wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. ♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned.

george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman fodation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> helloyou are watce context on bbc news. >> my working assumption is we will have an election in the second have of this year. i have a lot i want to get on with. it means cutting people's taxes. >> squatting in downing street for months on end, gathering and delaying when the country wants change. what is he hiding?

>> suggesting it will be in the second half of the year rather than the first half. why is he doing that? it will help to ease off speculation and give him some space to govern. ♪ >> here in the u.k., the first time the prime minister has given some idea when the next general election can be, it the second half of the year is the working assumption at the moment. also coming up on the program. the latest developments in the middle east, including the funeral of a hamas deputy leader in lebanon. thousands were there. prince andrew and bill clinton are named in files related to sex offender jeffrey epstein. what we have learned. and ai terrorism stethoscopes, and keyboard keys all in our weekly look at artificial

intelligence. ai decoded is coming up. welcome to the program. there are plenty of elections around the world this year. now we know more abo what could be happening in the u.k.. rishi sunak said the general election is likely to happen in the second half of this year. he did not rule out it happening earlier but said his working assumption is later this year. -- says he's squatting in downing street for months on end. our political editor, chris mason. >> rishi sunak, prime minister. >> mansfield and nottingham chef, a town conservatives want to hold onto at the general election. >> happy new year, how are you doing? >> the prime minister taking questions at a youth center and taking this crucial question from a reporter. >> it is a new year, is it also going to be a general election

year? >> yes. my working assumption is we will have a general election in the second half of this year. i have a lot i want to get on with in the meantime. >> words that grab attention, say something, but commit to nothing. 150 miles away at, exactly the same time, we tell keya starmer what richie sumac has just said. >> the prime minister is now hinting without setting a date, but 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? >> conservatives have a mandate to serve in government through this year. you can clamor for an early election, but that is the constitutional truth. >> winning the last general election. >> the third prime minister they've had since 2019. >> it is not just the kenai on when the election is. >> i think the prime minister is

running scared of the voters. people are fed up with the economic policies, health policies, they want change. democrats agree. he's just clinging onto power. >> it looks like there will be matters in the scottish context this year. what we know for certain is tories will get beat like every election since 1955. >> on the outskirts of bristol in a spot they need to win from the conservatives, criticism from one of his own mp's that it is 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 are in a huge mess.

everyone agrees as well it has been like this for a while. but britain needs change, wants change, is crying out for change. and yet, trust in politics is so low, so degraded, nobody believes you can make a difference anymore. >> it turns out there may be more time than some thought for political leaders, whoever they are, to take this on. words, crowds, persuasions, promises. 2024 will have the lot of them. >> chris mason there. joining me is lucy fisher, editor at the financial times. thank you for coming onto the program. what is your take on what we have heard from where she sunak? >> in some ways, it does not really move the dial. most westminster watches have predicted the most likely window

for an election was october, november this year. however, what he has said today indicating he's looking past this year. it does not rule out him going to the public in may and june if there is a miraculous recovery in the economy in this conservative party polling fortunes. i don't think he has backed himself into a corner if things looked very positive for his party. his own approval ratings later this spring. what what he's indicated is what many have thought has been the most likely timi. the important thing for him was to make some comment on it. there has been growing momentum to the attack line spotted by labor, lib dems warning that things are gearing up for the election. and if he seems to fail to call an election, if he fails to try and dampen that speculation, it

would allow the attack line of him bottling the election. an attack used successfully against gordon brown when he took over, to take hold. >> that is one political tactical tip for rishi sunak. if it is towards the end of the year, it gets congested around there. party conferens, elections. >> that is right. you can see a scenario in which the party conference at the beginning of october is starting on the short election campaign for the ballot itself to be held in mid-november. however, that would see the u.k. coming a week, possibly two weeks after the u.s. election. and there are a lot of concerns, nebulous concerns, about read across from the u.s. where disinformation is expected to be a massive problem. where the populism of an expected trump campaign, how

that can influence the u.k. campaign is something both parties are watching carefully. >> let's take a moment to look at the big speech, clearly responding to the announcement from rishi sunak. what did you make of what he had to say? >> the message was clear, hope and change. he used each word almost about 20 times today. it makes sense to me the labor leader, the leader of the opposition would exploit the opportunity for a big set piece january speech to set up his vision for the country, project hope as he calls it. it was sort of a 30 minute speech, a broad horizon scanning exercise. he took a lot of questions from journalists. i ink we learned a bit. him saying he is very much up for the tv debate against rishi

sunak. saying he might go back on any inheritance cup tax if conservatives push ahead with it before the general election. that is the source of a lot of speculation over christmas. and certainly the right, tori mp's, the wealthier shire heartlands, urging him to commit to that in the march budget for the manifesto. beyond that, suggesting the scale of borrowing for his 20 a billion-dollar green prosperity plan can be watered down further. i think we did learn a bit today from keya starmer. in truth, rishi sunak, talking about the election campaign, has won the war for trumping the news bulletins tonight. >> interesting. thank you for coming on. thanks for that. we are going to head to the middle east. lebanon. the funeral of the deputy leader ofamas has been taking place in the capital of beirut.

he was killed on tuesday. this is the funeral procession part of it. he and two other officials being carried through the street. he was assassinated in a drone strike tuesday. the leader of hezbollah threatened a decisive response for the killing. israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement. our reporter in beirut has more. >> crowds gather for the funeral of the deputy hamas leader that was assassinated in an attack here in beirut on tuesday. many were carrying placards with his face and waving hamas and palestinian flags. this assassination was a blow for hamas. it also hit its allies in lebanon, hezbollah. the 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 indications hezbollah and israel can be trying to avoid a major escalation in the crisis. the israeli defense minister reaffirmed israel's commitment to resolve the situation along the border with lebanon so that evacuated because of the constant hezbollah attacks that could return to their homes. he also said there was a short window of opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the crisis with hezbollah. and these comments followed a speech made yesterday by the influential leader of hezbollah in which he said the assassination that happened in beirut was a flagrant israeli

aggression. but crucially, he did not make any threats to attack israel. he's is expected to address his supporters again on friday. any response from hezbollah is likely to be limited, measured, because he knows he needs to prevent any escalation that can trigger a massive israeli response. and another potential catastrophic conflict. >> thanks to hugo for tha the secretary of state antony blinken leaving for the middle east in a few hours time. he will spend a week visiting israel and the west bank as well as turkey, greece, jordan, qatar, and u.k. it comes during heightened concerns, nearly three months into this conflict. let's hear it 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. seco, he will discuss with the government of israel its ongoing campaign against hamas to ensure october 7 cannot be repeated. including plans to transition to the next phase of operations. and the steps israel can take to protect civilians and enable palestinians to return to their home and neighborhoods despite cartels. 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 since october 7, 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 isn no one's interest, not israel, not the region, not the world, for this conflict to spread beyond gaza.

he will emphasize the responsibility of all partners -- parties to charter a path forward achieving lasti security for israelis and palestinians. >> quite the list. we will come back to that. in the last few hours, israel's defense minister has been outlining israel's plans for the next stage of the war in gaza with a new targeted approach in the northern section of continuing its search for leaders in the south. in a statement, he said after the war, hamas would no longer control gaza, as long as there was no threat to israel. we are going to pick over what that means. we can speak to a former senior u.s. national security official. thank you for coming on the program. >> thanks for having me. >> a lot happening in the last couple of hours. should we start with the idea israel is talking about what

happens the day after as has become known? we learned this idea it will be palestinian bodies in control so long as there is no threats to israel. can you unpack what that will mean in practice? >> sure. i can describe what i think it means to me. i believe the israeli defense minister's comments were carefully selected because he has his own internal politics. the prime minister who has not been useful and productive in thinking about the day after. so the united states has talked about the need for revitalize palestinian authority to have a key role in gaza. palestinian authority in charge of the west bank, and still have a number of people on its payroll in gaza.

has an element of the structure to be able to take over. but is going to need a lot of help in doing so from the international community, from israel, so i believe that is what needs to happen. that is part of what he will be talking about when he's there. and i hear the defense ministers comments as leading away open for that while acknowledging he has a prime minister who has tried to close the door to that. >> let's focus on the military operation. what do you make of where israel is in your assessment of what the intention is now? >> i think what we are hearing and seeing in what has happened in the last several days is a shift to a more long-term and specifically targeted strategy.

