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brook: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. people who know, know bdo. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> hello. you are watching the context on bbc news. >> you can see the cast after the explosion. those were carried on a stretcher and ambances rushed to the scene. >> it is certainly not in israel's interest to do this right now. it has got its hands full in gaza and the west bank. >> at the moment, this incident

in such attacks has high ambiguity. nobody expected that. >> more than 100 people are killed in two explosions in iran and no o has yet claimed responsibility and we will ask who can be behind it. the security council is talking about attacks on ships in the red sea. we will foster that in new york. in lebon, a warning from the head of hezbollah. he says the killing of a hamas leader in lebanon will not go unpunished. in england, jena doctors have started their longest ever strike. we will ask a doctor what could end the ongoing disputes.

a 16-year-old is in the world championship final do to get underway in just a couple of minutes. how far can he go? we should know in the next couple of hours. we are going to start in iran. more than 100 people have been killed in two explosions there. two bags of explosives detonated by remote control according to reports. this picture -- these pictures from just shortly after these attacks. this happened during a ceremony to mark the art of roastery -- anniversary. he was killed back in 2020 in a u.s. air strike while he was on a trip to iran. let's take a look at exactly where these explosions happened southeast of the country there. next to the grave of some money. >> the road leading to the

cemetery were packed with people who had gone to pay their respects to constance armani -- to sulemani. whoever did this was aiming to cause mass casualties. red crescent said their efforts were complicated by the size of the crowds. the first bomb was followed swiftly by a second more deadly explosion. it comes for years to the day since qasem soleimani was killed. he was a huge figure in iran, commander of its powerful revolutionary guards, responsible for arming its proxy militias in the middle east including hezbollah in lebanon and for funding hamas. he had a devoted following amongst supporters of the iranian regime. he's funeral was attended according to estimates by more

than one million mourners. >> the most telling thing here is that this attack does not fit any modus operandi what the israelis have traditionally done. they are looking for a specific individual, not for large events with lots of people. there are enemies to groups that have a history of doing this type of thing in iran. >> no group has yet claimed to have carried it out. iran's supreme leader said there would be a harsh response. it is the deadliest attack in the country in decades and can only increased tensions in the region that is already a tinderbox. bbc news. mike: let's speak -- >> let's speak to the founder and director of the iran program at the middle east institute, a think tank.

first of all, let's start with that question that caroline started to race at the end of her report. who do you think could potentially be behind this? >> is difficult to say. there is some prominent iranian officials including the minister of the interior who started pointing a finger at the united states and israel but clearly that is more of a political statement reflecting any serious investigation into what has happened is that we are only hours literally into what happened so i think it is really early, important not to politicize it. he issued a small statement. clearly, i think the highest power in tehran is still figuring out what has happened here and what their next moves are to be. >> if we look at potential

groups within iran, how strong are any potential gros to be able to do something like this and the possible motivation? >> i think we all sort of would want to link this potentially to what is going on in gaza. and say this is israel retaliating for iranian support for hamas. that is a natural way of looking at it. the israelis don't really have a modus operandi along these lines and they have always been very targeted in who they have killed going back to 2010 with uranium nuclear scientists. the attacks by hamas on october 7 might have changed israeli calculations. i don't know. history will tell us that this is not the way the israelis operate. the group that does operate along these lines certainly most recently used to be -- they have changed names over the years. they were jihadists with

pakistan. the province actually borders -- these bombings happen. is this the work of sunni radical jihadists? they are certainly among the top candidates to be behind this. >> just to underline as you are very clear as well that you don't know yet -- it is certainly not verified. what is the next step for the regime? what does iran do here? >> this is such an embarrassment and a regime that claims to be inharge of the borders. securities, number one priority. we have a case on a very special day, commemorating a special person for this regime and these twin bomb attacks happen within half an hour of one another. it could not prevent a second

bombing. in 30 minutes, they had 30 minutes to prepare for and escalation before the second bomb happened. it happened to have killed most of the people. if you are sitting in iran, you will ask tough questions of the regime that oftentimes speaks this language of being invincible. we see i again and again that security is not in a good shape. one thing i know for sure, ayatollah khamenei and the guards are not interested in a regional war but israel -- with israel or anyone else because they don't think the time is right so they certainly don't want to confront the united states paid on and the regime has made it very clear, a war with israel would drive the united states into war and that is the lasting the islamic republic wants to see so i don't think that is a scenario that is likely to happen. >> great to have your thoughts. thank you for coming on the program. >> thank you. >> we are going to head to

lebanon because the leader of hezbollah has been speaking. hezbollah, the paramilitary group. he said a couple of interesting things given the situation in the region. he said the deaths of those senior hamas leaders on lebanese soil recently cope with -- could not go unpunished. yesterday, tuesday, the hamas deputy leader was killed in lebanon. this is a strike by israel. israel did not comment on that. there are fears in the region of the hezbollah potential response , escalation of the conflict. the bbc's reporter is bayrou. hugo, good to see you. talk us through what we heard. -- in beirut. hugo, good to see you. talk us through what we heard,

the important points. hugo: some strong words from the powerful leader of the shia militant group hezbollah. the attack on tuesday in beirut was a flagrant aggression. he said this is a dangerous crime that would not go unpunished. this aack happened in an area of beirut that is a hezbollah stronghold so it was a blow for hamas but possibly a message to hezbollah as well that even parts of you know, that are under the control of the group can be hit by these attacks. he said we are not afraid of war and in a message to israel, he said that if israel decided to go to war against hezbollah, this would come out a very heavy cost.

if the group escalates the situation, the violence that has been happening here since the beginning of the hamas-israel war, that israel would respond with a devastating, you know, with devastating consequences and israeli authorities have been saying even that they could do to beirut what they have been to gaza and this really shows, you know, the difficult position perhaps that hezbollah finds itself in. it wants to show that it is supported hamas and the palestinians in gaza. at the same time, any kind of wrong move should spark a strong israeli response that could have devastating consequences to this country. >> talk to us a bit if you can about the man himself. the role he plays both within lebanon and in the wider region. >> exactly. here's the longtime leader of hezbollah.

he has known for his strong anti-israeli views and positions. because of the role hezbollah has in lebanon, it is a very powerful militia group with tens of thousands of rockets including rockets that can strike deep inside israeli territory. it's a powerful political force and social movement as well that is extremely influential in lebanon. everything he says and the actions of the group are closely watched here in lebanon because the impact is felt way beyond the groups base of support. >> hugo, thank you so much for that. a bit more analysis on what exactly the pential consequences of these could be. we are going to speak now to the senior fellow at the middle east institute, a think tank. thank you for coming on the program. >> my pleasure. >> what was your reaction to the

speech? >> what israel is trying to do here, israel was in fact behind this estimation of a hamas leader yesterday in beirut. trying to force hezbollah's hand. they have a preference for what is referred to for his own warfare, a simmering conflict on the border, harassing it in order to help hamas but not really escalating into a full confrontation of the bladder war with israel, if you may. it is putting hezbollah in this binary choice position. you retaliate and risk a major war with israel which hezbollah does not want or you capitulate which would then allow israel to rewrite the rules of engagement. really, the rules of conflict. it opens the door open to furtr israeli assassinations on hezbollah's turf in lebanon so it was a difficult position and what weeard from the speech is that mattarella -- is

that there was a lot of chest son. he said israel would pay the price, did not say how or when. hezbollah is wanng to continue to harass israel but to do so on its term short of an all-out war. >> that is interesting. i wanted to go back to that phrase because there was a tiny bit of break up. did you say fighting in the gray area, the gray zone? remind us in a couple of sentences what you mean by that. >> iran and its proxies, hezbollah, the gray zone warfare, meaning it is harassing israel, some of them are surgical operations, special operations, but not really elevating to an all-out war with israel. a conditional war would probably see israel with the upper hand. this is the preference of how and when the iranians and hezbollah -- proxy to fight these wars. >> that is useful.

in regards to the specifics today that we heard, things like the actions will not go unpunished, in your eyes, this is not the launch of a big escalation. there will be some retaliation but it will be surgical and small-scale as far as you can predict. >> he does excel in these moments. he wants to keep the israelis and much of the world on its toes in terms of what might or might not happen. he is really not giving it away so he kept referring to another speech. he will be speaking again on friday and kept promising that more will be said and revealed on friday so all of lebanon and israel will be focused on what he has to say on friday but the overall message that i took, that we were able to deduce from statements today was that they will retaliate at a time and place of their choosing. they will not fall into the trap which in their view some of the

israeli cabinet want which is to pull them into a full out war with israel. >> before i let you know, what is the rol of the international players here? for example, the u.s., what kind of relationships , leverage, if any? >> is a very interesting moment because we see that iran and the united states both did not have an interest in seeing a broader regional war, a second front in lebanon. both for their own separate reasons, but the fear is that, again, there's some in this right-wing israeli government -- the more right wing, french elements of the israeli government that are actually welcoming are pushing towards -- or pushing towards a potential war to clear the table now that we have hundreds of thousands of israeli soldiers mobilized up north on the northern border with lebanon. there are fears here in washington and the biden administration that some in israel would like to see such a

war and is quite a bit of pushback, a lot of pressure from the biden administration on israel not to do anything, not to conduct further operations on lebanese soil that could trigger a broader war. >> thank you very much for coming on the program. thank you. >> my pleasure. >> un security council is underway. this is alive right now. they are talking about attacks on ships in the red sea. of course, this seems to be an issue. houthi rebels in yemen that they say have links to israel. houthi rebels are backed by iran, too. this is having a huge impact on global shipping. we can just take a quick look at a map to show you exactly the scale of the impact here so this map shows basically why. with shipping companies avoiding the sea around yemen, not using

