On lebanon as cross—border attacks between israel and hezbollah intensify. These are live pictures from of the session in new york. The egyptian representative is speaking right now. It comes as the head of israel's army has told troops to prepare for a possible ground invasion of lebanon — saying air attacks are in preparation for boots on the ground. Us presidentjoe biden has warned an all out war in the middle east is possible, but said there is still an opportunity to settle the conflict. Lebanon's health ministry says at least 72 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in israeli strikes on wednesday. Un secretary general antonio guterres said lebanon cannot become another gaza and called for an end to hostilities between israel and hezbollah. Hell is breaking loose in lebanon. As i told the general assembly yesterday, we should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. Of course, the blue line is see intentions for aeons. Since the 6th of october, they have expanded in scope depths and intensity. The armed groups and in lebanon and israel defense force of exchanged gunfire and they will require a cease—fire in gaza to cease hostilities. We have also been hearing from the israeli permanent representative to the un and the. . . ~. , , , the. . . We are still witnessing collisions _ the. . . We are still witnessing collisions of _ the. . . We are still witnessing collisions of our _ the. . . We are still witnessing collisions of our sovereignty. | collisions of our sovereignty. These repeated violations undermine all stability efforts and threaten the whole region. Our diplomatic correspondent paul adams is in kibbutz lavi, israel. Israel does not seek a full—scale war. We have made our desire for peers —— my our desire for peace there are those who are not blinded by hatred of political agendas. However, israel is under attack. In the last 2a hours, northern and central israel have faced a new wave of relentless attacks. I do apologise, that was the lebanese prime minister is speaking at the un security council. We can get now more from the region, our diplomatic correspondent paul adams is in israel. As dawn broke over tel aviv, another escalation. Hezbollah, for the first time, firing a ballistic missile into the heart of israel — just one missile easily shot down, but an unmistakable signal of defiance from hezbollah. Israel also has escalation in mind. The head of the army visiting troops close to the northern border telling them to get ready to fight inside lebanon. Translation: we are preparing the process of a manoeuvre which means that your military boots will enter enemy territory, enter villages that hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts. Tanks have been seen moving north, and reservists are being called up. But nothing looks imminent. For now it is mostly a threat. But its purpose is clear, to allow civilians to return to border communities evacuated a year ago. Places like qiryat shemona, hit by hundreds of rockets since last october, now mostly empty. The buses are still running but there is no—one on them. This is normally a town of around 2a,000 people. Now only about 3,000 remain. Parts of it are completely deserted. Lebanon isjust a couple of miles away, and after everything that's happened in the past 12 months it's going to take an awful lot for people to come back. The army says 800 buildings have been damaged here, many of them family homes. The military ready to do whatever it takes to stop this from happening. This is going to be a process that hezbollah is going to have to give up. The only way these people are ever going to come back home is if hezbollah is nowhere even close that they can shoot at them again. As we prepare to leave qiryat shemona, another reminder of the danger hezbollah still poses. Israel's air defences are formidable, but the rockets keep coming. And tonight, threats from another direction. Pro—iranian militias in iraq claiming a drone attack on the southern port city of eilat. Without a ceasefire in gaza, this all looks destined to continue. Paul adams, bbc news, northern israel. That's the view from israel. Our senior international correspondent orla guerin has the latest from near the border with israel in southern lebanon. Sirens wail in the southern city of tyre, the war is coming closer. Israel hitting sites it says are linked to hezbollah. Today we saw strike after strike. Well, there'sjust been more incoming israeli fire and there is smoke rising now. We can't tell exactly what has been hit, but that is a residential area with residential blocks. There was some outgoing fire from hezbollah a few hours ago, and this is now a familiar routine in southern lebanon. The gathering storm here this week means british nationals have been told to leave lebanon immediately. Isabella baker plans to go tomorrow, because she doesn't want family and friends back home to worry. But the human rights student is critical of the government. I100% think the uk government should be doing a lot more and, of course, it has to worry about its citizens, i understand that, but i think there are priorities, and