the action in beirut, the assassination of the hamas military leader in beirut, part of that. as is the idea they would continue with a much more targeted approach in northern gaza. i think they still have challenges in southern gaza. i think they're trying to get to the military leader in gaza. he's most likely in tunnels deep underneath in the south of gaza. also probably using hostages as human shields, given the propensity of hamas to surround themselves with innocent civilians, whether palestinian or israeli. >> i want to get your thoughts on what is happening in lebanon. the initial fears for the conflict as of the seventh of october. most onlookers now feeling it

does not sense has below will be dragged into a full-scale conflict. what is your assessment? >> i share that assessment. also comments i made yesterday to other bbc outlets shortly after the strike had occurred. i noted that idf at that point, the defense minister has since made comments. but a defense spokesperson made a point saying that even though israel has not acknowledged that they were involved in the strike, he made a point emphasized they are focusing on hamas targets, not has below. what is happening on the northern border in the back and forth between israeli forces and has below forces has been more contained. it has gone up and down some. it has shown bh sides recognize the importance of containing, crossing a tripwire.

the entire region is a tinderbox. but a lot of folks are involved. he heard the state department spokesperson saying it is in no one's interest in the world, other than isis perhaps, and having this erupting into a broader conflict. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> this is bbc news. let's look at some of the stories making the news now. between nhs chiefs and union leaders as a six-day strike by england's junior doctors enters its second day. the doctors union has accuse house leaders of misusing the system for calling doctors back to work one patient safety is at risk. they insist there were genuine requests for help. a 49-year-old man arrested after shots were fired at a cinema in

liverpool wednesday evening. police locd down the showcase cinema when a man threatened staff before shooting the outside of a building. officers responded to the incidents involving shots being fired, but no one was injured. more than 40 people who applied to the troubles victims pension scheme have died before any decision was made. you are live with bbc news. thank you very much for joining us. we are going to take a look at what has been happening in the u.s. prince andrew among a string of high profile associates of the late convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein named in newly relsed u.s. court documents. 900 pages contain dozens of

references to the king's brother. including testimony from a young woman whose has prince andrew groped her. the records are from a civil case against ghislaine maxwell, epstein's british ex-girlfriend in jail in the u.s. for assisting. prince andrew has denied the allegations against him. our north america correspondent has more. >> jeffrey epstein was a billionaire financier. he was also a serial abuser of underaged girls. he knew some of the best-known faces on the planet, from british royalty, pop stars, former presidents. these latest court documents contain more than 60 references to prince andrew, someo 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 long friendship with epstein is what ended his public royal role. the 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 met andrew on a number of occasions and had been forced to have sex with the prints when she was 17 years old. despit photos showing them together, the prince said he had no recollection of meeting her. >> i have said consistently and frequently that we never had any sort of sexual contact whatsoever. >> 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 ghislaine maxwell, who is 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 or g 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. >> we can speak to a royal commentator. thank you for coming on the program. what do you think we have learned from what has been revealed, and what do you think the impact is on prince andrew? >> there are no new allegations related to princendrew. we have known all of this previously. the groping of the breast we have known about since 2019.

what is new about the documents, we have sworn depositions and witness statements from over 100 people in general regarding all 170 names, but also the deposition of joanna sober, the one who made the allegation, and also talks about bill clinton and others. that is what is different. but although prince andrew has been thrust back into the public eye with the story, and must be thinking will he ever be able to escape the clutches of this story, definitely not the start to the new year he wants. the release of so many other names may work to prince andrew's benefit. at least in america and around the world. because you've had big names mentioned, bill clinton has been mentioned, you mentioned stephen hawking. david copperfield, even michael jackson. it has to be said, none of these people have been accused of doing any wrongdoing.

it is not a little black book of sexual offenders. the same when making an allegation of groping also said jeffrey epstein said bill clinton liked young girls. at least the attention of the media will go to these people rather than prince andrew's. some aspect this may benefit him. >> what is the status of prince andrew in the royal family? >> since the story broke, prince andrew lost his status as a royal highness, lost his honorary ranks, his military ranks in his title. he's no longer able to wear a military uniform at public events and so forth. he's very much a pvate member of the royal family as opposed to a working member. but he still has some privileges. the king has decided to allow him to remain a royal of windsor.

you may remember some talk you might go to for more college. and last year, the king decided because prince andrew had lost his public funded security, the king would privately fund his own security. >> i'm afraid we are out of time, but thank you for coming onto the program. prince andrew has previously denied all allegations against him. this is bbc news. 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. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned.