Welcome back to bbc news. Stricter breaking news. A statement from Scotland Yard regarding mohamed fayed. They say they are aware of various allegations of sexual offences made against him over a number of years. The commander from the met said they are aware of the met said they are aware of the allegations made against the allegations made against the late Mohammed Alf fired which were reported to the mets. Each one was investigated and where appropriate advice from the Crown-prosecution-service'>Crown Prosecution Service was sought. No charges resulted from these investigations. We are committed, the statement goes on to say, that those who report them receive the best service possible from our offices and we have made progress in improving the quality of our investigations in recent years, including more than doubling our charges for rape since 2021. That is the statement just rape since 2021. That is the statementjust released rape since 2021. That is the statement just released from Scotland Yard because the bbc has revealed that the late Mohammed Alf fired, the former owner of harrods, the largest luxury Department Store, has been accused by five former employees. The egyptian born businessman, rose from a poor family in alexandria to buying the world famous Department Store in 1985. A Bbc Documentary has uncovered evidence that under Mohamed Al fayed s ownership, harrods not only failed to intervene, but helped to cover up abuse allegations. This report from Shaima Khalil contains descriptions of sexual violence. 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. He would come upstairs into my room. I was absolutely terrified will stop he got into bed with me and was trying to kiss me and was pushing himself on me. I dont know how i did it. I kicked him off, i kicked and kicked and screamed and i got him off. I was terrified. I was 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. I 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 Email 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. Shaimaa khalil, bbc news. Erica gornall is the director, and Cassie Cornish Trestrail the producer, of the Bbc Two documentary � Al Fayed predator at harrods�. They had more about the testimony they heard from the women in the documentary. Sexual abuse is obviously incredibly hard to talk about for anyone, incredibly hard to talk about foranyone, let incredibly hard to talk about for anyone, let alone on a documentary. They are incredibly serious allegations. We are talking about serious sexual abuse, assaults, attempted rape and of course rape. I think what is significant about this particular case is that these women were going to work. They were in a professional environment and Mohammed Alf i had was their boss, which puts them in a very difficult position. Mohamed Al Fayed. The women we spoke to ranged from the 80s to the late 2000. So throughout his whole tenure there. I 50 throughout his whole tenure there. ~ so throughout his whole tenure there. ~ ~. ,. , so throughout his whole tenure there. ~ ~. ,. � there. I think when Mohamed AlFa Ed there. I think when Mohamed Al fayed died there. I think when Mohamed Al fayed died last there. I think when Mohamed Al fayed died last year there. I think when Mohamed Al fayed died last year it there. I think when Mohamed Al fayed died last year it brought L Fayed died last year it brought Back Fayed died last year it brought Back A fayed died last year it brought Back A lot of memories, a lot of bad Back A lot of memories, a lot of bad memories for these women of bad memories for these women. That has triggered them to speak women. That has triggered them to speak out now. It has also taken to speak out now. It has also taken away a lot of the fear that taken away a lot of the fear that was taken away a lot of the fear that was there before. He has also that was there before. He has also been that was there before. He has also been portrayed in the Crown also been portrayed in the Crown the netflix series, and in that Crown the netflix series, and in that he Crown the netflix series, and in that he has quite a positive, gregarious betrayal that isnt the same as these womens that isnt the same as these womens experiences. They wanted womens experiences. They wanted to set the record straight. 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, as well as on the bbc iplayer. Was we were getting that update from Scotland Yard antony blinken, who has been shuttling around various european capitals, has been speaking with his french counterpart in the last few minutes. Just a couple of lines to bring you as a News Conference has finished. Antony blinken is saying that france and the us are united in calling for restraint when it comes to the Middle East and lebanon, in particular. Antony blinken saying we dont want to see any Escalatory Actions by any party that makes a ceasefire even more difficult. The us Secretary Of State shuttling between the Middle East and european capitals, trying to get that Ceasefire Deal over the line. 0nly trying to get that Ceasefire Deal over the line. Only a couple of days ago he was saying 15 sections of that Ceasefire Deal had been agreed. There were three others that they were still trying to get over the line. Again talking up the possibility of a ceasefire and a hostage deal, but of course that hasnt got across the line. In the meantime we have seen israel open up that new phase of the war, talking about Northern Israel and of course over tuesday and wednesday we saw those explosive devices going off in lebanon, targeting hezbollah but impacting civilians as well. These pictures are over beirut, apologies, that locator is wrong. These are the pictures over beirut because we had israeli jets flying over beirut a little earlier at the start of the hezbollah leader making his first official comment, warning again that there will be retaliatory action, but acknowledging the blow that those explosive devices has had on the organisation. We will have plenty more on that story and the rest of todays main stories here on todays verified live. That is here in just a moment. Dont go away. It is still warm and dry with plenty more blue Sky And Sunshine despite the murky start. Yesterday temperatures reached 20 successes in the far north of scotland. Here today at a slightly cooler but still the sunshine continues, particularly out towards the west. Forthe particularly out towards the west. For the rest of the week temperatures remain above the seasonal average. Temperatures remain above the seasonalaverage. It temperatures remain above the seasonal average. It will cool and cloudy if eastern face in kos and expect wet weather across the southern half of the uk On Friday and through the weekend. High pressure dominates today so it is again largely dry. Small chance of an isolated show across the south of england. We are seeing all of that low cloud still burning back towards these eastern face in coasts where it could linger for some time. And with the Onshore Breeze it will feel cooler. We keep that cloud across parts of aberdeenshire, perhaps down to East Anglia. Highest images of the far South East of england but still one for Western Scotland and Northern Ireland in particular. As we head through this evening and overnight it is the same thing all over again. The clearest of the skies out towards the north and the west and expect Mist And Fog patches to develop. It will be a chilly start to the day tomorrow. The cloud will work its way westwards, very mild in the South East, 11 15 or 16 celsius into friday morning. That Mist And Fog will lift and clear readily through the morning. There will be sunshine for the north and west. Quite a murky start for many. Showers will start for many. Showers will start to pop up across East Anglia and track their way further westwards. Maybe a rumble of thunder and heavy downpours of rain. It is still warm. 20 23 c and 23 degrees and the best of the sunshine in Western Scotland. Expect to see more wet weather on saturday. Some heavy, possibly thundery showers pushing in from the south with this unstable air across wales and the southern half of england. Further north, with High Pressure hanging on, it is still going to be dry and once again the best of the sunshine will be for Western Scotland, North West England and for Northern Ireland. There will be more widespread thundery showers potentially on sunday. That clears away as we head into monday and then on tuesday we are back to south westerly winds. It will be quite unsettled as we had through next week and it could possibly turn a lot colder too. Live from london. This is bbc news. Hezbollahs leader accuses israel of Crossing All Red Lines by Detonating Thousands of devices across lebanon, calling the attacks in which 37 were killed a declaration of war. As expected there were strong words against israel and to the promise of a harsh punishment but again, indications has below is not interested in an escalation in this conflict. Israels military announces fresh strikes against hezbollah targets in southern lebanon, saying its bringing security to Northern Israel. For reaction to all the latest developments, well get analysis from our chief international correspondent lyse doucet. In other news, the bbc reveals the former Harrods Boss the late Mohamed Al fayed has been accused of rape by five female ex employees