we begin in the middle east, following thursday's strike on iran, which is widely considered to have been carried out by israel in response to last weekend's attack by tehran on saturday. the white house has declined to comment on the strike. earlier, us secretary of state antony blinken repeated his calls for de—escalation in the middle east. israel has not publicly acknowledged it carried out this latest strike, and iran appears to be minimising it. now, nearly 2a hours later, the details still are not entirely clear. we do know there were explosions overnight deep inside iran, in isfahan. it's about a four—hour drive from the capital, tehran, and home to an airbase and several small nuclear sites. there are also missile factories in the vicinity. us officials told our news partner, cbs news, that there was an israeli missile strike, while iranian media said three small drones had been involved. there were also reports of explosions in syria and iraq.

very few images have come out so far showing any damage. our middle east correspondent lucy williamson has more. a message not of war but of warning. explosion ..that israel could also strike its enemy at home if it wanted. after threatening a harsh and massive response to the smallest incursion, iran has downplayed this morning's strike. its president didn't mention it once in his speech today. and this is the situation in isfahan, as shown on iranian tv. the message — "nothing to see here". other than that, nothing has happened, everything is back to normal. israel was divided over how to respond to iran's barrage last weekend. thejudgement of one far—right cabinet minister this morning — "lame".

and injerusalem's main market today, many others were disappointed. when a bully comes to you, we're going to respond to the bully with restraint, so the bully�*s just going to come back harder and harder and harder. but if you want to take down a bully, you've got to take down with force. i expected more, to be quite honest. i think more would have been evenjustified, considering they sent 300 rockets to kill so many people. i think that we are losing, we're losing the war- with hamas, - we're losing the war with hezbollah, we're . losing the war with iran. we're losing, and it's a pity, we have so many strengths, i but were afraid to use it. air-raid siren last weekend, iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles towards israel — punishment, it said, for the assassination of a senior commander in syria earlier this month. all but a handful were shot down before hitting israeli soil. this missile fuel tank pulled by israel's army from the dead sea. israel's allies urged it to take the win and avoid escalating the conflict.

we're committed to israel's security. we're also committed to deescalating, to trying to bring this tension to a close. this strike, and iran's muted response to it, suggests both sides are keen to step back from this conflict. but their direct confrontation last weekend has left them in a new, more dangerous position. the immediate risk may be cooling, but from where they stand now, it's a shorter route to war. one analyst says there's a lesson for the future in iran deciding to act, even when it knew israel would respond. they considered it, and they took it into account, and they decided to do it. so there is a change in a way that they are thinking. therefore, i have to take into account that, in the future, they will be doing the same things. and this is the big question, because israel is not

going to stop attacking any arms that are coming across the iraqi—syrian border. iran today avoided blaming israel directly, even as crowds called for its destruction after friday prayers. but israel is already fighting iran—backed groups across the region. even if this crisis is subsiding, the spark that triggered it will not. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. live now to laura blumenfeld, middle east analyst and former senior policy advisor on the state department's israeli—palestinian negotiating team. thank you for being here, what do you make of what we saw last night in this presumed israeli strike on iran? i night in this presumed israeli strike on iran?— strike on iran? i would the scales of— strike on iran? i would the scales of rough _ strike on iran? i would the scales of rough justice - strike on iran? i would the scales of rough justice are| scales of rough justice are backin scales of rough justice are back in balance. the tangibles on both sides from the iranian strike and the israeli

counterstrike, tangibles are zero dead and minimum damage but i think what is fascinating other intangibles. who would've thought world three would be averted through a compelling storytelling. —— world war three. that is how we are avoiding further escalation. are saying what strike? and the israelis are making it sound like a scene from the godfather where the man wakes up with the horse head in his bed and he is terrified because he knows the long arm of israeli justice can reach you at any time. we have hardly heard — reach you at any time. we have hardly heard confirmation - reach you at any time. we have hardly heard confirmation from| hardly heard confirmation from either side about what is happening, israel has not confirmed it has carried out a strike, iran seems to be downplaying it, is it designed to de—escalate the situation? it was an immaculate attack with no real engagement and an american official said to me today, i won't talk about last night. so if that is what it takes to get us to a better day, then so be it. i takes to get us to a better day, then so be it. i guess the auestion

