Hezbollah�*s attack comes after pagers and radio devices held by members of the group detonated across lebanon last week, killing at least 20 people. Israel hasn't said whether it was involved. As the fighting intensifies, un chief antonio guterres says he fears lebanon could become another gaza. The lebanese health ministry raised the death toll to 45 in friday's strike by israel targeting hezbollah commanders in southern beirut. Most of those killed were civilians. Authorities say women and children are among the dead. On sunday, israel launched further strikes on towns in southern lebanon, killing three people. And the israeli military says it destroyed thousands of hezbollah rocket launcher barrels over the past few days. Israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu had this to say. No country can accept the wanton rocketing of its cities. We can't accept it, either. We will take whatever action is necessary to restore security and to bring our people safe back to their homes. Meanwhile, in lebanon hundreds attended the funeral of ibrahim aqil, a high—ranking hezbollah commander killed in an israeli strike on friday. The group's deputy leader has declared that the conflict has entered a new phase of reckoning. Orla guerin reports from beirut. Hezbollah today. In mourning, but unbowed. This was the funeral of a top military commander, ibrahim aqil, killed on friday in an israeli air strike. The armed group's deputy leader said it was entering a new phase of open—ended battle against israel. All chant and there's resounding support for that in its stronghold in southern beirut, where hezbollah fighters, living and dead, are heroes. Many have lined the streets here to say goodbye to ibrahim aqil. His killing is a major loss for hezbollah at a time when the organisation is suffering blow after blow. There is anger here and grief, but also defiance. The message is hezbollah is not broken and will fight on. And it's been doing that today, firing missiles deeper into israel. Hezbollah says its targets are military but this residential area in northern israel was hit. This, too, was a residential area in beirut, until friday's israeli strike which killed the hezbollah commander and 15 of his men as they met below ground. A lebanese government minister linked to hezbollah says israel is dragging the region to war. At the end, lebanon is not seeking the war. Even the lebanese people. But israel is calling us, worldwide, come to war. Come to war. And do you think it will happen? i don't know. We will see. Around 30 civilians were killed here, too, including entire families. Some of their relatives are still waiting at the scene today, hoping for remains to be found. Orla guerin, bbc news, beirut. For more on the situation, i've been speaking to aaron david miller — he's a senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. Always great to have you here on the programme. The un chief antonio guterres has been warning that lebanon could become another gaza. Is he right? are we that close to another devastating war breaking out in the region? look, no—one ever lost money betting against escalation in the middle east. But i must admit we've watch this for 11 months. For 11 months, i would've predicted by now israel and hezbollah would have been escalating for more than we see. Even in the wake of what was probably the october 7 event from the standpoint from the standpoint of hezbollah in terms of hezbollah in terms of a massive failure of a massive failure and officials. And breach of communications and breach of communications and not to mention and not to mention the psychological damage the psychological damage and the morale — israel has and the morale — israel has continued to eliminate top continued to eliminate top hezbollah commanders hezbollah commanders and officials. But even now, six days after the pagers and the walkie—talkies exploded, you see the rules of the game appear to be observed by both sides. Yes, the israelis struck and killed ibrahim aqil in the southern suburbs but the retaliation for this was intense and hezbollah launched rockets further than they ever have but they avoided major which would involve the use of hezbollah�*s hyperjective weapons against israeli population centres and major infrastructure. And the israelis probably mounting a significant ground operation into southern lebanon. Those are the two red lines that have not been crossed yet. They may yet be but i am not at all sure. There have been discussions around a diplomatic agreement between israel and hezbollah. Do you think that those can reach the finish line without a ceasefire in gaza? hard to imagine. Notjust the ceasefire in gaza, hezbollah has linked its future and, sadly, for the majority of the population of lebanon, hezbollah has linked its future to a gaza ceasefire. That's not on the horizon any time soon. It is the calculation that hezbollah has to make in terms of its own credibility if after what it suffered — its own october 7, so to speak — it will now turn around and make nice with the americans and those who have negotiated borders between israel and lebanon to negotiate now, that deal is real and it is on the table. It is just the circumstances. In the last 11 months to me suggest that it will take a major escalation and a sense that the parties have now pushed each other too far to have blinken o in washington and to basically say that we need this right now. We hope from the president today — he likes to do quick answers as he is getting off or on to a helicopter or air plane — but he said that the us will do everything it can to prevent a wider war. Briefly, if you don't mind, ruefully, how much weight do you give statements like that for the president at this point? not much. History is littered with the remains of great powers who believed they could impose their schemes and dreams and ambitions on them. This close to the election, i am not sure the administration is up to exerting the kinds of pressure that would need