we wouldn't have to leave if it weren't for the fact that israel is bombing this country. And tonight, these men wonder if they might be next to be bombed. They're the government's civil defence team here in tyre, and they've just had a call telling them to leave their station. An israeli voice claimed there was a hezbollah target nearby. The station chief fears a rerun of history and tragedy. My daughter was killed in the war in 2006 in an israeli air strike on the station, says ali safiledine. I had brought her there for safety. My wife was badly maimed and is still suffering. I don't want to lose any of my men the same way. They're already struggling to keep up with the air strikes. Now they say they'll work from the street to save lives. Orla guerin, bbc news, tyre. Our international editor jeremy bowen explained earlier i spoke tojesse marks, who is a senior for the middle east at refugees international. He told me more about the situation on the ground. I think the military operations in lebanon have caused, i mean, an immense human toll. Probably the largest the country has seen in decades. From folks that we've spoken to, right, as you repeated the numbers, you know, high numbers of casualties, 500 people lost, including women and children, from colleagues are telling us at least 50 syrian refugees are dead. We heard reporting of additionally of two unhcr workers. This really echoes the devastation and the indiscriminate attacks that we witnessed in gaza after the brutal october 7th attacks. And once again, we are seeing little coordination with humanitarian actors on the ground, which has raised the potential risk of threatening and killing aid responders. We're hearing large numbers of folks who are fleeing north. Increasingly concerning, we are also hearing lebanese and syrian refugees who are fleeing towards syria. Lebanon may be a small country, but it hosts more refugees per capita than any other nation. That's around 1. 5 million, most of whom are syrian and palestinian. So that means any form of conflict escalation, it doesn'tjust affect lebanese citizens, it impacts thousands of refugees, amplifying the potential humanitarian catastrophe to follow. We're hearing reports churches are opening up their doors, hospitals, otherforms of shelters are opening up their doors for the thousands who are fleeing south to the north. At this point, it's increasingly difficult. There's not a significant amount of funding available to continue supporting the increased demand with internal displacement in lebanon. Our partners are telling us that they need resources, they need funding from donors, from private foundations to be able to sustain and support services for communities that are being displaced northward. Yeah, it is a dire situation when people who escaped the war in syria are now having to go back there. We're seeing world leaders meeting in new york for the un general assembly. The security council has also convened. Do you think diplomacy can solve this problem? we hope. I mean, president biden�*s warning of a full scale middle east conflict does not go far enough to push any meaningful resolution and ending to the hostilities in lebanon, and perhaps, ithink more importantly, at this case in gaza. You know, israel has given a tacit green light or has been given a tacit green light, given that there's been no major white house pushback for its actions. Meanwhile, china and other countries who have supported iran through this process have yielded little pressure to get iran to pressure hezbollah to back down. So we're not seeing any viable means of mediation or de—escalation at the current point. And if we move into a ground war, the implications of that cascade into what would be a very dangerous catastrophe, particularly on the humanitarian front. In previous conflicts, the airport, for example, is one of the main arteries that people depart the country — it's likely to be targeted first. If that happens, we're going to have, you know, significant issues with evacuation efforts, leaving the international community, the us, the uk, other eu countries to deploy ships to be able to rescue folks off the coast. And we've heard reports of soldiers already being, uh, disembarking for the mediterranean and malta, to be prepared for such an inevitability. Ideally, a diplomatic solution is reached, but it seems so far that both sides have committed to this escalation ladder. Plenty more on that story and developments in the middle east on our website. Polling stations have closed in indian—administered kashmir in the first elections to take place there in more than ten years. People are voting for local assembly members. It is the first such vote since the bjp revoked its autonomy in 2019, removing autonomy it used to have on policies except foreign affairs, defence and communications, and putting it on the same footing as the rest of india. The bbc�*s arunoday mukharji is in srinagar and has sent us the latest. Last time local assembly elections were held were in 2014, which led to the formation of a coalition government, but that collapsed in 2018. Now, since then, there