based in the uk, accused of industrial—scale fraud. and why some film fans are veering away from streaming in favour of micro—cinemas. hello, i'm mark lobell. we begin in the middle east. eu leaders have agreed to tighten sanctions on iranian producers of drones and missiles in the wake of tehran�*s unprecedented attack on israel on saturday night. the president of the european council says it's important to do everything to isolate iran. it comes as qatar's prime minister says indirect negotiations on a ceasefire in the israel—gaza war have largely stalled. the country, along with egypt and the us, is mediating between israel and hamas — trying to secure a ceasefire and the release of israeli

hostages. but doha is now also questioning whether the talks can succeed. the qatari leader saying efforts are being undermined, causing his country to reassess its role as mediator. take a listen. translation: unfortunately, i mean, we have seen - that there's been an abuse of this mediation in favour of narrow political interests. this means that the state of qatar has called for a comprehensive evaluation of this role. we're now at this stage to evaluate mediation and also evaluate how parties engage in this mediation. tensions in the region remain high, with israel's prime minister insisting his country will make its own decisions about how to respond to iran's drone and missile attack. israel's western allies fear striking back against iran could trigger a broader war. with me is mohamed taha

from bbc arabic. thank you for coming along. what kind of response when it comes to what you ranted to israel is israel considering? apparently israel is about to strike on iran directly on monday, and american officials said that. the americans in the western allies convinced them not to do that. to avoid a widespread escalation for the war in the region. when it comes to options there are many options, israel has got the capabilities to strike iran directly using f—16, if 35 or ballistic missile, xi issue three which has a range of 11,000 kilometres. so they have the capability to do that or they can strike any of the uranian facilities in syria, lebanon on or any of the

neighbouring countries. apparently, the west managed to convince them to go to the sanctions route, and as the eu announced, they will sanction the producers of drones and missiles stop and this might have a little impact on the uranian side as they are selling these two russia and china. , , ., ., selling these two russia and china. , ., ., ., ., china. just to turn to gaza and the long-awaited _ china. just to turn to gaza and the long-awaited negotiated l the long—awaited negotiated ceasefire which is really the only way to end that conflict, it seems to be slipping further away now?— it seems to be slipping further awa now? ,, ., ., �* , away now? indeed, the qatari 's are considering _ away now? indeed, the qatari 's are considering their— away now? indeed, the qatari 's are considering their position, . are considering their position, now each party is accusing the other party of the responsibility of not reaching the deal, hamas accusing the us for supporting israel, and the qatari is not happy with different parties. but what is clear now, the uranian attack on israel gave a lifeline to the war in gaza, we saw

overnight and attack on a school at a refugee camp. if the uranian attack would not happen on israel, that would have made a headline. we also also overnight 1a israeli soldiers injured in a hezbollah attack on the north, all of these things would have done a headline if we are not expecting that israeli response against iran. definitely the iranian attack on israel give a lifeline to this war and made this truce negotiations slip away. this truce negotiations slip awa . , . this truce negotiations slip awa. , . , this truce negotiations slip awa . , . , . this truce negotiations slip awa. , ., away. israel being affected on all its borders _ away. israel being affected on all its borders but _ away. israel being affected on all its borders but the - all its borders but the humanitarian crisis in gaza continues. mohammed, thank you very much. to the us now, where the speaker of the house of representatives is under increasing pressure from the right—wing of his republican party after releasing the long—awaited details of a foreign aid package

expected to go to a vote on saturday. mikejohnson had delayed bringing legislation to the house floor for months amid republican opposition to funding for kyiv. his new proposed foreign aid package splits funding for israel, taiwan, and ukraine into three separate bills, with $61 billion in aid for ukraine and regional partners, $26 billion in support for israel, and $8 billion for taiwan and other us allies in the indo—pacific region. let's speak to steve herman, chief national correspondent with voice of america news. he's in alexandria, virginia. bring us up to speed with the new shape and timing of this bill and why this is finally happening now? well, is finally happening now? mark, it is happening no�* because well, mark, it is happening now because a lot of democrats and republicans are very desperate to get this through, you might remember it was two months ago the senate approved this $95 billion aid product and it has

been sitting around since then. and as you mentioned, what essentially the speaker is doing is chopping that bill up into three different pieces. and then he is adding a fourth piece to it, some things that are very popular with many of the republicans, such as putting pressure sanctions on iran, conditioning ukraine aid as a loan, and most interestingly, a ban on tiktok, the parent company in china does not divest the social media app or otherwise would have two shut down in the united states after a period of time. then what he is going to do is put all of these back together, send it back to the senate, take it or leave it package, with the expectation that the democratic controlled senate, will take it. just that the democratic controlled senate, will take it.— senate, will take it. just to focus on —