the suez canal. they had to go on that loan diversion around the south of africa. delays for deliveries and high costs associated with that. military ships have been sent to that area. that's just take you back to those pictures at the un security council. just before this session started , a joint statement was released. 10 other countries basically wanting to houthi thieves will face consequences if they continue to threaten life with their actions so just so you know, we will be keeping across the details of what is discussed at the u.n. council there and as we get developments out of that, we will bring them to you. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. right, let's look at some of the stories making the news now. a 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murdering teenager harry pittman who was stabbed in north london

on new year's eve. he was 16 and attacked on imrose hill shortly before midnight on sunday. metropolitan police said an 18 euro men was also arrested on suspicion. the government says pupils at english schools that have been partially closed because of dangerous concrete will not get extra help in their exams studen -- in their exams. school leaders have called for special consideration. a new research suggests supermarkets experience their busiest christmas period since 2019. customers made 480 8 million trips to the supermarket in the four weeks to christmas eve. you are alive with bbc news. in england, the longer strike in

nhs history is underway. a junior doctors started their sixth day of walking out over a long-running dispute over pay. thousands of routine appointments and operations have been postponed as hospitals focus on emergency care. a pay increase of 8.8% has been awarded by the government and they offered an extra 3% on top of that. the doctors union, the british medical association, says that is still not a credible offer that reflects the rise in inflation. the government says union demands are unrealistic. let's speak to a junior doctors -- a representative from the junior doctors committee. let's just talk about the strike and the length of it and the potential disruption. there are lots of fears by people working in hospitals, patients at home, about safety in an already stretched system.

are you worried about that, too? >> i am always worried about patient safety and having worked in the nhs in the last few years when it is collapsing if not already collapsed, patient safety is our primary concern and that is why during these strikes, we meet with nhs three times a day to assess interrogations and look at whether we need to send doctors back to hospital or whether other solutions can be found but one of the reasons we are on strike here is also patient safety. if we look at patient safety last winter when the not a single doctor was out on strike, we had 500 people a week dying of preventable causes because there were not enough doctors in a&e. if w were an airline that did not do anything about that, you would be asking us questions. the reason so many doctors are leaving is because they have had pay cuts over the last 15 years

meaning that they not graduate with 100 grand of debt starting with just 15 pounds per hour for this life-saving work. >> what is wrong with the offer of a pay increase of eight. 8.8%? >> that pay offer would still leave the majority of doctors with a real terms pay cut given inflation was 11.4% last year. not only that, it doesn't do anything to address the previous 15 years of real pay cuts. if we have got an exodus, and we have got an exodus, to australia, canada, new zealand, and other industries that value and pay doctors appropriately, do we really think an extra one pound 50 an hour will keep doctors here? all we are asking for is to reverse pay cuts to get back to net neutral and what that looks like is that doctor earning 20 pounds per hour which i think is reasonable for patient health care. >> it doesn't seem to be much

confidence that any kind of last-minute talks were ongoing talks could be possible whilst in this walkout is ongoing so it looks like days and days of disruption and then after that, potentially there will be talks. do you know what you will accept, what it will take to not walk out anymore, not go on strike? is it that net neutral figure that you were just referring to or is there any other compromise? >> i don't think these strikes are inevitable. we can still have talks today, tomorrow, or any time and the health secretary has encouraged us by saying that she has a better final offer to make but we are still yet to hear it so the question is why issue willing for these strikes to go ahead rather than giving us that offer? as for what a credible offer looks like, we are willing to negotiate and look at creative solutions. we have indicated we are willing to split the reversal of the pay cuts, the pay restoration over

several years. we have offered creative solutions but we cannot work on any of those of the government are not cong to the negotiating table. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> right, i just want to bring you an update on the dots which i did mention at the top of the hour. it is a significant moment. beyond sport, you don't have to be interested in darts, but the teenager, the 16-year-old is underway. that final match is just getting started. so i think we have some details about how he is getting on so if you have not been following the story, of course, this is him there. he is 16 years old, luke, defying all the odds, getting all the way to the final. he would become the youngest world darts champion if he

wins. he is up against luke humphreys, the current number one, so it is an incredibly difficult challenge ahead but he has performed incredibly well up until now so he came in potentially in some eyes as a favorite despite facing the world number one. so an incredibly important night in his career. we will be keeping you right across the details. he has already lost the first set with one set down but plenty to go so we will be keeping you across that. the other development to bring you is in new york. united nations security council there debating those attacks from your many -- yemeni houthi rebels on ships and shipping in that sea lane and all the

disruption and risk to life that has been so we are keeping across these pictures and discussions. when we get any closer to understanding what the significant newlines are out of new york and indeed london, alexandria, we will bring ose to you. stay with us. i am back with the headlines in just a moment. for now, i am louis. this is bbc news bye-bye. -- bbc news. bye-bye. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned.