In four years. Hello. In the last hour, lebanon has banned Walkie Talkies and pagers from all flights out of the countrys only commercial airport in operation. The move comes after explosions were triggered in pagers and Walkie Talkies used by hezbollah. The attacks killed at least 32 people and injured thousands. Israel hasnt confirmed it was behind the blasts, but its Defence Minister Yoav gallant has said its opening a new phase in the war. The us says its involved in intensive diplomatic efforts to prevent the conflict escalating further. The leader of hezbollah, which some western states have designated a terrorist organisation, is expected to address the events in a speech later today. Simonjones reports. A funeral in Southern Lebanon is about to be interrupted. Explosion an explosion, injuring a hezbollah soldier, causing panic and fear. Screaming in beirut, another blast caused by a walkie talkie. Explosion. A new form of technological warfare. Sirens. Seen too at this mobile Phone Shop in the city of sidon, where several devices went off. Communication weaponised. On tuesday, it was pagers used by hezbollah that were exploding. Old School Technology that the group turned to recently, because it feared its Mobile Phones could be tracked. But its thought the supply of pagers was intercepted and tiny amounts of high explosive hidden inside. Among the dead were two children. Hezbollah has blamed israel. It hasnt commented, but Israels Defence Minister has said this. Translation i believe that we are at the start of a new phase in the war and we must adapt. The centre of gravity is moving towards the north. This means that we are diverting forces, resources and energy towards the north. Israel has released this footage of its Troops Training near the lebanese border. A Second Division of the army has moved to the area, leading to growing fears of all out war. Hezbollah, backed by iran, has been Trading Fire with israel across the border since last october. Hezbollah� S Leader is due to give a speech today, in which he may indicate what the group will do next. The us is urging restraint. We want to see the war end. And everything weve been doing since the beginning has been designed to prevent the conflict from escalating. We still believe, for instance, that there is a diplomatic path forward that. Particularly up near lebanon. Explosion. In beirut, the Security Forces carry out a controlled explosion on a pager outside a hospital. All devices are seen as a potential threat. A diplomatic path to Peace Wont be easy to tread. Simon jones, Bbc News. Attention has now turned to the Walkie Talkies themselves and how the explosions were possible. This is what we know. The japanese Firm Icom says its investigating reports the devices bear its logo. It said production of the model stopped ten years ago, and added manufacturing of its batteries has also stopped. The company described the model as a hand held radio which was exported to the Middle East from 2004 to 2014 and has not shipped since then. Icom also said it isnt possible to confirm whether the Walkie Talkies that exploded were bought directly from icom, or via a distributor. While the region waits for hezbollah and Irans Response to this extraordinary development, what are the recent events that led to this . On October 8th last year, the day after hamas gunmen crossed into israel from gaza, hezbollah fired at israeli positions to show solidarity with the palestinians. 8,000 rockets, according to israeli officials, have since been launched at Northern Israel and israeli positions on the golan heights. Israel retaliated with repeated strikes at hezbollah positions in lebanon. Lebanese officials say this led to 589 killings. Israeli authorities say thereve been at least 46 israelis killed. Almost 200,000 people have been displaced on both sides of the border. Then a significant escalation onjuly 27th twelve children killed in a Rocket Attack that struck a Football Pitch in the israeli occupied golan heights. Three days later, on 30 july, an Air Strike in Beirut Kills senior hezbollah Military Commander Fouad shukr. In office and the following day, hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh is killed in tehran. And now in just two days, weve had these two major waves of explosions striking hezbollah members. Meanwhile, theres been fresh Cross Border Violence between israel and hezbollah. Israeli media are reporting at least five civilians have been injured in a hezbollah Rocket Attack. And the israeli military says it conducted Air Strikes on seven targets in Southern Lebanon overnight. So, with lebanon on edge, our Correspondent Hugo Bachega gave us the latest from beirut. This is a massive humiliation for hezbollah, it is the worst Security Breach in their history. Two days of attacks, targeted with devices used by members of the group, it shows that israel has managed to penetrate the Groups Communication networks. So, it is a very difficult reality for hezbollah right now, how to respond to these attacks, not only in terms of retaliation but in terms of how to adapt to this new reality. Again, hassan nasrallah, the powerful Hezbollah Leader is going to make a speech later today. His first public reaction since those attacks. And i think many people will be watching this speech to see any kind of indication of how the group is planning to respond. Hezbollah has vowed to respond after these attacks, blaming israel for these explosions that happened across the country. And again, realfears here of a possible escalation in this conflict between hezbollah and israel. We saw yesterday that the israeli Defence Minister Yoav gallant said that his country was at the start of a new phase in this war, so, again, concerns that this conflict that has been by and large contained to areas along the border could escalate into a major confrontation between israel and hezbollah. You have to question how target these attacks have been when you look at the sheer number of civilians, and children, as well, who have been affected and maimed by these explosions. Exactly. This has been the source of a lot of anger in the country, because of the extent of these attacks. Some of these devices exploded as people were in shops, at home with their families, and there has been of chaos and confusion. Yesterday i was in Southern Beirut when one of those explosions happened. There was panic because many people believed that no electronic device was safe, hezbollah members were stopping us to say, do not use your phone or your camera. One of our producers received a message from a friend to say that she was changing her lebanese Sim Card to an international one, because she was concerned that her phone could explode. So this gives you a sense of the feeling across the country. So there was shock, as a result of those attacks, but also a lot of anger because hundreds of people have been injured, lots of people with severe eye, hand, facial injuries, as well. So, there is widespread anger as a result of those attacks that happened in several locations across the country. Hugo bachega in beirut. If lets speak to Luca Trenta, Associate Professor in International Relations at Swansea University with a Focus On Intelligence and covert action. Thank you forjoining us here only Bbc News. Share your initial thoughts on these explosions that we have seen in lebanon in the last couple of days. Lebanon in the last couple of da 5. ~ ,. , lebanon in the last couple of da 5. ~. ,. , days. Thank you for having me. In terms of days. Thank you for having me. In terms of what days. Thank you for having me. In terms of what happened, days. Thank you for having me. In terms of what happened, it | in terms of what happened, it has changed quite radically throughout the day. Yesterday we sat there were some tampering with the Lithium Batteries but then they settled on the idea that these were tiny explosives that have been placed in the pages at some time during the production or distribution. Now we have the second wave of explosions, this time in radios and other wireless devices which, again, creates more doubt as to how this was conducted were aware this was conducted were aware this was conducted were aware this was purchased. We know the pagers were purchased from a company in hungary who had the right to produce them and were distributed to hezbollah. But everything else is less clear at the moment. Everything else is less clear at the moment. What does it tell us then at the moment. What does it tell us then about at the moment. What does it tell us then about the tell us then about the capabilities of whoever has intervened in this way and adapted these devices in this way, if it is israel, which is not confirmed yet. Way, if it is israel, which is not confirmed yet. Course it is not confirmed yet. Course it is not confirmed not confirmed yet. Course it is not confirmed because not confirmed yet. Course it is not confirmed because it not confirmed yet. Course it is not confirmed because it is. Not confirmed because it is practice of israel to not confirm the Recovery Operations but i think we can confirm that it is israel. It shows their ability to infiltrate Production Line and Supply Chains and Supply Facilities to produce these pages and devices. As so many other commentators just mentioned, devices. As so many other commentatorsjust mentioned, It Commentators just mentioned, it certainly commentatorsjust mentioned, it certainly demonstrate a high Level Penetration of hezbollah. It is beyond the impact that the attackers had. It is beyond the impact that the attackers had. What you make of the the attackers had. What you make of the time the attackers had. What you make of the time in . The attackers had. What you make of the time in . How. The attackers had. What you | make of the time in . How do the attackers had. What you make of the time in . How do we know that this happened at a time of israels choosing . The timin is time of israels choosing . The timing is a time of israels choosing . The timing is a big time of israels choosing . Tue timing is a big question because there was some Speculation Yesterday that israel was in a use it or lose it situation, that hezbollah had discovered problems with the pagers so israel had to explode them in order to use them and not lose the effort and technology. If that is the case, may the timing was not as precise as israel would have wanted but it is