welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we start with the us secretary of state, antony blinken, who is headed to the middle east to visit israel, the west bank, and seven countries over the next week. the us state department says during mr blinken s trip, he will seek immediate increase in aid to gaza as the strip continues to deal with a humaniatarian crisis. the trip comes as the uk foreign secretary, david cameron, warns israel must allow more aid into gaza in order to avoid starvation and large outbreaks of disease. and there are reports of dozens more deaths from air strikes in southern gaza, as israel continues its military operation there. and in lebanon, people gathered for the funeral of deputy hamas leader saleh al arouri. he was killed earlier this week in an explosion. hezbollah a powerful iranian backed group in lebanon has blamed that attack on what it says was flagrant israeli aggression . israel has not commented, but
in beirut on tuesday. hezbollah, a powerful paramilitary and political group in lebanon, has blamed that attack on what it says was flagra nt israeli aggression . israel has not commented. both hamas and hezbollah, banned terrorist organisations in many countries, have close ties to iran, which itself is holding a day of mourning after 84 people were killed by explosions near an event to mark the anniversary of the death of the iranian general qasem soleimani. the islamic state group has now said it carried out that attack in the southern city of kerman. alongside this, several nations have issued a warning to the houthi militants in yemen, who are also close to iran, to stop the attacks on shipping in the key lanes in the red sea. and, of course, the fighting in israel and gaza which has played a role in sparking all this there are reports of dozens more deaths from air strikes in southern gaza as israel continues its military operation. let s start with the funeral of th
also on the programme. the latest developments in the middle east. including the funeral of a hamas deputy leader in lebanon. thousands of people were there. prince andrew and bill clinton are named in files relating to sex offenderjeffrey epstein. we ll look at what we ve learnt. and ai terrorism, stethescopes and keyboard keys. all in our weekly look at artificial intelligence ai. decoded is coming up. plenty of elections around the world this year. now know a bit more about what could be happening here in the uk. rishi sunak says the general election is likely to happen in the second half of this year . he didn t rule out it happening earlier but says his working assumption is later this year. opposition labour party leader keir starmer says sunak is squatting in downing street for months on end . here s our political editor chris mason reports. can i welcome to you this morning, rishi sunak, the prime minister? mansfield in nottinghamshire a town the conservatives
what rishi sunak has just said. the prime minister is now hinting, without setting a date, that it might be later in the year. squatting in downing street for months on end, dithering and delaying, when the country wants change. what s he hiding? the conservatives have a mandate, don t they, to serve in government throughout this year? you can clamourfor an early election, but that s the constitutional truth. but what mandate does the third. well, they won the last general election. ..the third prime minister that they ve had since the one in 2019! and it s notjust keir starmer with a keen eye on when the election is. i think the prime minister is running scared of the voters. people are fed up with the government s economic policies, with their health policies. they want change and they want an election. the liberal democrats agree with them. rishi sunak isjust clinging on to power. i don t think it really matters in the scottish context, whether the election is in may
large majority in the house of commons. labour also saying he has been clinging on to power. have a listen to this, though, the response from sir keir starmer, the labour leader and response to comments from rishi sunak. we are ready for a general election, i think the country is ready for a general election, turn its back on this the client turn its back on this decline and usher in the hope and change the labour government can bring. the prime minister is now hinting, without setting a date, that it might be later in the year. what s he hiding? why can t he set a date? this squatting in downing street for months on end, dithering and delaying when the country wants change, what s he hiding? sir keir starmer not mincing his words there. of course, the other effect of these comments from rishi sunak is there rather dampened the parade of keir starmer, who was given a big