you're watching the context on bbc news. i said, look, my working assumption is that we will have an election in the second half of this year, because in the meantime, i have got lots that i want to get on with, and that means cutting people's taxes. squatting in downing street for months on end, differing and ——squatting in downing street for months on end, dithering and delaying when the country wants change. what's he hiding? suggesting that it will be in the second half of the year rather than the first half. why is he doing that? well, he will hope to ease off some of the speculation and give himself some space to govern. here in the uk, for the first time the prime minister gives some idea when the next general election could be. in the second half of the year is rishi sunak�*s working assumption at the moment, he says.

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 want to hold onto at the general election. happy new year! how are you doing? the prime minister taking questions at a youth centre and taking this crucial question from a reporter. it's a new year — is it also going to be a general election year? yes! so, look, my working assumption is we'll have a general election in the second half of this year, and in the meantime, i've got lots that i want to get on with. words that grab attention, say something — but commit to nothing. 150 miles away, on a visit to bristol at exactly the same time, we tell keir starmer 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 is 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... 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 or indeed later on this year, because what we know for certain is the tories will get beat, just as they've done every election in scotland since 1955. back here on the outskirts of bristol in a spot that labour needs to win from the conservatives, sir keir took on criticism from one

of his own mps that it's not obvious what he stands for, and he claimed people are increasingly annoyed, irritated, by all politicians. the biggest challenge we face, bar none, the shrug of the shoulder. because this is the paradox of british politics right now. everyone agrees we're in a huge mess. everyone agrees as well that it's been like this for a while, that britain needs change, wants change, is crying out for change. and yet trust in politics is now so low, so degraded, that nobody believes you can make a difference any more. well, it turns out there may be a little more time than some thought for leaders, whoever they are, to take this on. words, crowds, persuasion, promises — 2024 will have the lot of them.

joining me now is lucy fisher, whitehall editor at the financial times. thank you very much for coming on the programme. thank you very much for coming on the programme-— thank you very much for coming on the programme. good to be with you. what is your— the programme. good to be with you. what is your take _ the programme. good to be with you. what is your take on _ the programme. good to be with you. what is your take on what _ the programme. good to be with you. what is your take on what we - the programme. good to be with you. what is your take on what we have . what is your take on what we have heard from rishi sunak. in what is your take on what we have heard from rishi sunak.— what is your take on what we have heard from rishi sunak. in some ways can i feel today _ heard from rishi sunak. in some ways can i feel today doesn't _ heard from rishi sunak. in some ways can i feel today doesn't really - heard from rishi sunak. in some ways can i feel today doesn't really move i can i feel today doesn't really move the dial most westminster watches have been predicting that and most likely window for an election was for october and november this year for october and november this year for many months now. what sunak has said today indicating that looking at the latter part of this year, nonetheless, doesn't rule out him going to the public injune if there is a miraculous recovery in the economy in this conservative party's pulling fractions. i don't think he's backed himself into a acorn corner it's in the unlikely event that things are positive for his party, his own approval ratings later this spring. however,

party, his own approval ratings laterthis spring. however, like party, his own approval ratings later this spring. however, like he has indicated is what many people have thought has been the most likely timing. i think the important thing for him was to make some comment on it's because there has been this growing momentum to the attack line that has been spouted by labour, by the lead stands, warning that things are gearing up for the election, and if he is seen to fail to call an election, if he fails to dampen that speculation, then that would allow the attack line of him battling the election, an attack that was used successfully against gordon brown when he took over to really take hold.— really take hold. that's one olitical really take hold. that's one political tactical _ really take hold. that's one political tactical take - really take hold. that's one political tactical take for . really take hold. that's one l political tactical take for rishi sunak, but if it is towards the end of the year, it gets pretty congested around there, party conferences, and of course, elections and the us.- conferences, and of course, elections and the us. that's right. althou~h, elections and the us. that's right. although. you _ elections and the us. that's right. although, you can _ elections and the us. that's right. although, you can see _ elections and the us. that's right. although, you can see a _ elections and the us. that's right. although, you can see a scenario l elections and the us. that's right. l although, you can see a scenario in which the party conferences the beginning of october is the starting gun fired on the short election

campaign for the ballot itself to be held in mid—november. however, as you marked out, that would see the uk coming two weeks after the us election, and there are lots of concerns, quite nebulous concerns from what i am picking up about to read across from the us where disinformation is expected to be a massive problem where the populism of unexpected trumped campaign, how that could influence the uk campaign is something i think both parties are watching pretty carefully. let’s are watching pretty carefully. let's take a moment _ are watching pretty carefully. let's take a moment to _ are watching pretty carefully. let's take a moment to look— are watching pretty carefully. let's take a moment to look at - are watching pretty carefully. let's take a moment to look at sir kier starmer, getting his big speech as well, and clearly responding to this announcement from rishi sunak. what did you make of what he had to say, the message he was trying to get across today? i the message he was trying to get across today?— the message he was trying to get across today? i think the message was clear, across today? i think the message was clear. hope — across today? i think the message was clear, hope and _ across today? i think the message was clear, hope and change - across today? i think the message was clear, hope and change can i l was clear, hope and change can i think he used each word almost about 20 times today. it makes sense to me that the labour leader, the leader of the opposition would exploit the

opportunity for a big set piece january speech to try to set out his vision for the country. project hope, as he calls it. it was a 30 minute speech, a broad horizon exercise, lots of questions from journalists. i think we learned that they there, they match up for the tv debate that begins to rishi sunak saying bring it on. suggesting that he might roll back on any inheritance contacts if the conservatives push ahead with that before the general election. that's been the speculation over christmas and certainly the right hip rishi sunak�*s party are urging him to commit to that in the march budget or in the manifesto, and beyond that, suggesting that the scale of borrowing for his 28 billion green prosperity plan could yet be watered

down a little bit further. so i think we did learn a little bit today from kier starmer, but in truth, rishi sunak by talking about the election has won the war for trumping the news bulletins tonight. thank you so much for coming on. great to see you. thanks for that. to the middle east now. in lebanon, the funeral of the deputy leader of hamas has been taking place in the capital beirut. saleh al—arouri was killed on tuesday. this is the funeral procession al—alouri and two other officials carried through the streets.he was assassinated in a drone strike on tuesday. the leader of the lebanese militant group hezbollah, has threatened a decisive response to the killing. israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement. our reporter in beirut hugo bachega has more. crowds gathered in beirut for the funeral of saleh al—arouri,

the deputy hamas leader who was assassinated in an attack here in beirut on tuesday. many were carrying placards with his face and also waving hamas and palestinian flags. now, this assassination was a blow for hamas, but it also hit its allies here in lebanon, hezbollah, because this attack happened in an area of beirut that is a stronghold of hezbollah. so this has raised fears of a wider conflict in the region. but there have been some indications that both hezbollah and israel could be trying to avoid a major escalation in the crisis here. the israeli defense minister, yoav gallant, reaffirmed israel's commitment to resolve the situation along the border with lebanon so that thousands of residents have been evacuated because of these constant hezbollah attacks could return to their homes.

but he also said there was a short window of opportunity for a diplomatic solution to this crisis with hezbollah. and these comments followed a speech made yesterday by hassan nasrallah, the influential leader of hezbollah, in which he said that the assassination that happened here in beirut was a flagrant israeli aggression. but crucially, he did not make any threats to attack israel. hassan nasrallah is expected to address his supporters again on friday, and any response from hezbollah is likely to be limited, measured because he knows that he needs to prevent any escalation that could trigger a massive israeli response and another potential catastrophic conflict for lebanon. the us secretary of state antony blinken

is leaving for the middle east in a few hours' time. mr blinken will spend a week visiting israel and the west bank, as well as turkey, greece, jordan, qatar, the united arab emirates, saudi arabia and egypt. the visit comes during heightened concerns that the nearly three—month old conflict is spreading beyond gaza. let's hear from the state department spokesperson. the secretary will focus on a number of critical issues on this trip. first, he will discuss immediate measures to increase substantially humanitarian assistance to gaza. second, he will discuss with the government of israel its ongoing military campaign against hamas to ensure october 7th cannot be repeated, including plans to transition to the next phase of operations and the steps israel can take to better protect civilians and how to enable palestinians to return to their homes and neighbourhoods as fighting curtails. third, he will discuss ongoing efforts to bring home the remaining hostages, including the american citizens who are still unaccounted for.

