Targets in lebanon. These are live pictures from the region. Hezbollah says it has fired new waves of rockets into northern israel. Reuters video shows rockets coming from Southern Lebanon being intercepted by the Israeli Military. There are also reports of heavy israeli strikes on several areas of Southern Lebanon. Israel says its Hit Thousands of rocket launchers. Lebanons Health Ministry says 37 people were killed in yesterdays israeli attack on beirut. Israel said it was targeting a top hezbollah military commander, who also died during the attack. It says it killed, in their words, 16 terrorists. Hezbollah says those many of those killed were included women and children. From beirut, Hugo Bachega reports. As morning broke, the destruction became clear. An israeli Air Strike hitting dahieh, hezbollah� s heartland in southern beirut, its conflict with israel returning with force to a place they considered safe. Many here were still incredulous. Translation people were walking, going. Out and coming home. People were heading back from work, and there were those who were coming to pick their children up from the nursery. This is a terrorist act. Unbelievable. Among the missing, a four year Old Girl caught up in a war without being a threat to anyone. This is as close as we can get to the site of the attack. And as you can see, this is a densely populated neighbourhood of beirut. And all morning theres been intense activity from emergency services. The search continues for people who are believed to be under the rubble. And the situation here is still very tense. This footage captured the moment of the attack. Israel has called it a Precision Strike targeting top hezbollah officials. It says they were meeting on the ground of this building to plan more attacks. Among the dead is ibrahim aqil, a senior military commander. The us had put a 7 Million bounty on his head, accusing him of being involved in the killings of americans in beirut in the 1980s. This is another humiliation for hezbollah but it is also a blow to a country already exhausted by this conflict. Translation the israeli army, with all its continued crimes with the excuse of pursuing the hezbollah movement, has targeted a residential compound. Its committed a massacre in a residential building against unarmed children, women at home. How hezbollah is going to respond isnt clear. It doesnt want to spark a wider war with israel, and its supporters in iran dont want a major confrontation, either. But israel says this is just the beginning. Hugo bachega, Bbc News, beirut. In gaza, israel has struck a former school. Hamas says at least 22 people were killed. The Israel Defense forces say the attack targeted a Hamas Command Room at Al Falah School which had been serving as a shelter for displaced civilians. The army insists that steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians but Accused Hamas of systematically using civilian sites to house its fighters. The Israeli Military has received widespread global condemnation for attacking schools, civilians shelters, and hospitals in gaza. Israel says they were Housing Hamas fighters. Our correspondent Daniel De Simone is following the latest developments from jerusalem. What were witnessing today is more in line with what weve really been seeing for months, which is israeli airstrikes in Southern Lebanon. Israel are saying its Targeting Hezbollah targets, hezbollah installations, hezbollah weaponry, and hezbollah saying that it is Firing Rockets at israeli, into northern israel. And weve been seeing this for a long time. I think yesterday it was it was a bit different. Weve only seen Israel Strike three times in beirut since this conflict began nearly a year ago. And obviously the strike was on a very, very densely populated area of southern beirut, on a residential building where several hezbollah senior figures were meeting, apparently in a basement. But obviously the lebanese authorities have said 31 people died, including three children. The Israeli Military saying that 16 people who died were senior hezbollah figures. But what were seeing today in terms of the the the israeli airstrikes and the Hezbollah Rocket attacks, its quite in line with what weve been seeing almost daily, really for quite a long time now. And daniel, when youre looking at this ratcheting up of tensions, how do you see this moving next . And daniel, when youre looking at this ratcheting up of tensions, how do you see this moving next . Well, its really hard to say. I mean, this Week Weve seen a significant escalation, really in the conflict at the beginning of the week. The israeli Security Cabinet has set a new War Goal of this war. Previously, prior to this week, there were three goals. They related to hamas related to gaza. The fourth one relates to the Return Home, the aspiration to Return Home 60,000 israelis who have been displaced in the north of the country due to Rocket Fire from hezbollah. And the israeli leadership has been talking about a new phase of this war about the centre of gravity moving north. A division of the israeli army has been moved north from the south. And then we saw obviously significant strikes against hezbollah. We saw Airstrikes Yesterday in beirut. Yesterday in beirut, on other days in Southern Lebanon, elsewhere where theyve been taking place again for months. We also obviously saw something we hadnt seen before, which was the Pager And Walkie talkie explosions that the deadly explosions throughout lebanon that Targeting Hezbollah. So given all that, and given that israel set out this goal, and hezbollah has