reports. this is a line of men and women waiting to cast their vote. we are in the rural part, what is behind me as a school, which for the day has been converted into a polling booth. inside the classrooms, their electronic voting machines, so this isn't a paper ballot. people go income of the press

a button, and that is how their vote is registered. some of these people have actually cast their vote, and i'm just going to show you what happens after that. be if you look at that, she has just cast her vote, and if you look at that the ink with which your finger is marked to ensure, that is a sign that you have voted. this is of 102 constituencies voting today. this is one of them. there are 160 million people voting today overall in this election, there are nearly 970 million people who are eligible to cast their vote. the prime minister and his party are seeking a third term in power. dozens of opposition parties have banded together to take him on. we've been asking people what the key issues are, what is on their mind as they go in there to cast their vote. they have been talking about price rise, they been

talking about unemployment. a lot of people especially women have been talking about security. people have also been talking about democracy. let's turn to some important news around the world... police in pakistan's southern city of karachi say five japanese nationals survived a suicide bomb attack on their vehicle. an official said the suicide bomber blew himself up as the vehicle was approaching. two bystanders later died. the japanese were engineers working in the city. no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing. tesla is recalling all of its new cybertrucks over an issue with their accelerator pedals. the defect could cause the pedals to get stuck, raising the risk of a crash. the model went on sale last year. tesla will fix the problem free of charge. apple says it has removed meta's whatsapp messaging app and the threads social media app from the app store in china. that's to comply with an order from chinese authorities, citing unspecified national security concerns. it comes at a time when the us is threatening to ban chinese app tiktok over security concerns. stay with us here on bbc news.

that is our programme at this hour. thank you so much for watching bbc news. do head to our website or download our app for the very latest. thank you for the very latest. thank you for watching. hello there. many parts of the uk had some lengthy spells of sunshine on friday, but there were a few showers around. the remain of some of this shower cloud in wolverhampton gave this fine end to the day, a fine sunset, and the majority of the shower cloud through friday afternoon was associated with a stripe of cloud you can see right here. this was actually an old cold front. the significance of that is colder air is behind it. and as we go through the next few hours, that will be pushing in across much of the uk. milder air recirculating around our area of high

pressure into northern ireland and western scotland. so it's here through the weekend that we will see the nation's highest temperatures. now on to the next few hours, we're looking at that colder air arriving, a lot of dry weather, a lot of clear skies. and that means it's a recipe for things turning pretty cold. and heading into the first part of saturday morning, we start off with a frost, even some patches of frost, i think, across rural areas of southern england. the lowest temperatures probably down to about —3 celsius or so into rural areas of northern england and scotland. for saturday, where we get this colder air moving in, for most, it's a glorious start to the day with clear, blue, sunny skies. a bit of cloud coming in to eastern areas of norfolk and suffolk and maybe a bit of cloud developing through the day elsewhere. some splashes of rain possible for the far north of scotland, but otherwise it's dry. the highest temperatures likely in northern ireland. we could see a 17 celsius here in the very warmest spots. for sunday, generally, there's going to be a bit more cloud across parts of scotland, thick enough for some

splashes of light rain, fleeting rain, really, a few showers coming in across east anglia and southeast england, where we'll continue to have quite a chilly wind. could be even warmer for northern ireland if we were to get 19 celsius, well, that would be northern ireland's highest temperature of the year. so we'll be monitoring that carefully through the weekend. 0n into next week, high pressure stays to the west of the uk, and we continue to see this feed of cloud coming down the north sea. if anything, the cloud getting a bit more extensive, a bit thicker, and that means there's more likelihood of seeing some patches of drizzle across northern and eastern scotland and some eastern areas of england as well. the best of the sunshine, probably parts of north west england, wales, south west england, northern ireland might still do 0k, and western parts of scotland, where the sunshine comes out, it shouldn't feel too bad. but if you're in the east where it's going to be quite cloudy with that wind coming in off the north sea, it will probably feel quite chilly. temperatures picking up a little later next week.

this is bbc news, we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. europe by train. for generations of backpackers, interrailers and, well, for me, it's what travel�*s all about. and in germany, the railways are booming, partly because of this. it's called the deutschlandticket. it costs me 49 euros a month, and it allows me almost unlimited use of the country's

regional public transport network. it was a cost—of—living measure introduced in 2023, initially atjust nine euros each. i do love a train — who doesn't? so i'm planning to take them to crisscross the country and get a better look at the close relationship between germans and their railways. from berlin's iconic u—bahn to the incredible hanging overhead railway of the industrial west, to the makeshift island trains of the northern coast... we've got the birds flying, the water, the light — this is stunning! i'm here to see how engineering and a bit of imagination have led to a network like no other. with almost 40,000km of track, germany's rail network is the longest in europe,

which makes it the perfect place to explore by train.