has been a political vacuum. It is that political vacuum that is now driving most of the voters to go ahead and cast their vote because they feel, for the last so many years, they have not had a voice, they have not been able to register their voice. And now, finally, they are able to use the ballot to deliver a message to the leadership in new delhi. So that is why you are seeing a large voter turnout. But given the fact that in 2019, the indian government took away the region's autonomy, which they had enjoyed for decades, that still remains central to these elections and the most emotive issue which has been resonating with the voters over here. The argument on the indian leadership side is that they had to take away autonomy, which was a long—term promise of the bjp—led government, saying that it was the only way to integrate the region with the rest of india, bring it at par with the other regions of india. But over here, people still disagree and it remains a very contentious issue. Having said this, whoever forms the government eventually, and the results are declared on the 8th of october, the important point to remember is that this is no longer a state now. It is now reduced to a union territory by way of a government order in 2019. So that means the government that will form power here will have reduced power. So sensitive subjects like public order, like appointment of bureaucrats and senior police officers, law officers, will lie with the lieutenant governor. So the chief minister, who will be heading the government in the region, will have to get the consent of the lieutenant governor and the approval of the lieutenant governor, who is centrally appointed. So that is something that might lead to friction between the government, whoever forms the government here, and the central leadership. But in the end, people still say they have hope. But with the hope, there will also likely be challenges ahead as well. Around the world and across the uk. This is bbc news. You're live with bbc news. Almost 200 women have now come foward to accuse the former harrods owner mohamed al fayed of sexual assualt. The fresh accusations come after the bbc�*s documentary last week exposed decades of serious allegations against al fayed, who died last year. Now five of his original accusers have come together to share their experiences and call forjustice, describing themselves as lambs to the slaughter. Our correspondent ellie price has the story. He would call me into his office and, this doesn't work, and, this is distracting, and then would rip my buttons open of the front of my shirt. These women didn't know each other�*s stories until the bbc documentary last week. They all describe being isolated by mohamed al fayed at the time. Now they realise they were not alone. All of us had the same experiences. Being all together, i think it's quite good to think, oh, god, ithought for ages this was just me. You kind of accepted what was going on and internalised that actually, you know, is itjust me? am i the victim of the really hard behaviour? you were terrified to speak out. Jen was too, and this morning, she waived her anonymity for the first time. Initially i didn't want to be involved because mohamed was still alive. And as ridiculous as that may sound to people not involved, he still felt like a threat until the moment he died. Mohamed al fayed was chairman of harrods between 1985 and 2010. He died last year aged 94. He won't face justice now but these women say there was a web of corruption within the company that allowed the abuse to happen and kept it hushed up. That i almost had given up hope that anyone was going to actually find out anything, really, because he was so successful at putting people up in front of him that he could hide behind. They enabled — all these people — enabled the situation, and left us like lambs to the slaughter. Harrods declined to come on bbc breakfast this morning. The department store, which came under new ownership in 2010, has previously said it's appalled by the allegations. Harrods also told the bbc it was investigating whether any current employees were involved in any of the allegations, but they haven't told us if any individual has been identified or any action taken. The monster that was al fayed was at the centre of all this, but there was a system, there was a process which enabled and facilitated the sexual abuse of these women. And there are people still working at harrods who you think were involved in this? that's my belief. Many women later abused by al fayed were asked to take intrusive sexual health tests when they started at harrods. Today, a complaint has been made to the general medical council about one of the doctors who carried out such tests. I never got my results either. They went straight to mohamed al fayed. I never got them. They never even shared them with you? they never shared them with me. Shocking. Since the bbc documentary was released last week, lawyers for al fayed's accusers say hundreds more women have come forward. And with every new story, the call forjustice grows stronger. Ellie price, bbc news. China