said it wont stop fighting israel until it stops its activities in gaza and the occupied west bank, its hard to see what happens, because at the moment, Israel Isnt achieving that goal, it isnt achieving the goal of getting those 60,000 people home. As we speak, hezbollah is saying it is firing Rockets Today into northern israel. So that raises a question about what next . What else israel might do. And so theres a public debate here about what that could look like. Theres discussion of a possible ground incursion. Thats a public discussion rather than the israeli government is saying. And thats all feeding into real international concern about where this conflict goes next. The united States Defense Secretary saying overnight he wants to see a diplomatic resolution to this, so that people on either side of the border can go home. But the israeli government saying that their military actions are going to continue, and Benjamin Netanyahu saying that their goal, our goals are clear and our actions speak for themselves. We have a Life Page up and running on the Bbc News Website And App should you want further updates. Counting has begun in sri Lankas President ial election widely seen as a referendum on the governments handling of the economy. There were a record 38 candidates running to lead the country, including the incumbent, ranil wickremesinghe. All of them are men. The full results are not expected until at least sunday. Sri lankans are looking for a leader who will be able to further repair the countrys finances after an economic collapse two years ago. Thousands of protesters faced with skyrocketing inflation and severe Food Shortages forced the Countrys President at the time, gotabaya rajapaksha, to flee and later resign. 0ur Correspondent Samira hussain has the latest we have already got some numbers, in terms of the Voter Turnout. We see that there is about between 75 and 80 of people have come out to vote in these elections. And while that is really pretty strong for global standards, we are seeing that actually it a bit less we saw in previous elections. I want to bring a guest that i have with me, human rights lawyer. You have been out and about throughout the day today, what have you observed . As you said, the Voter Turnout is relatively high, but it is lower than the last president ial elections, which was over 80 in 2019. But what is notable is that this election was relatively peaceful, and today, in particular, there hasnt been major incidents, so that is a very important point to make. And people have been interested, and this is the first election after the economic crisis, so you see a lot of people wanting to vote but we have to see what the results mean, in terms of what it means into the future. Well, it is interesting that this is the first election since that economic collapse. The economy has been front and centre but that is not something that we have seen very often in elections in sri lanka. Normally, the elections are about something completely different. Yes, i mean, in the past, the elections have centred around the political question thats about the violence, the ethnic issue, and the conflicts. So this is a departure from past elections, in that the economy is central, and this issue about anti corruption. And looking at the candidates, too, i think many focused on those issues because those are the ones that people really link up with. What is also interesting in these elections is, you know, just in terms of the excitement from particularly younger voters, you have a large swathe of younger voters that are participating in these elections but they are participating a little bit differently in that they are not going to rallies. Well, i mean, this election is different to all the elections we have had in that there is a huge younger Voter Turnout and there is also an undecided Voter Turnout, that we dont know how they would have voted today so this is all something to see. Rallies have seen a large turnout, in terms of people coming out of interest, but that doesnt translate to actual votes so these are the new things we need to keep an eye on. Its also interesting that this is an election where we are having several leading candidates, three candidates in particular. We have never had a three corner contest, it is extremely tight, and that is why we dont know how the results will turn out to be. So, a lot of new dimensions in this election. I realise this may be challenging to answer right now but im wondering if you could offer any insight into why perhaps we have seen a little bit of a dip in terms of Voter Turnout . Well, i think for some they dont see this as going to be a massive change, and that is quite telling because this, as you also noted, this is the first election after the economic crisis, and the demand of the people was for a system change. And we all thought there would be quite a high turnout in terms of people coming to choose their next president , but if it is a lower Voter Turnout compared to 2019 and 2015, it shows that people may have lost confidence that their future president could actually bring in that system change. But again i think it is too early to say, i think we need to see what the results are, as to who is likely to be the front runner, in terms of the counting, and whether we go into the second round of counting. I think those are the ones we need to keep an eye on now. Just one last question, briefly, i just want to know how hopeful are you for sri Lankas Future . I am always hopeful. I think without hope, we couldnt work in a country like sri lanka. And