day, then so be it. i guess the question is. — day, then so be it. i guess the question is, where _ day, then so be it. i guess the question is, where are - day, then so be it. i guess the question is, where are we - day, then so be it. i guess thej question is, where are we now in terms of escalation? are we expecting there to be more strikes or could this now bring at least a relative pause in this tit—for—tat? at, at least a relative pause in this tit-for-tat?_ at least a relative pause in this tit-for-tat? a pause but i am still concerned, _ this tit-for-tat? a pause but i am still concerned, i - this tit-for-tat? a pause but i am still concerned, i feel- this tit-for-tat? a pause but i am still concerned, i feel like| am still concerned, i feel like what has happened in this past couple of weeks is there is a retaliation inflation where the price of payback has gone up and taboos have been broken. there are some of the things that have gone easy, i am wondering in this kind of regional play, all four play, everyone has had their moment where they stepped into centre stage except hezbollah, so i am waiting to understand what is happening there. they are the people who gave israeli military planners night sweats so i am wondering whether they will come in, and i also have a feeling, and i heard it from your report from jerusalem or israel, this feels like a down payment on israeli payback, i'm not sure if they have something else planned. maybe for the future but it does leave me uneasy. future but it does leave me uneas . �* ., future but it does leave me uneas . ~ ., ., uneasy. and what about the tar: et uneasy. and what about the target itself? _

isfahan is a region with many potential targets, including nuclearfacilities. was that sending a message by israel? we know prime minister netanyahu has long been an opponent of iran developing a nuclear weapon.— opponent of iran developing a nuclear weapon. netanyahu had to take his— nuclear weapon. netanyahu had to take his shot. _ nuclear weapon. netanyahu had to take his shot. he _ nuclear weapon. netanyahu had to take his shot. he had - nuclear weapon. netanyahu had to take his shot. he had that. to take his shot. he had that body blow on 7 october and it is interesting, maybe this in fact will lead us towards the end of this entire war including in gaza, i don't think netanyahu will rest until he took a shot at iran. americans were calling it a signal not a strike last night and it is like messenger agent missiles are dropping signals back and forth, —— pigeon. but if it takes us to the next step i think it is good. i am optimistic because it is looking like you could possibly turn this focus on an endgame of iran and use that to guide israelis to an endgame in gaza. the israelis were never going to be motivated by gaza, they

are entirely motivated and focused on iran. this coalition that sprang into action last weekend really could be the motivation that will bring israel to moderate its behaviour, be more strategic in rafah, increase humanitarian aid, and their deal supposedly is reasonable, the one of the table now with hamas is frustrating the ceasefire. where does this put the united states, a strong ally of israel, going forward? they have been _ israel, going forward? they have been following - israel, going forward? they have been following this - have been following this international theory of a bear hug, strategic squeezing and some say israel isn't listening but it has worked. they went for a pinpoint strike this week, we have seen much more humanitarian aid, they are agreeing to what they are calling a conditions based invasion of rafah which probably looks like they will never be a full—scale assault, it will be much more pinpoint. it has taken a lot of carrots

and sticks and pushing and backpedalling but i think they are getting there.— backpedalling but i think they are getting there. what about iran? could _ are getting there. what about iran? could we _ are getting there. what about iran? could we see _ are getting there. what about iran? could we see any - iran? could we see any engagements with iran? we know iran is behind several different proxies in the region, you mentioned hezbollah, we have seen issues with the houthi rebels attacking maritime shipping, is there any chance that this could lead to some sort of engagement with iran? once auain, i engagement with iran? once again, i think _ engagement with iran? once again, i think it _ engagement with iran? once again, i think it is _ engagement with iran? once again, i think it is the - engagement with iran? once again, i think it is the arab . again, i think it is the arab states, i think of them as the swing states on this bloody referendum on the abraham accords. they are playing a key role in what we found out last saturday night is they hate that ayatollah khamenei more than they hate netanyahu. that was a real game changer, everyone talks about how iran attacking israel on their own soil is a game changer but don't forget who was pushing back. that was a game changer too. ., , ., ., back. that was a game changer

too. ., ,., too. lots of moving pieces. laura bloom _ too. lots of moving pieces. laura bloom and _ too. lots of moving pieces. laura bloom and held, - too. lots of moving pieces. i laura bloom and held, thank too. lots of moving pieces. - laura bloom and held, thank you very much. —— blumenfeld. also in the region, an explosion in just the last few hours has rocked a baghdad military base used by the iranian—backed popular mobilisation force. the pmf said in a statement the explosion "caused material losses and injuries". two security sources told reuters it is not known who was responsible. three fighters were wounded, according to a local government official. the us military said they have not conducted activity in iraq. we'll continue to bring you the latest updates as we get them. here in washington, all eyes are on capitol hill as a foreign aid package for ukraine is finally set to make it onto the house floor. lawmakers are expected to vote saturday on that bill, along with several others, including humanitarian assistance for israel and taiwan. republican speaker of the house, mikejohnson,

had blocked ukrainian aid for months, and while it still faces resistance from some members of his own party, the bill is expected to pass. 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, including an eight—year—old child. 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 sky must become safe again. and it is real. and 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. for more on the situation