to be exerted in order to produce a ceasefire. Maybe the parties have come to it on its own, if it is bad enough, but right now, i think us leveraged is drastically limited. Certainly not the task you want before a big presidential election. Aaron david miller, always great to have your perspective. Thank you. Sri lanka's presidential election has been won by a left—wing anti—corruption candidate. A warning — there is some flash photography in the following pictures. Anura kumara dissanayake promised a fresh start for the country. The poll, which went to a second round of counting for the first time in sri lanka's history, has been described as one of the country's closest. Earlier, i spoke to daniel bass, south asia program manager at cornell university about sri lanka's new elected president. Well, anura kumara dissanayake, or akd, as he is is part of the leftist pbb which has toned down a lot of their marxist rhetoric to become more social democratic party, socialist democratic. And he promised relief for his people. So, since the economic crisis of 2022 and some measures power cuts and queues for petrol and the rupee has not depreciated so badly but for everyday people, there is still massive food insecurity, massive poverty and much of that is the result of corruption from the previous administration, so he's promising relief for people but it is still uncertain how soon he will be able to achieve that. That was my next question — how difficult will some of these promises be when it comes to the economy, tackling corruption? can mr dissanayake really get down to business in the first few months? it will take some time. He says he will renegotiate — he says with the imf about the terms of their loans and agreements — and that is still yet to be seen — but mainly, he will have to wait for a new parliament before he could proceed much further. Although he promised to dissolve parliament within the first few days. If he does that this week, another parliament will take a month or two for parliamentary elections and then, if he gets a majority then he will be able to make some major changes. But he can begin investigations in terms of corruption pretty soon. It was interesting, too, wasn't it, to look at the way that this vote happened? we heard from the correspondent there that this was less divided than usual along ethnic lines or religious lines. What do you think that says about politics in sri lanka? is this a shift here now? well, the campaign was not on ethnic lines, it was much more on economic lines but the opposition candidate, sajith premadasa, that the he won in the predominantly tamil areas of the north and east and central highlands. And so, his party has a history of being nationalist and while they have not played in to that single nationalist rhetoric as they have in decades past, it is still uncertain what the future may hold for minority communities in sri lanka. This was also a fairly peaceful election, especially for sri lankan standards. What do you see coming next? you mentioned that there may be new parliamentary elections, because the party of dissanayake has, what, three seats right now in parliament? and the aragalaya — the struggle in 2022 that led to the ousting of the president then, his party remained with a supermajority, so they retain power for two years now and there is a lot of dissatisfaction with parliament. So, when that changes they may be able, they hope that akd can make substantial changes. But it will be interesting to see how he deals with this party that has had little power beforehand, and whether they can actually get a majority is still to be seen. And while i have you here — you touched on this briefly — but what is the situation like right now in sri lanka? there was a big economic crisis a couple of years ago. How much of that are still in effect? what are sri lankans facing right now in their day—to—day lives? well, they said some of the major measures have eased and the instability, but families who years ago could afford to purchase metre —— meat are barely able to purchase eggs or lentils. People have fewer meals per day, the child poverty rates have skyrocketed. The former middle—class families are now less than they used to be. The widespread vote for dissanayake shows that there is a huge dissatisfaction with the current situation and it has affected pretty much everyone's lives, except perhaps for the elites in colombo. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. Labour's first conference in 15 years as the party of government is under way. Chris mason was there. In the wilderness of opposition for 1. 5 decades. Now, labour is in power but the political weather is a bit nippy, blustery and grey. Trickier still as what some are describing is duffjudgements. Publicly today, the deputy prime minister — who has been given free clothes, and alongside her colleagues now won't accept any more — said. . . I get that people are angry and i get that people are upset but you're not going to change the rules? i think the transparency is there so people can see that. Later, angela rayner addressed the conference, keen to crank our attention back to what the government is trying to do. When i took on this job, i promised the biggest upgrade to workers�* rights in a generation — nothing less then a new deal for working people. Everywhere here, for the first time in a long time, the trinkets of victory, the potential of government. But so, too, a desire to change the record after a bumpy few days. You're live with bbc news. Early results suggest the political party of german chancellor olaf scholz has secured a narrow victory over the far right alternative for germany, orafd, in a key regional election. The social democrats are on track to keep hold of brandenburg in the country's northeast, where it has led since german reunification more than 30 years ago. Sunday's election follows major gains for the afd including a win in the eastern state of thuringia on september i. Our correspondent mark lowen is in brandenburg's capital potsdam, and explained how immigration is increasingly impacting german elections. At the height of europe's migration crisis under angela merkel, germany welcomed in 1. 