the fact that we can have a peaceful election with a relatively high Voter Turnout, not as high as previously but a relatively high turnout is, i think very, very, in terms of a positive message, a very good sign, so very hopeful. Well, thank you for your time. As we know, it is going to be a little bit of time before we actually get the results of these president ial elections. That was our correspondents samir hussein. Now its time for a look at todays sport. Chelsea beat West Ham and are second in the Premier League now. Chelsea eased to a 3 0 win over West Ham at London Stadium taking them second in the Premier League for the time being. Nicholas jackson scored twice within the opening 20 minutes to put the hosts on the backfoot, while enzo Marescas Side continue their resurgence under him. Cole palmer was assisted by jackson for the third goaljust two minutes after the break for a third straight away victory. I mean, i wanted to score three but, you know, we won, so that is the most important for me and the team, so it is fine, more will come. I am trying to work harder and do more than last year and try to be on top form which is what everybody wants for the team. And play champions league. Now the game has finished so we just concentrate on the next game. For West Ham manager Julen Lopitegui its a miserable start to his reign in East London as they lost their third successive Home Match in the Premier League. A bad day, for sure. We lost one match that we had a big expectation to go and be much better and to be able to go and win. In the end, i have to review the match but i think it has been very soft goals that we suffered in the first 20 minutes. Elsewhere, the Big Game of the weekend, is on sunday, when leaders Manchester City host arsenal, so theres a chance for Newcastle To Snatch Top Spot for a day at least if they can win at fulham but theyre currently 2 1 down at craven cottage. Domini solanke has his first goalfor spurs who are playing brentford. Both everton away at Leicester And Southampton at home to ipswich are still searching for their first points of the season. And theyre both leading. Keep up to date across the Bbc Sport website. After a positive showing at the Korea 0pen theres been another Injury Blow for emma radacanu. She was forced to retire just half an hour into her quarter final against daria kasatkina, she was trailing 4 1 in the opening set, when she had a medical time out, because of a problem with her left ankle. This means kasatkina went through to the Semi Final where she beat her Compatriot Diana Shnaider in straight sets. Shell now face number three seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia in the final on sunday. India have the upper hand after day 3 of the first test against bangladesh in chennai. Bangladesh need an unlikely 357 more runs to win with only 6 wickets in hand when they resume on day 4. Elsewhere in Cricket England require 182 more runs to beat australia at hedingley in leeds in the second One Day International of their series. The aussies are looking for a 14th consecutive 0di Victory and a last Wicket Stand of 49 was helped along by Alex Carey who top scored with 7a. England are currently in real trouble at 89 for 5. Anthonyjoshua has a chance later on saturday, tojoin a elite group of legends, including the likes of muhammad ali, if he can become a three time world heavyweight champion, hes taking on English Compatriot daniel dubois, the ibf champion, in this all british heavyweight title fight. The two boxers then had their traditional face off, this was in trafalgar square. Joshua weighed in at 18 stone, with dubois, a few pounds less at 17 stone 10 pounds, thats still the heaviest hes been. A Post War Record crowd, of 96,000 fans, are expected to pack out Wembley Stadium later. Britains Lando Norris is on Pole Position for the singapore grand prix. Its the mclaren drivers fourth pole in six races. Hes currently 59 points behind Championship Leader Max Verstappen Wholl start second on the grid for Red Bull with lewis hamiltons mercedes third. But carlos sainz� car will need plenty of work to be ready to race on sunday after he made a mess of a bend and crashed his ferrari during qualifying the session had to be paused for the car to be removed. Azadeh, i can tell you there was also a liver that had to be removed from the practical session early this morning, lets hope for none of that during the main race. Yes, thank you. President zelensky says ukraine still does not have permission from the united states or the uk to use long range western supplied missiles, on targets in russia. Fears are growing in the west about the war escalating. 0vernight, there were explosions at a russian Ammunition Warehouse in the krasnodar region. Its the second such strike inside russia this week, after a suspected Drone Attack on the town of toropets on wednesday. Jessica parker sent this report from kyiv. A Fireball Erupting into the night sky. Russian authorities say the mp from a downed ukrainian drone sparked these explosions, in what is reportedly russian authorities say the debris from a downed ukrainian drone sparked these explosions, in what is reportedly an ammunition depot. It comes just days after a similar strike inside russia, over 900 miles further north in the taver region. Ukraine has been ramping up these kinds of attacks. There has been a big focus here on building up domestic drone production. But what kyiv really wants is permission to use sophisticated, western made long range missiles on targets inside russia. A plea President Zelensky will likely take to the us next week where he will meet president joe biden. The ukrainian leader said overnight that the us and britain had not yet given authorisation for such use of long range missiles, explaining he thinks there are fears in the west the war can escalate. Nevertheless, Mr Zelensky is preparing to present what is being billed as a new strategy to his nations backers. Translation we are going i to present a very concrete plan on how Ukraine Cannot only endure this war, not only maintain the level of resistance as it is now, but also grow stronger at this very moment. Grow stronger in a way that will really bring us together to a just peace. Really bring us closer to victory. Meanwhile, devastation in a ukrainian city where a woman and her 12 year old grandson were reportedly among those killed in yet another russian strike. While moscows troops try to push advances in ukraines east, here talk of Victory And Peace may feel as far away as ever. Jessica parker, Bbc News, in kyiv. Dozens more women have come forward to the bbc to make fresh sexual assualt allegations against the former Harrods Boss. Hes been accused of Sexual Assault and rape. A woman who worked at harrods when Mohamed Al fayed owned the store says other bosses there colluded with his misconduct. The current owners of Harrods Have said they are appalled by the allegations and that the Business Today is a very different organisation. And Fulham Football Club has said its trying to establish if anyone at The Club has been affected by the allegations. Al fayed bought The Club in 1997 for £30 million. The manager of fulhams former Womens Team said precautions were put in place to protect female players from him. Dean Armstrong Kc is one of the barristers representing the alleged victims. Mr armstrong, thank you for your time. Mr armstrong, thank you for yourtime. I mr armstrong, thank you for your time. I was at that Press Conference Yesterday when you spoke earlier and part of what you said was that more women were coming forward because of the network, in your work, that the network, in your work, that the bbc had exposed through its investigation. Since yesterday, i wonder how many women you are representing today, how many more women have come forward . The network at the bbc to the ability to allow these women to show bravery to come forward. It is important that i stressed the distinction, we still are 37 signed up, in terms of clients, but obviously since the documentary and since the press conference, there have been a wealth of inquiries to our team over the last couple of days. Doing the best i can, we are certainly including the 37 already, i think we are now at a number, 37 already, i think we are now ata number, including inquiries, of about 150. And at a number, including inquiries, of about 150. And in terms of some inquiries, of about 150. And in terms of some of inquiries, of about 150. And in terms of some of what inquiries, of about 150. And in terms of some of what you. Terms of some of what you mentioned there, yesterday at that press conference, you are urged more women to come forward, you said there is a community there to support them. Harrods, the current owners, had said they had set p owners, had said they had set up a process that will allow women to settle their claims quickly, therefore avoiding a lengthy legal process. I wonder what your advice is to women as they consider their options . Well, my first piece of advice is that if they getjustice, thatis is that if they getjustice, that is the most important thing. It is ironic that, there is a huge sense of irony, as far as i am concerned, that harrods are now suggesting there is a speed of process about this. Lets be clear about this. Lets be clear about this, harrods was sold in 2010, there were allegations going as far back as 1997. In 2008, 2009, there was a prosecution or at least the consideration of a prosecution against mr Al Fayed, where a 15 year Old Girl had made serious allegations against him. In 2009, those allegations, it was decided for whatever reason, i dont know whatever reason, i dont know what they were, but there was in Position Evidence to prosecute. Insufficient evidence. Harrods were then sold in 2010 to the new ownership, so candidly we have a £1. 5 billion company which was sold to new ownership in 2010 with the prosecution relating to these allegations failing in 2009, so the year before. Further programmes, including a programme in 2017, detailed these allegations or at least more of them, and then is it really suggested by harrods that in 2023 they came across new information which i am not quite sure what that could be but certainly it cant have been new, on the basis of what i have just outlined, which were all factual matters, that they are then saying in 2023, we are very sorry and we want to proceed very speedily with this . Ifind want to proceed very speedily with this . I find all of that, im afraid, rather an acceptable. It is particularly unacceptable for these incredibly courageous survivors who have had the courage to come forward and contribute to the programme and the bbc on thursday evening, and for harris to say they are pursuing this effectively, or certainly the inference is with expedition, Ijust Cannot expedition, i jUst Cannot accept expedition, Ijust Cannot accept that. A, expedition, i Ust Cannot accept that. Expedition, i Ust Cannot accetthat. ,. ,. , accept that. A former harrods mana. Er accept that. A former Harrods Manager did accept that. A former Harrods Manager did say accept that. A former Harrods Manager did say in accept that. A former Harrods Manager did say in that manager did say in that documentary and did tell the bbc that it was an open secret, some of these claims and the behaviour by Mohamed Al fayed. Fulham Football Club has now said that at the time it took precautions to protect women at the company. Of course, Mohamed Al fayed has owned several businesses. In the list of your investigation, have you heard of any other companies taking similar precautions . I havent. Obviously. Similar precautions . I havent. Obviously, and similar precautions . I havent. Obviously, and as similar precautions . I havent. Obviously, and as we similar precautions . I havent. Obviously, and as we made. Similar precautions . I havent. Obviously, and as we made it| obviously, and as we made it clear yesterday, we will nothing out. Certainly now, there are suggestions that there are suggestions that there were issues of potential issues or concerns probably is the most accurate way of describing it at fulham where apparently Al Fayed was separated from the football team. We have had politicians coming out talking about this this morning. All of these people, in my opinion, are all speaking upfar people, in my opinion, are all speaking up far too late. These women have endured and suffered and continue to endure and suffer huge issues and difficulties, medical, psychological impact upon them is enormous. And now we people who apparently feel it is ok to come out and say, well, we knew this all along. It is not ok to say that and it is not acceptable that that is how they choose to effectively bring this into the Public Domain. Bring this into the Public Domain bring this into the Public Domain. ~ ~ ,. ,. , ~ bring this into the Public Domain. ~ ~ ,. ,. , domain. Mr armstrong, thank you so much for domain. Mr armstrong, thank you so much for your domain. Mr armstrong, thank you so much for your time. Domain. Mr armstrong, thank you so much for your time. Stay so much for your time. Stay with us here on Bbc News, there is plenty more to come. Good afternoon. More scenes like those behind me expected notjust today, but for sunday and monday across england and wales in particular. But in contrast, weve got some decent spells of sunshine further North And West, particularly across highland and grampian, scotland. There is a little bit of fog around the western isles, the Northern Isles and certainly for the North Sea coast, and its running in through the Central Belt, so it might well not clear the Central Lowlands during the rest of the day. Lots of sunshine, northern ireland, north western parts of england and central and eastern england. But we have had a cluster of storms and 1 Or 2 could brew up elsewhere again in the south of england, possibly1 Or 2 in east anglia. But its these areas where were likely to see the highest temperatures. Again, it was a warm start, of course, and a warm day, 2a, 25, but we could see 21 in the Northwest Highlands as well in that sunshine. Now its going to turn fresher here in the highlands overnight. A little bit of Mist And Fog and more generally that low cloud will meander backing off the North Sea. But look at the rain and the thunderstorms further south. Its likely that Theyll Start to become more widespread, the low pressure bringing them closing in. So for most of us, another warm night and a fairly damp start to the day in some parts tomorrow. Grey from the mist and the drizzle, or indeed from those downpours. And its primarily england and wales where well see those most impactful amounts of rainfall. Hazardous travel conditions. Lots of spray in excess water as well. You can see this is where the Computer Model thinks well see the wettest weather through saturday, sunday and monday. Its primarily england and wales. The coin does flip later in the week and ill tell you about that later. But you can see, dont take this quite literally, but you can see more cloud around across england and wales through tomorrow and certainly more widespread outbreaks of rain, some thundery downpours, whilst further North And West again, the low cloud clears back to the east coast, hopeful that itll clear away from the Central Belt as well, but probably not quite as warm tomorrow as today, particularly in the south, because weve got more cloud and probably more Showery Rain around this area of low pressure, which is still meandering across england and wales on monday, some uncertainty as to how far north its going to go, and theres that Rain Coming late in the day into the north as well. And behind that its likely to turn a little Bit Cooler as we head through the middle part of the week. We could have a blast of fairly significant winds wednesday on as well, but you can see from really tuesday on theres more Chance Of Rain being caught in the north as well as in the south. A much cooler week, unsettled on the cards. This is Bbc News. The headlines. Israel and hezbollah Exchange Cross Border attacks. Waves of rockets are fired into northern israel, while targets are struck in Southern Lebanon. Hezbollah confirms senior commanders are among at least 37 people killed in an israeli strike on beirut. Israels military says it killed 16 terrorists. Israel attacks a school in gaza, saying it was being used as a Hamas Command Room. Hamas says at least 22 people including children were killed. Dozens more women contact the bbc with fresh allegations about the former Harrods Boss Mohamed Al fayed. 700 nato Paratroopers Land near the dutch city of Arnhem Part of events to mark the 80th anniversary of the second
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