thank you for your thoughts professor of middle eastern and islamic studies, amin saikal.ys to battle what many economists have described as a demographic ticking time bomb. the country is ageing and shrinking — one in five people are over the age of 60 — which is the largest elderly population in the world. pension and health care systems are struggling to cope at a time when women are having fewer babies. so, can china afford to grow old? our china correspondent laura bicker has been finding out. this generation witnessed the birth of communist china. but while some are ending their lives in comfort. many still have to work until they drop. 0k. i will follow you. grandma feng shows me her room in an elderly care home. you've got a little balcony out the front. she's decided to pay for long term care rather than rely on her son. translation: i'm more open minded. there are few people of the same age who think like us, and it seems we care more about enjoying life. but i thought it through. i gave my house to my son. all we need is our two pension cards. this home is toute

let's speak to amin saikal, professor of middle eastern, central asian and islamic studies at the australianrespond decisively to what has happened. what do you think will happen next? figs think will happen next? as jerem think will happen next? sis jeremy said think will happen next? is jeremy said iran will not respond immediately because iran does not want a direct conflict with israel which would also bring the united states into it. given the strategic partnership with the united states, if there is going to be a direct conflict of course the prime minister netanyahu... did iti of course the prime minister netanyahu... did it i think iran is likely to retaliate indirectly in iraqi, syria yemen and lebanon. but when that will happen, it is likely to take some time and as we know in the past exactly when the general was killed iran promised that they would retaliate but they took their time. perhaps one where they have retaliated is by activating or supporting the actions of the houthi against israel and the united states and of course hamas's actions as well as hezbollah in lebanon.— as

let's speak to professor amin saikal, professor of middle eastern studies at australia national universitylis have responded and i think their response has been quite measured, from what so far. they have only targeted areas which have not caused much destruction or casualties. but at the same time let's not forget that the same time let's not forget that the iranian authorities had repeatedly said that if there was any israeli attack on iranian soil or iranian assets in the region, then iran will respond 100 times heavier. but now it looks like the ball is in iran's court and how the iranian authorities would react, that remains to be seen. as frank gardner said, for the time being, this tit—for—tat is over, but it is not the end of the whole thing, which has been going on between iran and israel over a long period of time. ., . ., , . time. how about the domestic pressures _ time. how about the domestic pressures within _ time. how about the domestic pressures within iran - time. how about the domestic pressures within iran itself? i time. how about the domestic l pressures within iran i