certainly a clear explanation in the competition with hezbollah and hezbollah� s regional allies. Irate hezbollahs regional allies. We are talking hezbollahs regional allies. We are talking about how this happened and who is responsible. But civilians have been killed and maimed by this. Where does International Law stand on actions of mr . Absolutely. This is the main thing. In terms of International Law. A violation of lebanese sovereignty. While you can argue that the intention of the attack may have entered this committee between and hezbollah militants, because most of the pagers went to hezbollah members, israel could not and had no interest in controlling where the explosions happened. Many of them happened in grocery shops, as people were going about their daily lives. The manner of the explosions having a few beeps before the explosion also points to interest in injuring people in certain specific ways. Haifa interest in injuring people in certain specific ways. How much ressure certain specific ways. How much pressure are certain specific ways. How much pressure are we certain specific ways. How much pressure are we likely certain specific ways. How much pressure are we likely to certain specific ways. How much pressure are we likely to see. Pressure are we likely to see from the united states and The International Community . We dont yet know, but when you see sabotage like this in the past, what is it that makes the Perpetrator Stop . Eleanor the The International Community has not had much impact on israels actions in gaza and abroad. They were informed that an entire Intelligence Operation was taking place. It is on the brink of exhalation and putting the ball in Hezbollahs Corner and deciding whether to take the loss. I think the speech we will hear later today will give us a sense of where the group aims to go. Us a sense of where the group aims to 90 aims to go. Professor Luca Trenta from aims to go. Professor Luca Trenta from the aims to go. Professor Luca Trenta from the university| aims to go. Professor Luca L trenta from the university of swanson, thank you so much for talking to us. Swanson, thank you so much for talking to us talking to us. Thank you for havin talking to us. Thank you for having me talking to us. Thank you for having me. Lets talking to us. Thank you for having me. Lets remind. Talking to us. Thank you for| having me. Lets remind you that the bbc having me. Lets remind you that the Bbc News having me. Lets remind you that the Bbc News website | having me. Lets remind you | that the Bbc News website is running a live page where you will see minute by minute updates of the situation in lebanon. It includes a timeline of when these explosions happened over the last couple of days. It also has info about how pagers and Walkie Talkies have been banned on flights leaving from lebanons international airport. Around the world and across the uk. This is Bbc News. The bbc has revealed that the late Mohamed Al fayed, former owner of harrods, the uks largest luxury Department Store, has been accused of rape by five female ex employees. The egyptian born businessman rose from a poor family in alexandria to buy the world famous Department Store in 1985. A Bbc Documentary has uncovered evidence that under Mohamed Al fayeds ownership, harrods not only failed to intervene, but helped to cover up abuse allegations. This report from Shaima Khalil contains descriptions of sexual violence. Yeah, i went back to harrods about a year ago, and i knew if i could walk through and come out the other side, id be in a good place to be talking to you. Ijoined harrods because i wanted to be a buyer, and i ended up working for an absolute monster. When Mohamed Al fayed took over harrods, he quickly embraced his high Profile Role and the status that came with it. To his customers and the celebrity guests, he was all charm, but to many of his female employees, he was a different man a predator. Weve heard testimony from more than 20 of Al Fayeds female ex employees. He tried to rape me more than once. And he pushed me in and onto the bed so that i couldnt move. You know, he was 79, i nearly 80, and i was 15. Mohamed Al Fayed was rich and powerful. That power allowed him to carry out assault at scale over decades. I wasnt at home. I was in france. And hed come upstairs into my room. I was absolutely terrified, got into bed with me and was trying to kiss me and push himself on me and i. Again, ijust. I dont know how i did it. Ijust kicked him off. I kicked him, kicked him, kicked him, kicked and screamed. And again i got him off. I was just. Just terrified. I think Mohamed Al fayed is a rapist. I think hes a serial rapist. Gemma worked as Al Fayeds Personal Assistant for two years. My first trip was actually to abu dhabi, and he was trying to get in my room in quite an aggressive manner. It was absolutely terrifying, just didnt know which way to turn. So i bought a small dictaphone that i had in my pocket. And these are the transcripts from those recordings. One of them was in paris, in his residence there, villa windsor. I said, i just want to go to sleep on my own. Mr fayed, i dont want to, mr fayed. And he kept saying, relax, please, relax. How can you relax