says it carried out a rare test—firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile into international waters, sparking protests from neighbouring countries. The launch on wednesday, its first in more than a0 years, was routine and not aimed at any country or target, according to beijing. Chinese media reported the government also gave releva nt countries notice. Butjapan said it had not received a warning and expressed concerns, along with australia and new zealand. The launch contributes to tensions across the indo—pacific region, with analysts saying it highlights china's increased long—range nuclear capabilities. For more on this, i am joined now by ankit panda, stanton senior fellow in the nuclear policy programme at the carnegie endowment for international peace. Many thanks for your time in the programme. First missile for a0 years, why do you think this is happening now? 50. For 40 years, why do you think this is happening now? this is happening now? so, we don't know _ this is happening now? so, we don't know exactly _ this is happening now? so, we don't know exactly why this is happening now? so, we don't know exactly why they i don't know exactly why they have decided to do this now. What i can say that we are seeing a lot of changes in how china thinks about its nuclear weapons capabilities and this is manifesting in changes to the numbers of nuclear weapons that china is fielding and how many test if you're necessary to carry out. It could also be internal political drivers here as well. ~. . ,. , as well. We are also hearing that japan — as well. We are also hearing that japan is _ as well. We are also hearing that japan is sailing as well. We are also hearing that japan is sailing through | thatjapan is sailing through those sensitive waters, what do you expect to be the response to this?. , , ~ to this? really, i think we have to — to this? really, i think we have to ask— to this? really, i think we have to ask ourselves, to this? really, i think we have to ask ourselves, if i to this? really, i think we have to ask ourselves, if there is something that really does rise above the level of a crisis because this is the sort of missile testing that many other countries do routinely carry out including the united states. The fact that china did issues warning to mariners and airmen and notify these people that there would be exclusion zones is in a way more transparent than they have been in the past when they carried out missile tests so if we are heading to a new era of chinese missile testing i think we should encourage greater transparency in these activities. — transparency in these activities. ~. . , activities. What about the technology. _ activities. What about the technology, did _ activities. What about the technology, did we activities. What about the technology, did we knowl activities. What about the technology, did we know that china has this technology or has it developed it further? absolutely, nothing about the capability that's involved here is particularly new. These were missiles that china has had for a number of years, they have tested them over their own territory. What is notable here is the fact they have now started testing into the pacific ocean for the first time in a0 years. Pacific ocean for the first time in 40 years. Pacific ocean for the first time in 40 years. What you exect time in 40 years. What you exoect will _ time in 40 years. What you expect will happen time in 40 years. What you expect will happen with time in 40 years. What you expect will happen with regards to the defence alliances in the region, for example new zealand and australia was meant they have already responded, given their reaction to the missile tests. . . , , , their reaction to the missile tests. , , ,. , tests. Of course this comes at a time of _ tests. Of course this comes at a time of intensifying a time of intensifying geopolitical tensions between the us and china and the us allies are also very concerned about the rising chinese miller built bashment military capability in general but but these kind of weapons generally speaking are not going to be aimed at american allies in the region. What i think it does emphasise is that asia in general is entering a new nuclear era, think we are seeing a change rather rapidly and that of course does raise anxieties in the region and is also raising anxieties here in washington, dc where the us is asking very difficult questions about what it may need to do about what it may need to do about china. — about what it may need to do about china. �* ~'. . ,. , , about china. Ankit panda, many thanks. The us has announced $375 million in military aid to ukraine. It comes as president volodymyr zelensky has made a renewed appeal for countries to back his proposals for what he said was a full and just peace. In a speech to the united nations general assembly in new york, he warned against alternative proposals, saying theyjust gave president putin the political space to continue the war. Mr zelensky referred to china, brazil and others in this context, asking what their true interest was. A chinese—brazilian duo tries