in ukraine i spoke to michael bociurkiw — a senior fellow at the atlantic council's eurasia centre. michael, you were recently in ukraine, where you were based in odesa. we have seen this wave of russian attacks, ukraine losing its positions on the front lines in terms of the battlefield — what is the feeling right now on the ground in ukraine? good to be with you — not very good at all. there is basically three frontliness happening right now, one is the physical one which stretches through a good part of ukraine and now all the way up to kharkiv because of the missiles, then we have the long—range missiles and drones happening on a daily basis, and pretty much 24/7 in odesa and other key cities in ukraine, and then we have the hybrid or grey—zone warfare russia is employing. just today was a pretty scary hit on odesa, one of the two

main ports was hit by russian missiles, this was an area where grain destined for asia and africa is being loaded onto ships, and also there are really important storage terminals, for things like sunflower oil, and a singapore—owned facility was hit according to president zelensky. let's call a spade a spade, this is a direct russian attack on a critical part of the global food supply chain and you wonder whether western nations might think about deploying the same kind of muscle they have as in the red sea to the western black sea where a lot of this food goes to world markets. we also know russia has been targeting ukrainian civilian infrastructure — we are talking about power plants, the electric grid — how is that impacting the country right now? very badly. one of the key providers of electricity in ukraine has

lost 100% of its generating capacity, other key providers have also been badly hit. and this is notjust in kharkiv, this is nationwide. we are starting to get blackouts in odesa as well, and the thing there is, the port operates on electricity. if there is no electricity the ports can't function. and just in the past 2a hours, a key railway station in dnipro, in eastern ukraine was hit, and dead and injured there as well. so ukrainians are looking at a possible near—term future where they will be lots and lots of power outages and again this is also going to impact on the ukrainian economy, which is on very shaky ground as it is, after more than two years of war. what did you make of the recent comments by president zelensky after the defence of israel, that big iranian bombardment, he seemed to imply there was a bit of a double standard saying that ukraine should get the same kind of treatment, same kind of defence

from its western allies that israel did? let's be clear on one thing, there is a common enemy here, iran — and they have been providing russia for the longest time these very lethal drones that have been sent day after day in huge waves to key ukrainian cities and ruining ukrainian infrastructure. and of course the iranians have been aiming or been threatening israel either directly or through proxies, and the west seems to have a bit of a double standard. having said that i think israel is coming around to recognising, israel has a lot of muscle, coming around to recognising that ukraine needs robust offences as well. i spoke to ukraine's ambassador to canada today and she said at an absolute minimum, ukraine needs about seven patriot batteries to defend key ukrainian cities along with ammunition and other sorts of things.

even where i am here in canada, justin trudeau — warm, fuzzy language about defending ukraine, but at the end of the day words don't stop russian missiles the same way patriots do. so i hope western leaders have a think about that. and just south of the border of course, we will be seeing a vote in the us house of representatives on the ukraine aid bill — what kind of impacts do you think that might have, is this something that would be able to start to stave off these russian advancements we have been seeing? well, my fear is that it is coming a little bit too late. of course it will be welcomed by ukraine, ukraine and its diaspora community has launched a huge campaign to lobby us legislators but it is the same as what has happened since the beginning of the war, this is a drip—drip—drip feed of assistance to ukraine. having said that, a lot of this

money, especially military support, will stay in the united states, it will go to defence contractors, but there is a few billion in there dedicated for budget support, so ukraine will be able to deploy that to pay pensions and teacher salaries and things like that. if this aid does not come soon, a lot of analysts are now beginning to think that the russians will get further, they could occupy ukraine within two years, and as speakerjohnson, who i think has had an epiphany overnight, said in the past 2a hours, that if ukraine is not defended, the russians will go further into poland and the baltic states, and eventually us troops would have to get involved. so that is a pretty scary scenario. a three—day meeting of g7 foreign minsters on the italian island of capri has wrapped up. discussions were dominated by the wars in ukraine and the middle east. in attendance, the foreign ministers from the united states, britain, italy, canada, france, germany and japan. they promised to beef up

ukraine's air defences and told china to stop supporting moscow's military industry if it wanted good relations with the west. but on the final day, much of the focus was on israel's strike on iran — and calls for cooler heads to prevail. our correspondent, jessica parker reports from capri. the meeting of g7 foreign ministers here on the italian island of capri has now wrapped up, events in the middle east have certainly been a dominant factor here. we went to one of the final press conferences, it was with the us secretary of state, antony blinken, and it was really interesting. he really did not want to be drawn on events overnight in iran. he was asked repeatedly by journalists including myself about what had happened, what he might know, but he didn't want to say anything apart from the fact that he said the us had not been involved. i asked him why won't you give any details, and he even described himself as incredibly boring on the matter. and it's possible

that this is a deliberate strategy to be boring by the us, and others, away i've barely acknowledging what has happened, not giving any detail, avoiding rhetoric, provoking any response. as part of an effort to call the situation down. the word we kept hearing here from various ministers again and again and again in terms of the middle east, was deescalation. us media are reporting that more than 1,000 american troops will withdraw from niger in the coming months. it comes after hundreds took to the streets of niger's capital niamey last saturday to demand the departure of the us military. niger had been a key security partner to us counter—terrorism operations in the sahel region, until its government was ousted in a military coup lastjuly. since then, those ties have been strained, with the newjunta looking to foster closer relations with russia. last month, niger'sjunta ended a military accord with the us and welcomed russian military instructors and equipment.