fourth, he will focus on — as he has consistently since october 7th — preventing the conflict from expanding. he will discuss specific steps parties can take, including how they can use their influence with others in the region to avoid escalation. it is in no one's interest, not israel's, not the region's, not the worlds for this conflict to spread beyond gaza. finally, he will emphasise the responsibility of all parties to help chart a path forward for gaza that achieves lasting security for both israelis and palestinians. quite a list fair. we will come to that in a moment. israel's defence minister, yoav gallant, has also been outlining israel's plans for the next stage of its war in gaza, with a new targeted approach in the northern section, while continuing its search for hamas leaders in the south. in a statement, mr gallant said that after the war,

hamas would no longer control gaza, which would be run by palestinian bodies, as long as there was no threat to israel. we will take over exactly what that means. let's speak to mara rudman, a former senior us national security official. thank you so much for coming on the programme. thank you so much for coming on the programme-— programme. thanks for having me. quite a lot going _ programme. thanks for having me. quite a lot going on _ programme. thanks for having me. quite a lot going on in _ programme. thanks for having me. quite a lot going on in the - programme. thanks for having me. quite a lot going on in the last - quite a lot going on in the last couple of hours, those couple of statements. should we start with this idea that israel talking it out effectively what happens the day after as it has become known. we learned there this idea that it will be palestinian bodies in control so long as there is no threats to israel. can you unpick a little bit about what you think that will mean in practice? about what you think that will mean in ractice? . about what you think that will mean in ractice? ,, . ., about what you think that will mean in ractice? ,, .. ,. , in practice? sure. i can describe what i think— in practice? sure. i can describe what | think it _ in practice? sure. i can describe what i think it means _ in practice? sure. i can describe what i think it means to - in practice? sure. i can describe what i think it means to me. - in practice? sure. i can describe what i think it means to me. i l what i think it means to me. i believe that israeli defence ministers comments are probably carefully selected because he has his own internal politics of the

prime minister, prime minister netanyahu who has not been useful and productive than thinking about day after. so the united states has talked about the need for a revitalised palestinian authority to have a key role in gaza, the authority in charge in the west bank and still actually has a number of people all that have been on its payroll in gaza and has the of the structure to be able to take over, but it is going to need a lot of help in doing so from the international community, from israel as well, so i believe that that is what needs to happen. i believe that as part of what antony blinken will be talking about when he is there, and i hear the defence minister's cummins as leading away open for that while implicitly acknowledging that he has

a prime minister, netanyahu, has tried to close the door to that. interesting. let's focus for a moment on the military operation. what do you make of where israel is and your assessment of what the intention is now?— and your assessment of what the intention is now? sure. i think what we are hearing _ intention is now? sure. i think what we are hearing is _ intention is now? sure. i think what we are hearing is hearing _ intention is now? sure. i think what we are hearing is hearing and - intention is now? sure. i think whatl we are hearing is hearing and seeing what has happened in the last several days is a shift to a more long—term, and as your correspondent said, specifically targeted strategy, so the action in beirut, the assassination of the hamas military leader in beirut, part of that, as is the idea that they would continue with a much more targeted approach. in northern gaza commit think they still have challenges in southern blazek and i think what they are trying to do is get to the military leader in gaza, and he is most likely in tunnels deep, deep, deep underneath the south of gaza.

and also probably using hostages as human shields given the propensity of hamas to repeatedly surround themselves with innocent civilians whether palestinian or israeli. finally come i want to get your thoughts on what is happening in lebanon. the initialfears were thoughts on what is happening in lebanon. the initial fears were that this spread, this conflict spread, in fact those fears have existed since the 7th of october. but most onlookers now feeling that it doesn't sense that hezbollah will be dragged into, not on its terms, a full—scale conflict. now, what is your assessment? i full-scale conflict. now, what is your assessment?— your assessment? i share that assessment. _ your assessment? i share that assessment. i— your assessment? i share that assessment. i would - your assessment? i share that assessment. i would say - your assessment? i share that assessment. i would say that. your assessment? i share that. assessment. i would say that this your assessment? i share that - assessment. i would say that this is also comments that i need yesterday to other bbc outlets shortly after the strike had occurred. i noted that the idf at that point, the defence minister has since made comments, but the israeli defence force spokesperson made a point of saying that even as israel has not acknowledged directly that they were

involved in the strike, he made a point of emphasising that israel is focusing on hamas targets at this point, not hezbollah. what is happening on the northern border in the back and forth between israeli forces and the hezbollah forces has been more contained, it has gone up and down some, but that has showed most both sides are capable of not crossing a trip wire there. the entire region is a tinderbox, for sure, but there are a lot of folks involved. and you had the state department spokesperson saying it is in no i's interest, not israel, not anyone in the region, not anyone in the world, other than perhaps isis in having this into a broader conflict. . ~ in having this into a broader conflict. ., ~ , ., , . in having this into a broader conflict. . ~ , ., , . ., conflict. thank you very much for cominu conflict. thank you very much for coming on _ conflict. thank you very much for coming on the — conflict. thank you very much for coming on the programme. - conflict. thank you very much for| coming on the programme. thank conflict. thank you very much for- coming on the programme. thank you. thank you for having me. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news... a row about emergency cover has broken out between nhs

chiefs and union leaders, as a six—day strike by england's junior doctors enters its second day. the doctors' union has accused health leaders of misusing the system for calling doctors back to work when patient safety is at risk. but nhs england insists they were genuine requests for help. a 49—year—old man has been arrested after reports shots were fired at a cinema in liverpool on wednesday evening. merseyside police locked down the showcase cinema in croxteth when a man threatened staff in the foyer before shooting at the outside of the building. officers responded to three separate incidents involving shots being fired but no—one was injured. more than a0 people who applied to a troubles victims pension scheme have died before any decision was made., figures

you're live with bbc news. thank you very much forjoining us. now taking a look at what has been happening in the us. prince andrew is among a string of high profile associates and friends of the late convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein who've been named in newly released us court documents. the 900 pages contain dozens of references to the king's brother, including testimony from a young woman who says that prince andrew groped her. the records form part of a civil case against ghislaine maxwell, epstein�*s british ex—girlfriend who's injail in the us for assisting him. prince andrew has previously denied all the allegations against him. our north america correspondent gary o'donoghue has more. jeffrey epstein was a billionaire financier, but he was also a serial abuser of underage girls. he knew some of the best known faces on the planet, from british royalty to pop stars

to former presidents. these latest court documents contain more than 60 references to prince andrew and some to bill clinton. back in 2002, donald trump described him as "a terrific guy and a lot of fun to be with". neither of the former presidents have been accused of wrongdoing in the epstein case, but prince andrew's long friendship with epstein was what ended his public royal role. these latest documents contain testimony from one woman who said prince andrew touched her breast while holding the hand of a puppet of himself against her other breast. buckingham palace has in the past categorically denied all allegations. another of epstein�*s accusers, virginia giuffre, said she'd met andrew on a number of occasions and been forced to have sex with the prince when she was 17 years old. despite a photo showing them together, the prince said he had no recollection of meeting her.

and i've said consistently and frequently that we never had any sort of sexual contact whatever. in 2022, the prince settled a civil case brought by virginia giuffre against him for an undisclosed amount and withdrew from public life. the documents also contain some bizarre elements, including an email to one—time girlfriend ghislaine maxwell, who's serving 20 years for sex trafficking. in the poorly spelt message, epstein offers to pay anyone who would deny that the late renowned physicist stephen hawking had taken part in an orgy on epstein�*s private island. this is the first release of documents in this particular case relating to epstein. there are more court files to come. let's speak to royal commentator,

rafe heydel—mankoo. thank you for coming on the programme. what do you think we have learned from what has been revealed? what do you think its impact is on prince andrew?— what do you think its impact is on prince andrew? first thing to say is that there are _ prince andrew? first thing to say is that there are no _ prince andrew? first thing to say is that there are no new _ prince andrew? first thing to say is that there are no new allegations i that there are no new allegations related to pin sandra. we have known all of this previously. the groping of the breast, we've known about that since 2019. what is new about these documents is that we now have sworn depositions and sworn witness statements from over 100 people in general regarding all 170 names, but also particularly the deposition of joanna, the one who makes this allegation of groping and who also talks about bill clinton and others, for example. so that is the difference here. although prince andrew has been thrust back into the public eye again with the story and he must be thinking, you know, will he must be thinking, you know, will he ever be able to escape the clutches of the story is not