to grow into a choir of voices, with someone in europe, with someone in africa saying something alternative to a full and just peace. The question arises, what is the true interest? everyone must understand — you will not boost your power at ukraine's expense. And the world has already been through colonial wars and conspiracies of great powers at the expense of those who are smaller. Every country, including china, brazil, european nations, african nations, middle east, all understand why this must remain in the past. Thousands of residents on wednesday began evacuating parts of coastal florida as the us state braces for hurricane helene, forecast to barrel ashore as a powerful, potentially deadly storm. Helene strengthened into a hurricane mid—morning in the gulf of mexico and is expected to bring life—threatening storm surge, damaging winds, and flooding rains to a large portion of florida and the southeastern united states, the national hurricane center in miami said in its latest bulletin. Canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau on wednesday survived a vote of no confidence, with 211 lawmakers opposing and 120 in favour, in the first major test of his minority liberal government. Trudeau's tenuous grip on power is set to face more challenges in the coming weeks, with the main opposition conservatives vowing to try again to topple the government as early as tuesday. A zoo in finland will return two giant pandas to china eight years early, saying it can no longer afford to look after them. Lumi and pyry were brought to finland in 2018, after the two countries signed an agreement to protect the animals. They were meant to stay in the nordic country for 15 years, but will be sent home in november — with ht ri zoo blaming inflation and debt linked to the covid pandemic for the pandas' eviction. That's all for now — stay with bbc news. Hello there. Heavy rain has dominated weather headlines in recent days, and there's more wet weather to come. In fact, for some parts of southern england, we've already seen way above the average monthly rainfall totals. And in these three towns, we've actually had three times more rain than we should have in september. And with the next couple of days, we're likely to see another 50mm at least in some spots, a couple of inches, the darker blues denoting where the heaviest of the rain is likely to be. So, slightly quieter, drier story for scotland, but low pressure dominates, and these weather fronts will move their way steadily eastwards as we go through thursday. That front will grind to a halt, almost, across northern england and into northern ireland, accompanied by a brisk easterly wind, so really feeling quite miserable on those exposed east coasts. To the north of that, it's going to be dry with a few scattered showers. To the south of that, however, some of those showers really could turn quite torrential. Hail, thunder mixed in there. And, yes, it really will be quite significant. But there will be some sunny spells to go with it as well, and it could potentially still feel quite humid here — 18 or 19 degrees not out of the question. Cool in the rain, 10 or 11. And that cooler air continues to dominate in scotland. And that's because of a northerly wind, which will gradually push the rain away, but it will introduce this fresher feel for all of us on friday. So there will be some rain lingering across east anglia and south—east england for a time. That eases away during the afternoon. Sunny spells and scattered showers continue for most, but because of the direction of the wind, those temperatures really quite subdued for this time of year — on the whole, generally between 9 and 1a degrees. Clear skies continue through the night. That is going to allow the potential for a frost to form, and so it will be a chilly start — low single figures, perhaps below in more rural spots, worth bearing in mind. But that means as we head into the weekend, high pressure is going to build for a time and quieten things down. So not a bad weekend, particularly on the saturday. However, another area of low pressure will gradually move into the south—west as we go through sunday. So saturday, a better day. More heavy rain to come as we move through sunday and into monday. The american people face a choice, between two fundamentally very different paths for our economy. Kamala harris delivers a widely anticipated speech on the economy. How does her vision compare with trump's plans for the economy? plus, after china's stimulus measures, we look at the impact on the rest of the region. Hello and welcome to business today. I'm suranjana tewari. We begin in the united states, where vice president kamala harris has outlined her plans for the world's largest economy at a campaign event in pennsylvania. The democratic party's presidential nominee says she will make the middle class the engine of america's prosperity. Former president donald trump has a very different pitch to voters, promising to cut taxes for companies and the wealthy. Vice president kamala harris laid out her vision for america's economy in the battleground state of pennsylvania.