when youre in that situation . He walked out and he was angry. Not long after this incident, gemma says Al Fayed raped her. The bbc has heard testimony from four other women, who say he raped them at his properties. In 2009, gemma contacted a lawyer, who told harrods she was leaving herjob on the grounds of sexual harassment. She didnt feel able to disclose the more serious allegations at the time. They agreed to pay a settlement if she signed a non disclosure agreement. There was also one other condition. The lawyers organised for a Shredding Truck to come to my lawyers office. It was shredded in front of us, including tapes i had of him, my phone that had messages and voicemails, really quite nasty voicemails, on them. Someone from hr was present for the shredding of all of the evidence i had. I thought id lost the transcripts, but actually, what i did have was the transcriptions sent to my lawyer in my sent items of my E Mail Account at the time. In a statement, the current owners of harrods say they were utterly appalled by the allegations and that employees, who were his victims, had been failed, for which they sincerely apologised. They also said that the harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010. There were several attempts to expose Al Fayed before his death, but it is only now that many of the survivors feel able to speak publicly about the abuse. For those who have, the silence and the taboo are finally broken. Shaima khalil, Bbc News. And you can get more on this story by listening to the new season of world of secrets, from the bbc world service, on bbc sounds or wherever you get your bbc podcasts. And if youve been affected by any of the issues in our report, you can find advice on the Bbc Action Line on our website. Next, we turn to Storm Boris and the floods that have forced thousands to evacuate across Central Europe and killed at least 23 people. Italy is the latest country to close schools in the north, and move its residents to safety. Some roads have also been blocked due to landslides. More thunderstorms are expected in the coming days. Meanwhile, poland is bracing itself for the peak of the recent flooding today, with warnings that the countrys third largest city, wroclav, is at risk. This is the city, where, as you can see, local residents have been working to fill sandbags, which will be used to try to control the river oder. It has already gone past the level at which Flood Warnings are issued. Elsewhere, in South Western poland, you can see how the flood have already caused damage near rivers. Around 10,000 members of the military have been deployed to help with the Emergency Operations and helicopters have been sent to help evacuate some stranded people. And these pictures give an idea of the sort of devastation the flooding has caused. This is klodzko, where the Noosa River burst its banks. Local reports suggest the floods surged to two metres above the height of the river banks. Polands prime minister, Donald Tusk says the authorities have not yet been able to establish how many buildings have been destroyed in some remote areas. In the next hour, therell be a decision from the Bank Of England on whether to increase Interest Rates from the current level of 5 . The decision comes after Uk Inflation remained at 2. 2 last month. The Central Bank in the united states lowered Interest Rates by half a Percentage Point on wednesday, the first cut for more than four years. Well be bringing you the latest updates and analysis on the Uk Interest rates on our live page. Just head to the Bbc News website. Our Business CorrespondentPeter Ruddick told me about the factors that will influence the decision. Im nota im not a betting man but i think the one thing we can predict is it going to be a close decision. Why . Because the last time the nine Person Committee voted 5 4, as close as you can get, to cut Interest Rates now time to the 5 level where they are at now, the 0. 25 change. And why is it going to be so close . Because although there is disagreement really among the committee and among economic experts about how sticky, how stubborn Inflation Price rises are, there is agreement that the trend in price rises, the rate of inflation, is coming down but it is coming down relatively slowly, relatively cautiously. Therefore, the decision is pretty finely balanced and it follows that perhaps the monetary Policy Committee will be as cautious as the rate of inflation moves with their decision making. So potentially we could get a hold today, and then perhaps a cut when they meet in november. If you had asked me if you days ago, i think the expectation was that we would get that hold. In the last couple of days, perhaps the chances of another cut coming today have increased. Why . Well, partly because i think some of the inflation figures We Saw yesterday did suggest that the bits of invasion that are quite sticky, quite stubborn. They might be due to one off factors. Of course as you mentioned in the headlines, the fact the us Central Bank, now the Bank Of England say they are not influenced by what happens across the atlantic, but the fact that the us Central Bank did move and did move in quite a significant way last night, perhaps