senate, will take it. just to focus on ukraine _ senate, will take it. just to focus on ukraine for- senate, will take it. just to focus on ukraine for a - senate, will take it. just to - focus on ukraine for a moment, the ukrainian prime minister told the bbc the funding is not needed tomorrow but yesterday, we are about to hear from him, what about the republicans objections to that funding of ukraine? ~ ., , ., ., ukraine? well, what you have and the reason _ ukraine? well, what you have and the reason this _ ukraine? well, what you have and the reason this is - ukraine? well, what you have and the reason this is all- and the reason this is all being sliced up, you have some republican who are against aid for ukraine, but in favour of it for israel, which will now be a separate bill, so they can vote against the ukraine aid bill all the israel bill and we have some progressive democrat that are against because of gaza, aid to israel but in favour of the aid to ukraine. so everybody gets to vote on what they want to vote for and vote against what they don't like that will all come together, and it will all pass and then go to the senate, that is the plan and this is all supposed to happen on saturday evening. supposed to happen on saturday evenina. ., ., , . ., evening. you do expect it to ass on evening. you do expect it to pass on this _ evening. you do expect it to pass on this form, - evening. you do expect it to pass on this form, you - evening. you do expect it to pass on this form, you think evening. you do expect it to l pass on this form, you think it would work, take us through

what you think will happen with the bill briefly and the future of the speaker?— the bill briefly and the future of the speaker? yes, well, this will apparently _ of the speaker? yes, well, this will apparently get _ of the speaker? yes, well, this will apparently get through, i of the speaker? yes, well, this will apparently get through, if| will apparently get through, if we had to guess right now, who knows what will happen between now and saturday. there is a lot of objection on both sides of the aisle to different elements of this. but, not only to get this back to the senate, but to maintain his position, directly or indirectly, the speaker is going to have to rely on democrat, and some republicans to them that is an act of betrayal, they are going to start a movement to oust him, and he presumably would be saved by the democrats voting to keep him, orjust walking off the floor and in these hard—core republicans would not have enough votes to get rid of him. so there is going to be a lot of drama head, but mr johnson has made it very clear, he is willing to stake his

leadership on getting all this through, and he has been very strongly supporting, especially the aid package for ukraine. steve herman from voice of america news, thank you. meanwhile, ukraine's prime minister has told the bbc there will be a �*third world war�* if ukraine loses its conflict with russia as he urges the us congress to pass the long—stalled foreign aid bill. denys shmyhal spoke with my colleague sumi somaskanda in washington. the united states is one of the biggest supporters and investors in ukrainian economy and in ukrainian defence capacities. we are waiting so much for this draft law in one or other conditions which now are discussed in congress, so we will be very grateful if it will be approved on saturday. we are waiting this for so much and especially our guys and girls on the front line.

i can imagine you're watching closely the vote on saturday as well. did you receive any assurances from your conversations on capitol hill from lawmakers who say this will pass? did they tell you that? we have some conversations today. some conversations we will have tomorrow. all of the partners, all the congressmen, have very careful optimism for saturday, so we share this optimism and we need this money yesterday — not tomorrow, not today, but yesterday. we need this support, military support, yesterday, because the situation on the frontline is difficult enough. we need the support from our biggest partner, from united states. at the same time, there are some republicans here in washington who are sceptical. they don't want this bill even to be brought to a vote. what is your message? if ukraine will fall, all the global system will fall and all the world will

need to find and look into new system of security, or there will be many conflicts, many such kinds of wars. and at the end of the day, it could lead to a third world war. so our mutual task is to protect democratic values, to protect existing, after the second world war, global systems, global security systems, and bring long—term and sustainable peace on european continent stops russia must lose this war and the aggressor should be punished. the vladimir putin's regime should be destroyed. 0nly these factors will lead us to the sustainable and long—term peace. i just want to follow up on that, we saw republican congressman mccall say last week that he thinks that russia propaganda — he thinks it has

infected some members of his party, that they are repeating that propaganda. what do you think of that? we shouldn't forget that russia is leading war on ukraine on the ground, but russia is leading war with the civilised world, with western countries, in the multidimensional spaces, cyberspace, propaganda, the information space, so in ukraine, we have war in the water, the ground, in the sky. all of this now brings us to these obstacles when we should understand that disinformation and propaganda is influencing here in the united states and many people, such as in ukraine.

and in eu. we should count on this and we should make our work, we should fight against this absolutely unprovoked illegal action by russia. we have received reports blasts have been heard in the western region of ukraine, according to the ukrainian media outlet, reporting ukrainian air force says russian drones were flying over the region. it's all happening in ukraine. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

welcome back. police have taken down an international cyber—crime gang based in the uk that had been offering a service to criminals which allowed them to steal from victims using fraudulent text messages — with 37 people worldwide now having been arrested — 2a of which in britain. it's estimated that 70,000 people have fallen victim to the scams, which saw them put their personal details

into a website hosted by labhost. 0ur reporter tom symonds has the details. it is sam it is 5am in south london. the end of a two year investigation. this was one of a series of co—ordinated raids targeting cybercrime in 17 countries, masterminded from the uk. 0ne countries, masterminded from the uk. one man was arrested here in 23 others around the uk. in this all began two years ago when security experts for the banking industry spotted on the banking industry spotted on the dark web criminals offering other criminals a service, a way to make money using phishing with a ph. labhost provided the technology and training for other criminals to carry out phishing attacks, sending fraudulent text messages to get people to hand over personal data. the police

say there were an estimated 70,000 victims in the uk bombarded with messages linking to 47 fake websites, usually seeming to be online payment or shopping services. for 80,000 payment card numbers have been stolen, and 64,000 pin numbers. and if you thought only older or less technically savvy people get scammed, you would be wrong. people get scammed, you would be wronu. . , , be wrong. the victims in this case have — be wrong. the victims in this case have been _ be wrong. the victims in this case have been aged - be wrong. the victims in this | case have been aged between be wrong. the victims in this - case have been aged between 25 and 45 predominantly. pretty young, digital natives? people who live their lives online who perhaps do their banking online, shop online, they are more likely to fall victim to this because they —— their use of the internet are so prevalent.— of the internet are so prevalent. of the internet are so revalent. �* , , prevalent. as the rest were takin: prevalent. as the rest were taking place _ prevalent. as the rest were taking place including - prevalent. as the rest were taking place including at. prevalent. as the rest were i taking place including at luton and manchester airports...

police also contacting 25,000 victims they have identified, given details of how they had been scammed and giving them advice. as for labhost, yesterday this was the moment it was shut down and replaced with this message from the police to the scammers. tom symonds, bbc news. heavy rain has continued to batter gulf states, causing deadly flash floods and causing disruption to flights at the world's second—busiest airport. about 300 flights were cancelled at dubai international airport on wednesday, with hundreds more delayed, after the united arab emirates experienced its largest rainfall event since records began 75 years ago. the airport, which serves as a major hub for connecting flights to every continent, is warning recovery will take some time. in australia, a new report is due to be handed down into the spread and threat of one of the world's most invasive species, fire ants. the ants are thought to have entered the country in shipping containers from south america about two decades ago.

they pose a threat to people and livestock. let's speak to phil mercer is sydney. how new, urgent and widespread as the threat?— as the threat? well as you say the ants were _ as the threat? well as you say the ants were first _ as the threat? well as you say the ants were first detected i as the threat? well as you say the ants were first detected in j the ants were first detected in queensland in 2001, it is thought they had been in australia undetected for years and experts say other countries who have been invaded by the imported fire ants have not been able to get rid of them. what i am about to say may sound like something out of a horror movie because the way the ants operate is that they lock their doors onto your skin and they use a spike in the abdomen to inject a venom into the victim. the reason they are called fire ants is because the

stings they inflict create a burning sensation and there is a risk of people being stung for example suffering from severe allergic reactions. so these ants have established a foothold in the southeastern corner of queensland state but in the last few months they have been detected across the border, new south wales. and experts say the fire ants pose more of a threat to australia than many other invasive species put together. they sound awful _ species put together. they sound awful we _ species put together. they sound awful we discussed | species put together. they | sound awful we discussed it species put together. they sound awful we discussed it in the office apparently they clumped together when there has been a lot of rainfall and they become deadly in greater numbers. what is likely to be recommended to stop them in their tracks? recommended to stop them in theirtracks? i recommended to stop them in their tracks?— their tracks? i imagine it all comes down _ their tracks? i imagine it all comes down to _ their tracks? i imagine it all comes down to money - their tracks? i imagine it all comes down to money and l comes down to money and resources, the queensland state government says it's eradication programmes are first—class, that sniffer dogs and bait dropped from helicopters and also wrote checks, a lot of these fire ants are on the move literally on the backs of lorries in

mulch and soil been transported around the place. but there is around the place. but there is a feeling among critics that the whole system has been a bit of a shambles, and australia has underestimated the threat of fire ants, they have also been detected in the united states, china and japan, in many ways it is a global problem, but this parliamentary enquiry has been investigating the impact of fire ants on the health of australians, agriculture and the environment. i agriculture and the environment. ., �* ., agriculture and the environment. ., ., environment. i don't want to ut environment. i don't want to put pepple — environment. i don't want to put pepple off _ environment. i don't want to put people off the _ environment. i don't want to put people off the porridge l environment. i don't want to i put people off the porridge but it is one of the deadlier threats in australia, deadlier than many other creatures? australia is home to so many creatures that can cause you harm, either with stings or bites, you think big things like crocodiles and great white shark �*s, to smaller creatures such as spiders and jellyfish. but fire ants are another matter altogether, inflicting

that sting through a spike on their abdomen.— that sting through a spike on their abdomen. don't go near an of their abdomen. don't go near any of them. _ their abdomen. don't go near any of them, thank _ their abdomen. don't go near any of them, thank you - their abdomen. don't go near any of them, thank you very l any of them, thank you very much forjoining us. in many parts of the world, cinemas are still struggling to bring in audiences. in some instances, film fans not totally won over by streaming are exploring new ways of watching movies by going to what are called microcinemas. tom brook explains the appeal. micro— cinemas can be found in all kinds of new locations inside this formerfire station, or behind the nondescriptive brooklyn storefront. they are modest makeshift spaces often showing experimental or nonmainstream work. ~ . ., . ., experimental or nonmainstream work. ~ . ., , experimental or nonmainstream work. a ., ,, work. micro cinema is put siml work. micro cinema is put simply a _ work. micro cinema is put simply a small— work. micro cinema is put simply a small cinema. i work. micro cinema is put i simply a small cinema. you don't need more than a folding chair, project and a white wall. chair, pro'ect and a white wall. ,, . ' .,

chair, pro'ect and a white wall. ,, ., , ., _ wall. staffed often by dedicated _ wall. staffed often by dedicated volunteers| wall. staffed often by - dedicated volunteers with a passion for film, dedicated volunteers with a passion forfilm, microcinemas programmes use their imagination to offer something quite different than the multiplex experience. the mission is _ multiplex experience. the mission is to _ multiplex experience. the mission is to run - multiplex experience. the mission is to run laps - multiplex experience. tia: mission is to run laps around subsidised or profit theatres ljy subsidised or profit theatres by showing films that should be on their radar. it is usually going to be a monster movie from the 19705 that played at midnight or a groundbreaking documentary fiction hybrid about some niche but extremely important political issue. from a bygone era. important political issue. from a bygone era-— a bygone era. this trade is promoting _ a bygone era. this trade is promoting a _ a bygone era. this trade is promoting a long - a bygone era. this trade is i promoting a long established new york micro cinema cctv that has a loyal following. new york micro cinema cctv that has a loyalfollowing. among recent documentaries 5hown has a loyalfollowing. among recent documentaries shown here was kim's video film exploring a legendary now closed new york audio store. the co— editor of the documentary came to the dc be screening, to him a big plus of microcinemas a5 be screening, to him a big plus of microcinemas as they provide a space for filmmakers like

himself to interact directly with audiences.— with audiences. this like a learning — with audiences. this like a learning expense - with audiences. this like a learning expense for- with audiences. this like a learning expense for both | learning expense for both sides, it is rather unique cinemas and away you would never at a multiplex, they don't need to have an enormous audience are not even that excited about a million p streaming at home is much as i have smaller —— having a small dialogue with an audience that cares about movies. the financially _ cares about movies. the financially fragile - cares about movies. the financially fragile world | cares about movies. the financially fragile world of independent film making, they are seen as a lifeline and a particular help to documentary filmmakers. brute particular help to documentary filmmakers-— particular help to documentary filmmakers. we are part of the documentary — filmmakers. we are part of the documentary ecosystem - filmmakers. we are part of the documentary ecosystem in - filmmakers. we are part of the documentary ecosystem in the | documentary ecosystem in the world, and when we opened, which was right after the pandemic, it was also just a really challenging time, that most documentary films were not being bought and we are one of the few cinemas in new york that could scream films that do not have distributors. balsa not have distributors. also art of not have distributors. also part of this _ not have distributors. also part of this micro - not have distributors. also part of this micro cinema l not have distributors. alsol part of this micro cinema as not have distributors. also part of this micro cinema as an endeavour called mono no ra, it