in new york, former president donald trump's latest appeal to stop his hush money trial was denied friday. the ruling and the selection of a jury sets the stage for opening arguments to take place as soon as monday. mr trump's fate is now in the hands of seven men and five women. they'll be deciding whether he committed fraud by disguising payments to an adult film star. that money was apparently to keep her quiet about an alleged affairwith mrtrump. he denies any wrongdoing. and there were some disturbing scenes outside the courthouse, just shortly after the jury was selected, a man set himself on fire. police say the he threw "conspiracy based" pamphlets into the air before dousing himself in liquid, and setting himself alight. authorities say the man is currently in hospital in a 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" to lower the cost of borrowing rates. raphael bostic, the president of the atlanta fed, says the us economy and jobs market are "much stronger" than expected, but they're also keeping inflation too high to cut rates for now. credit for the booming economy and also some blame for stubborn inflation are both being aimed atjoe biden and one of his flagship policies, bidenomics — spending hundreds of billions of dollars to transform american industry. how that programme works out could make or break mr biden�*s campaign to stay in the white house. our economics editor faisal islam reports from the state of georgia. here in georgia, the landscape is changing — the southern bible belt of america reborn as the battery belt, as the usa throws money at out—competing china in manufacturing a variety of electric cars. and where some of these vehicles are going,

they won't need roads. so we're building an all—electric vertical take—off aircraft, which is basically a flying car. this flying car will hold four passengers, plus a pilot. mass produced here? mass produced here, in the hundreds to thousands of flying cars per year. we're going to be getting up to thousands ofjobs. the speed and the scale of america's green industrial rebirth is staggering. it shows itself in america's jobs numbers and growth numbers and raises the question, in this election year, about whether that old mantra — that it's the economy, stupid, that matters — whether that still applies. this is green tech done the american way. $100,000 electric trucks weighing three tons are a niche. another factory for these rivian trucks is planned here in covington. but in the central square's ice cream parlour, many voters aren't feeling a boom. do people feel like it's gone well over the past few years?

not at all, not at all. and hopefully it'll get better this coming, you know, election year. but we'll see. how does it feel right now in terms of the us economy? um, it's not terrible. i mean, we adjust to it, the costs of everything, and you just kind of move on, we're not going to stop living life �*cause things are... just work harder — that's our motto. so most places are saying they can't find people to work, and so i'm like, well, if you can't find people to work, then why are our numbers so high? so, like, especially after covid. back into america's big cities such as atlanta, the flipside of a strong economy — stubborn inflation. and that presents a big dilemma here at the atlanta branch of the federal reserve, which helps decide us interest rates. so rate cuts are on hold, and there are new concerns about surging us government debt. i expect the us economy to be strong, to continue to be strong — but not quite this strong. what do you make of some concerns in the markets about the fiscal position in the us, of debt now heading above 100%

of the size of your economy? that you're noting that more and more people are asking whether our budgetary approach is a good thing — to me that says, ok, now maybe we should be having that conversation about, are we undermining the confidence and the full faith and credit of the us government? because we really can't afford to do that. across the us, these government—backed green investments are leading to new inflation and debt risks, but they're also helping the economy defy expectations. it will matter for the election and the world economy too. faisal islam, bbc news, in georgia. a quick check on some important news around the world. 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. and 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. stay with us here on bbc news. 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 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 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 south—east england, where we'll continue to have quite a chilly wind.

could be even warmer for northern ireland — if we were to get 19, well, that would be northern ireland's highest temperature of the year. so we'll be monitoring that carefully through the weekend. on 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 ok, 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.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. gloria steinem is a name that's become almost synonymous with feminism. she was the face of the women's rights movements in the us during the 1970s, focusing her efforts on advancing women's political participation and reproductive rights. her activism followed her career in journalism, which started here in new york. she was the co—founder of ms magazine, one of the first us publications to focus on women's issues beyond the perils of housekeeping. now, at 89 years old, she's in a unique position to reflect on how far feminism has come and where it has gone wrong. gloria steinem sat down with bbc 100 women to discuss how feminism has changed in the past 50 years, cancel culture, and what the future might look like for women's rights movements.