that could influence their thinking, as well. The decision as you say comes at midday today. The United Nations wants to treat Artificial Intelligence with the same urgency as climate change. An international panel of experts tasked by the Un Secretary General has released a highly critical report on its global governance describing it as a patchwork of rules and guidelines. Lets speak to Dr Kris Shrishak who is a public Interest Technologist and Senior Fellow at enforce. Thank you forjoining us. How much behind the curve are we globally when it comes to Ai Governance . It globally when it comes to Ai Governance . Governance . It is a disparity across the governance . It is a disparity across the globe. Governance . It is a disparity across the globe. There governance . It is a disparity across the globe. There are | across the globe. There are some countries and regions like the European Union that have gone ahead and established Concrete Rules to govern systems, where on the other hand there are parts of the world that are lagging behind and do not even have Privacy Laws on how to regulate Artificial Intelligence. So this disparity creates the problem that we need different kinds of laws and rules. In such a scenario, we have the possibility that the United Nations can step in and form some type of Consensus And Information sharing. Some type of Consensus And Information sharing. Last year, some Ai Companies information sharing. Last year, some Ai Companies committed information sharing. Last year, i some Ai Companies committed to an voluntary agreement to test the most powerful Artificial Intelligence models. How is it working . Intelligence models. How is it workinu . ,. , , working . Not really because in some sense. Working . Not really because in some sense, it working . Not really because in some sense, it is working . Not really because in some sense, it is a working . Not really because in some sense, it is a monetary l some sense, it is a monetary commitment. It does not have aspects such as holding accountable third parties. And not having accountability is always a problem. It is more of a good Faith Effort as opposed to keeping them accountable when things go wrong. Accountable when things go wronu. , f. Accountable when things go wronu. ,. , wrong. How difficult is it auoin wrong. How difficult is it going to wrong. How difficult is it going to be wrong. How difficult is it going to be to wrong. How difficult is it going to be to put wrong. How difficult is it going to be to put governance in place in places that are going to . We have seen the difficulty with change will stop by the very nature, Artificial Intelligence is always evolving and it will be hard to keep up. Always evolving and it will be hard to keep up. Indeed and if ou look hard to keep up. Indeed and if you look at hard to keep up. Indeed and if you look at the hard to keep up. Indeed and if you look at the report, hard to keep up. Indeed and if you look at the report, There L you look at the report, there are startling aspects. Some things are very useful to have unbiased inputs, for example. So hopefully the folks that are brought in dont have other interests. Once that is in place, there are advisory councils in place. But using that input is important. What do we do in such a case . We need to move it and provide it to countries around the world so they then use that input, make laws, and enforce the laws and hold companies accountable. Doctor. Thank you very much for talking to Bbc News. Plenty of sunshine developing across the uk. There will be some changes through the rest of the week. Low pressure moves up of the week. Low pressure moves up from iberia and will bring some rain. These are the rainfall amounts for the weekend. There could be months worth of rain. In the North And West it will stay dry. As it does today for many. We already have sunshine in western areas and it will develop in the afternoon. Some of the cloud will take a while to shift. Lincolnshire, East Yorkshire it could stay cloudy all day long. Breeze cool and temperature is mid to high teens. In the Sunshine Low to mid 20s. Overnight, the Easterly Breeze Will Drag Cloud back in. Central and eastern areas. In the west clear skies. Could be low temperatures and even in the single figures for some isolated parts. The low cloud on friday will linger more widely in Eastern Scotland and england. Sunshine will come through and we could see some Sense Thundery Showers develop in some places. Many places will still stay dry. Temperatures will start to creep down a bit in the afternoon. Into the weekend then and saturday we see some of the showers lingering from Friday Night across the South West and then developing more widely across parts of central and Southern England and wales. Some showers but low cloud could bring some drizzle to us. Plenty of sunshine still but temperatures youre jabbing a bit more as the breeze picks up. That breeze will pick up further into sunday as the low pressure comes towards us. Some longer spells of heavy thundering possible across wales in central and Southern England. One or two expats to avoid. Some spots to avoid. That is how it is working now. That is how it is looking at now