gives people the opportunity to handle film and make movies. the idea to put the digital revolution to one side and generate respect for the art of filmmaking with supervised instruction. brute filmmaking with supervised instruction.— filmmaking with supervised instruction. ~ ., , instruction. we teach a number of workshops — instruction. we teach a number of workshops we _ instruction. we teach a number of workshops we are _ instruction. we teach a number of workshops we are a - instruction. we teach a number of workshops we are a learning | of workshops we are a learning lab we teach super 815 and 35 filmmaking. lab we teach super 815 and 35 filmmaking-— filmmaking. those who run microcinemas _ filmmaking. those who run microcinemas regard - filmmaking. those who run microcinemas regard them | filmmaking. those who run i microcinemas regard them as filmmaking. those who run - microcinemas regard them as a permanent feature of the landscape a way of seeing films which will prevail and develop. microcinemas will continue to evolve because cinemas always evolving, part of the allure of microcinemas and cinemas in general they address a brief fundamental need for people to come together to partake in a kind of public ritual and a shared space.— kind of public ritual and a shared space. that desire to see movies _ shared space. that desire to see movies together - shared space. that desire to see movies together is - shared space. that desire to i see movies together is perhaps more than anything else what sustains microcinemas. despite the convenience of streaming gathering together in the dark evenin gathering together in the dark

even in small numbers to watch a film still for many holds an unbeatable magic. tom brook, bbc news. you have maybe got time to boil the kettle, and a few minutes we will discuss boeing's latest troubles and the imf warning on the uk's economy, we will discuss venezuelan oil and we will bring you some retail therapy. you won't want to miss any of that. don't go anywhere. hello. slowly, but surely, the weather is going to turn a little bit drier, but not an awful lot warmer as we head towards the end of the week. high pressure is tantalizingly close — sitting to the west of the uk, but still far enough away that weather systems can move in around the top of that area of high pressure, bringing cloud, bringing outbreaks of rain. that's exactly what we're going to see through the day on thursday ahead of that cold, frosty start, but we will see some spells of sunshine.

that will hold on across southern counties of england, but further north, it's a story of increasing clouds, some outbreaks of rain. rain for a good part of the day across scotland, some patchy rain for northern ireland. temperatures just a little bit up on where they have been recently, 8 to 15 degrees. now, through thursday night, we'll see clouds and increasingly light and patchy rain pushing southwards. behind that, a northerly wind kicks in — a mix of clear spells and showers to take us into the first part of friday. so this weather system easing its way through, clearing southwards with northerly winds behind. you can see quite a few isobars squeezing together on the chart, particularly across the northeast of scotland. so, here, it is going to be windy through the day on friday, particularly around some coasts. it's a day of sunny spells and showers. some of the showers could be on the heavy side, perhaps the showers most frequent across the eastern half of the uk, not as many showers further west. temperatures, 6 to 8 degrees in northern scotland, elsewhere, 11 to 15 degrees.

now, into the weekend, this area of high pressure finally makes its move, building across the uk. but brisk winds still affecting eastern coastal counties with potentially quite a lot of cloud, maybe even some showery rain. best chance of any sunshine out towards the west. that's where we'll have the highest of the temperatures, up to around 13, 14 degrees. but it will actually be quite chilly for some eastern parts, particularly for north sea coasts. now, as we get into sunday, again, we'll see clouds, some showery rain perhaps spinning a little bit further west this time. the lowest temperatures always closest to these north sea coast, maybe some places stuck in single digits, 11 for newcastle and for hull. but further west, with some sunshine, northern ireland could see the highest temperatures, 16, maybe 17 degrees. nothing particularly warm in the outlook for next week. 0ften dry, there will be some showers.

live from london. this is bbc news. blowing the whistle on boeing. an engineer tells the us senate he was harassed and threatened after he raised safety concerns about the company's planes. if something happens to me, i am at peace because i feel like by coming forward, i will be saving a lot of lives and i am at peace.

also coming up, rein in the debt. the imf warns the uk it's borrowing too much. but chancellor of the exchequer jeremy hunt tells the bbc the uk economy is in good shape. the imf are saying this week that over the next six years we will grow faster than any major european economy and faster than japan. and shop till you drop. retail bosses gather in paris to plot the future of a $30 trillion industry. is ai the key to making us spend more money? welcome to the programme. we start in washington dc, where boeing has been facing more questions about its safety culture and manufacturing quality as three whistle—blowers gave evidence to congress as part of its investigation into the aviation giant. boeing engineer sam salehpour, a company veteran of 17 years,

told a senate hearing that he was harassed