On Friday's Global Focus, Backchat will look into rising regional tensions in the Middle East.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran on Wednesday in an attack the militant group blamed on Israel. Israeli authorities have not directly commented on the strike, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country had delivered "crushing blows" to its enemies.


The strike on Haniyeh's residence comes a day after Israel eliminated senior Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr in the Lebanese capital Beirut, in retaliation to an attack on the Golan Heights which killed 12 people last weekend. These events have re-ignited fears that an escalation over Lebanon could be on the horizon alongside the risks of possible retributions from Iran. Is the conflict about to worsen?


After 9:30, we discuss Sino-Italian relations, as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni concluded her visit to Beijing.


After 9:45, we talk about World Breastfeeding Week.


9:05am-9:30am: Killing of Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh


9:05am-9:30am: Prof Tanaka Koichiro, Professor at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Japan
9:05am-9:30am: Prof Greg Barton, Research Professor in Global Islamic Politics Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation
9:05am-9:30am: Prof James Dorsey, Adjunct Senior Fellow, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore



9:30am-9:45am: Italian PM Giorgia Meloni's China visit

9:30am-9:45am: Josef Gregory Mahoney, Professor of Politics and International Relations, East China Normal University (Shanghai)


9:45am-10:00am: World Breastfeeding Week

9:45am-10:00am: Eunice Yung, Lawmaker, New People’s Party