5 million migrants. Germans were lining the train stations, welcoming migrants and saying that germany was proud of this change in its reputation from 80 years ago and its wartime past. But there has been a dramatic change since then. From 2013 — between 2013 and 2022, six million migrants have come to this country. One in five people are now foreign—born here in germany and there has been an increasing backlash against them as the cost of living crisis has bitten and as there have been individual attacks that have been sort of magnified. Last month, there was a stabbing by syrian asylum seeker which played into the hands of the afd and now, we hearfrom some migrants here that many of them say they do not feel welcome any more. It is something that we see right across europe, in france, in italy, in many parts of the country. In many parts of the continent. The far—right is rising and it is this youth vote that is coming out. Your most associate far—right voters sometimes with elderly voters. That is not the case, particularly here in germany, where the afd has really used tiktok and social media to harness young voters. And that is a real concern, i think, for the traditional establishment parties here going forward and of concern for olaf scholz, even though he will have some respite from the results tonight. Two recent security breaches involving donald trump — including one in pennsylvania in which he was shot — have sparked a new wave of disinformation and hate online ahead of november's presidential election. The bbc�*s social media correspondent marianna spring has been to colorado — — a state which has become a hotbed for conspiracy theories — to investigate how two people, one republican and the other democrat, have been drawn into those conspiracies. Gunshots. This moment when donald trump was shot at injuly triggered a whole wave of speculation, conspiracy theories and false claims online, drawing in people across the political spectrum. This is actually where i walked to from our cabin. That includes desiree. Under the pseudonym �*wild mother', she regularly posts about natural medicine. Now, she also shares unproven theories about major news events. I had been extremely passionate about trying to figure out the real truth about september 11. Everything about this town has just been. . . She thinks donald trump is the best option for president and when the first assassination attempt happened, she was led to the unevidenced theory that trump's own team staged the attack in order to frame his hidden enemies. Do i hope that that's the case? yes. Why? because i think our country needs rescuing from our government right now. It's a horrible mess. It's like going to a magic show as a kid and then you find out for the first time that the magician is pulling one over on you. Now, every time you go to a magic show, you know what they're doing. 70 miles away in colorado's capital denver, camille has voted democrat for the last 15 years. She says she's never believed in conspiracy theories like this before. What started as questions about security failings after donald trump was shot at led to camille being recommended baseless theories on x. Some of these racked up more than 25 million views in total. Well, that's staged — that was my first reaction. Because the secret service, if they weren't involved in some sort of staged event, they wouldn't have let him pose for a picture and expose his body to the open air with an active shooter nearby. These conspiracy theories feed into the wider belief that anything and everything can be staged or rigged, including elections. Election centres, like this one in nearbyjefferson county, are upping security ahead of the vote as their workers are subject to abuse and threats online. Let's make sure that we're all voting in ways that align with our values. But what's not ok is when you're sending horrifying e—mails or when you're making threats on the internet or coming to an office. Camille and wild mother say they wouldn't threaten anyone but social media's algorithms are drawing new people deeper into an online world detached from reality, where hate can feeljustified. Marianna spring, bbc news, colorado. World leaders have started gathering at the un headquarters in new york for the 79th session of the un general assembly. On day one, the un held the summit of the future, adopting an agreement that it calls a once—in—a—generation opportunity to steer humanity on a new course. The pact for the future was approved by 143 un countries. Seven voted against it. One of the pact�*s key elements is action to address climate change. Countries reaffirmed their commitment to move way from fossil fuels and to triple renewable energy capacity. Un secretary—general antonio guterres called the summit because, he said, ourworld is heading off the rails. The pact for the future must lay the ground for reform. Reform of the outdated united nations security council, to make it more effective but also more representative of what the world is today. The climate crisis is destroying lives, devastating communities and ravaging ecologies and we all know the solution — a just phase—out of fossil fuels — and yet, emissions are still rising. 350. Org is an global environmental group addressing the many aspects of climate change. The group will be involved with the un general assembly meetings this week. I spoke to 350's head of regions, savio carvalho. Great to have you with us on the bbc. Just looking at this document — it is 42 pages long. What did you make of this pact of the future? how big a step forward do you think this is? i think the biggest thing is that last year, the climate meeting, which is the cop28, there was a commitment made to go down and triple renewable energy capacity and move away from fossil fuels. Of the un heads of state and governments have for the future document really brings to life the commitment that they will triple renewable energy capacity and move away from fossil fuels, which include gas, oil and coal. And i think this is what the document speaks to and now, what is left is action or words. And so, that is what we're here for — to ensure that government put and show action, and this isjust the beginning. Yeah, i think many people have been waiting for big action on climate change for a long time from these sort of international bodies. Is there anything in the document there that you see that is really a concrete action — something the government and countries are agreeing to really push forward here? i thinkjust this thing of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030 is, i think, quite a big commitment, just to get it done. And i think that's big. And moving away from fossil fuels — that is big too. And if they just stick to these two things and make it happen with a clear plan to show that they are transiting or they are stopping the fossil fuel dependency, i think will make a big difference. Everything is there now. There is technology. We know how to do it. Countries are ready, communities are ready. We at 350 work with communities right across the world. People are ready. There is need for action and there is need for finance. I remember being there in dubai when the cop28 agreement was announced and in many ways, it was a big step forward — for the first time, countries coming together and agreeing to phase out fossil fuels. Does the agreement today give you the hope that nations will actually follow through with these promises? i think there is hope all the time, and that is what keeps us going. But hope has to be matched to commitments. For example, rich countries need to put money on the table. They need to come to this figure of $1 trillion required annually for climate finance. And without that, these commitments will not see the light of day. So, it's lke everything has to move together in sync. So, we have technology, we now have the commitment by the heads of state and government and now, we need financing on the table. So while this is done by rich countries, countries now also need to really show that they have a plan — a plan to start phasing out fossil fuels and stop all new extractions. And i want to repeat that — all new new extraction that's in the pipeline. So, there is definitely hope that we can turn the corner and i think time is not on our side, so bold actions are required. More soon. Goodbye. Hello there. Big thunderstorms are on the way for monday, and that brings the threat of some significant flash flooding. The storms that we had on sunday were heavy enough but didn't affect everyone. Western scotland — the skies have been like this for days in the highlands. Another still day. You'll be wondering what all the fuss is about, i'm sure. But further southwards, the radar picture showed some intense storms, particularly going through the south midlands. And in woburn in bedfordshire, we recorded over the space of two hours 59mm of rain — that's more than the average for the entirety of september — and over the 24—hour period, the same site had 102mm of rain — so nearly double the monthly average rainfall. And nearby in dunstable, well, there was some severe flooding with the high street underwater at one point. Now, looking at the picture at the moment, lots of showers across england and wales again with some thunderstorms. Quieter weather further northwards. But the met office have got an amber weather warning out in force for monday. Some communities could see around 80—120mm of rain and it could well be that this risk of extreme rainfall extends into central southern england as well. So, through the day, some torrential thundery downpours focused across parts of england, some communities having a high risk of flash flooding, probably some river flooding, some disruption. It's one of those days where you want to check on travel conditions before heading out. Northern ireland, west scotland — bright with some sunny spells. East scotland continues to be rather cloudy with mist. North scotland, we're seeing a weather front move in, bringing outbreaks of rain and, ultimately, cooler weather conditions. On into tuesday. Well, the thundery rain is clearing out of the way across england and wales so, in that respect, it's a drier kind of day. In scotland, we get this cold front continuing to push its way southwards, really dumping the temperatures here — just ten degrees in aberdeen and 12 for glasgow. Still relatively mild, i suppose, for northern ireland, england and wales. Middle part of the week sees active areas of low pressure bringing further heavy rain, particularly focused again on england and wales. And once those systems have pushed through, well, then, we get chilly northwesterly winds diving southwards. And so, through the week, it is going to stay unsettled and through the week, it is going to turn a lot cooler as well with temperatures across the board well below average. But for monday, it's that risk of flash flooding we really need to pay attention to. Stay in touch with the latest forecast, please. Voiceover: this is bbc news. We'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. Welcome to hardtalk. I'm mishal husain. It's nearly 80 years since the founding of the united nations, with cooperation to solve international problems a key purpose. Today, though, we have multiple international crises, with the limitations of the un system laid bare. My guest is martin griffiths, who worked for decades within the un and the wider world of humanitarian aid, shuttling between powerful people, trying to find common ground, seeing for himself the worst of our inhumanity to each other. From cambodia to afghanistan, sudan to gaza, he has seen it all. How does he make sense of the inequalities and the suffering? and how does he think the aid system can survive with funding ever more squeezed?