definitely not the start of the new year that he wants. the release of so many other names may also work to pin sandra's benefit, at least in america and around the world, not so much perhaps in the uk because you've had big names mentioned, bill clinton has been mentioned, you mentioned stephen hocking, the magician david copperfield, even michaeljackson. it has to be said, none of these people have actually been accused of doing any wrong doing. this is not a black book of sexual offenders, but the same lady who makes an allegation of groping against prince andrew has also held said that allegedlyjeffrey epstein said that allegedlyjeffrey epstein said that allegedlyjeffrey epstein said that bill clinton liked young girls. so at least the attention of the media will now go on to these people rather than on prince andrew. so there is some aspect whether this may benefit ten. just so there is some aspect whether this may benefit ten.— may benefit ten. just remind us, what is the _ may benefit ten. just remind us, what is the status _ may benefit ten. just remind us, what is the status of _ may benefit ten. just remind us, what is the status of prince - may benefit ten. just remind us, i what is the status of prince andrew within the royal family right now. since this story broke, prince andrew has lost his status as a

royal highness. he's lost all his honorary ranks, his military ranks and his title. he's lost all of its patronage is. is no longer able to wear military uniform at public events and so forth. so he is very much now a private member of the royalfamily as opposed much now a private member of the royal family as opposed to a working member of the royal family. royal family as opposed to a working member of the royalfamily. but he still does have some perks and privileges. the king has decided in recent times to allow him to remain at royal lodge windsor. you may remember there was some talk that he may go to dry well cottage, which had been vacated by the duke and duchess of sussex, and last year, the king decided because prince andrew had lost his public funded security, that the king would privately fund his own security. i’m privately fund his own security. i'm afraid we are out of time, but thank you very much for coming on the programme. really appreciate that, and just to reiterate, prince andrew has previously denied all allegations against him. i'm lewis vaughanjones. this is bbc news.

hello there. as we head towards our first full weekend of january, the weather story is on the change. somewhat drier conditions are expected by the weekend, but before that, we've got this area of cloud that's bringing some persistent rain across channel—facing coasts. so it arrived in the south—west, some of it quite heavy at times, accompanied by gale—force gusts of winds on exposed coasts in the channel. and that is going to continue to drift its way steadily eastwards. it means that there will be some difficult driving conditions if you're out and about on the roads over the next few hours. this was the isle of wightjust before darkness arrived, and you can see there are certainly some localised flooding in the area. now that rain will continue to drift its way south and east. it may lingerfor a time across the east midlands, lincolnshire, east anglia as well. a few scattered showers and stronger winds across eastern scotland and some coastal showers out to the west, but sandwiched in between the two, some clearer skies and we could have some patchy mist and fog forming by morning. now the low pressure still sitting up into the far north will give

stiff winds and showers into the northern isles and eastern scotland, but a ridge of high pressure is slowly building in. so there will be some showers out to the east, a legacy of cloud east of the pennines across england. further west, some brighter, sunnier spells with a few scattered showers driven in by that north—westerly wind. temperatures are likely to peak into single figures for many into the afternoon, so we're looking at around 4—9 degrees, pretty much where they should be for this time of year. but as we move out of friday into the start of the weekend, that high pressure's continuing to build in. the isobars open up, the winds falling light. again some patchy fog could be an issue first thing on saturday morning. we still keep a risk of some showers and introduce some strong wind across the northern isles, but it's going to be a chilly start to saturday. low single figures in towns and city centres. just below, a touch of frost likely away from the breeze. now high pressure is set to establish itself for the start of the weekend, and as the wind direction swings in a clockwise direction around that high, we're

either going to have an easterly or a north—easterly, which at times will drag in quite a lot of cloud off the north sea. so, yes, we're going to be chasing cloud amounts around, but look at this. it's going to be dry, settled with some sunshine at times, but we'll need to look out for overnight frost and fog.

hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones. you're watching the context on bbc news. scientists welcome the discovery of a new type of antibiotic — raising hopes it could control one of the most dangerous superbugs. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's paul scott. hello from the bbc sport centre it's one of the most anticipated weekends in the english football calendar — the fa cup third round is under way. it's when clubs from the premier league and championship enter the competiton. there's an all premier league encounter to kick things off. crystal palace are hosting everton at selhurst park. they have played around 30 minutes there and it is still goalless. to tennis and there were mixed fortunes for rafael nadal and emma raducanu as both continue their comebacks ahead of the australian open. nadal cruised to a straight sets victory overjason kubler,