The country causIng severe floodIng and landslIdes. 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 37 people and Injured thousands. Israel hasnt confIrmed It was behInd the attacks but Is wIdely assumed to be, and Its Defence MInIster, yoav gallant, has saId Its openIng a new phase In the war. And these are pIctures from the IsraelI mIlItary, whIch says It hIt hezbollah Infrastructure In an overnIght attack across The Border. It says It carrIed out AIr StrIkes on seven targets In southern lebanon. 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. ThIs Is the moment a blast rocks beIrut. Hezbollah had gathered to bury the vIctIms from the explosIons of the day before untIl It was hIt by a new wave of attacks, thIs tIme TargetIng WalkIe talkIes used by the group. Apparently another operatIon by Israel. One of the ExplosIons Yesterday happened not farfrom here, In a Hezbollah Stronghold In southern beIrut. There was a lot of Chaos And ConfusIon because many belIeve that no electronIc devIce was safe. Hezbollah members stopped us a number of tImes, tellIng us not to use our camera, phones, and today those concerns contInue. TranslatIon Its scary, Its frIghtenIng. Where are we goIng . I have no Idea, thIs Is frIghtenIng. We cannot cope any more. We cant cope any more. TranslatIon of course I was scared, Is there anyone who wouldnt be scared In thIs sItuatIon . You can hIde from a bullet but thIs Is much more dIffIcult. If I want to answer my phone I am too scared. TranslatIon thIs Is not a facetoface battle, It Is a cowardly way to fIght. If you want to show our Strength BasIsl on the battlefIeld. The attacks on lebanon began on Tuesday Pagers used by hezbollah exploded as people were shoppIng or at home wIth theIrfamIlIes. The group had turned thIs old School Technology because of securIty concerns, fearIng that Israel was monItorIng MobIle Phones to track and kIll Its fIghters. Israel Is wIdely belIeved to have been behInd the attacks. As usual, It hasnt claImed responsIbIlIty, but the suspIcIon Is that It managed to Add ExplosIves InsIde the devIces. For almost a year, Hezbollah And Israel have been fIghtIng along The Border, a conflIct that so far has been relatIvely contaIned, but concerns are rIsIng agaIn that thIs may escalate Into an all out war. Hugo bachega, bbc news. In the last few mInutes, we have heard from an IsraelI government spokesperson, who says Israel wIll respond to rockets fIred Into Israel by hezbollah. Rockets fIred Into Israel by hezbollah. hezbollah. Israel Is respondIng wIth force hezbollah. Israel Is respondIng wIth force us hezbollah. Israel Is respondIng wIth force us to hezbollah. Israel Is respondIng wIth force us to thIs wIth force us to thIs aggressIon, we wIll use all means necessary to restore securIty to our northern Border Dover Border and safely return our cItIzens to theIr homes, we wIll respond wIth force to thIs unprovoked aggressIon from hezbollah. Unprovoked aggressIon from hezbollah unprovoked aggressIon from hezbollah. That Is the IsraelI government hezbollah. That Is the IsraelI government spokesman. Hezbollah. That Is the IsraelI. Government spokesman. DanIel hezbollah. That Is the IsraelI government spokesman. DanIel do sImone Is Injerusalem, you put a questIon to that government spokesperson, whIch he dIdnt really answer, but It was about those. WIll we do not know If they are IsraelI or not, they have not confIrmed It, but those attacks In lebanon usIng electronIc devIces. ElectronIc devIces. Thats rI. Ht, electronIc devIces. Thats rIght. The electronIc devIces. Thats rIght, the realIty electronIc devIces. Thats rIght, the realIty Is electronIc devIces. Thats rIght, the realIty Is that l rIght, the realIty Is that Israel Is beIng wIdely blamed for the explosIons In lebanon thIs week by hezbollah, by lebanon, by Iran, but by a lot of other people as well, and certaInly wIthIn Israel Itself, It Is wIdely held that Israels spy It Is wIdely held that Israels Spy Agency, mossad, was responsIble for what has happened. QuIte a lot of people are happy about what has happened because they do not lIke hezbollah, but there Is also a lot of concern about escalatIon from other people, because thIs conflIct has been goIng on sInce the day after the hamas attacks on the 7th of october, and on that Day Hezbollah launched rockets attacks Into Israel, and sInce then there have been thousands of Cross Border attacks, wIth Hezbollah FIrIng rockets and drones Into northern Israel, whIch has drIven at least 60,000 IsraelIs from theIr homes, and Israel has been carryIng out AIr StrIkes In Lebanon TargetIng Hezbollah posItIons, but also theIr leaders In places lIke beIrut. There has been an ongoIng conflIct, but It Is faIr to say that both sIdes have held somethIng back, It Is not tIpped Into all out war, despIte people dyIng on both sIdes of The Border, 60,000 IsraelIs have been drIven from theIr homes, and over 90,000 people In lebanon have been drIven from theIr homes. But there has been a RatchetIng Up of rhetorIc thIs week by the IsraelI government towards hezbollah, there has been told by the Defence MInIster of the dIplomatIc route to peace gettIng smaller, that he sees mIlItary actIon as the only way to ensure the return of cItIzens home, and that has become a core war goal, formally made a gold by the IsraelI securIty cabInet, the PrIme MInIster talkIng about It as well, so how are they goIng to do that, that has not been spelt out, but the attacks on lebanon thIs week certaInly come wIthIn thIs context. DanIel, thank you very much Indeed. Lets speak to chemIcal Weapons Expert HamIsh De Bretton gordon, who was a former brItIsh Army Colonel and nato commander. How much damage to thInk these attacks have done . Attacks have done . These have been extraordInarIly attacks have done . These have been extraordInarIly detaIled I been extraordInarIly detaIled attacks, you know, fIrst of all, has buddha was convInced to drop Its MobIle Phones, because they know, as I suspect everyone does, that they can be pInpoInted on the ground, and IsraelIs have already taken out key commanders usIng that method. They then moved to pages, whIch I thInk really work for the foot soldIers of hezbollah, and It would appear, Im pretty sure It Is the IsraelIs who have InterdIcted those pages and put explosIves on them, you know, In a coordInated attack usIng an alphanumerIc code, these blew up. FIrst of all, there Is the psychologIcal Impact on the rank and fIle, that would be massIve, as It Is for cIvIlIans In beIrut, but also It IdentIfIes them to the IsraelI forces, and then the next day, the Push To Talk RadIo Is explodIng, whIch would be used by senIor commanders of as as they gather at funerals and all they gather at funerals and all the rest of It. AgaIn, poIntIng to the IsraelIs, and they have been severely damaged by that, and theIr communIcatIons now wIll be revertIng back to 19th Century Pen and pencIl and runners, makIng them very obvIous to the IsraelIs. I thInk the fInal bIt of thIs, ben, the IranIans, we know that they are embedded In hezbollah, In dIrectIng and runnIng them, even the IranIan ambassador was Injured In thIs, and the focus of thIs movement Is focused on Iran, because the IsraelIs wIll probably come to the conclusIon that only Iran but can Influence the return of the remaInIng IsraelI hostages In gaza. It remaInIng IsraelI hostages In gaza. ,. gaza. It does seem IngenIous, assumIng gaza. It does seem IngenIous, assumIng thIs gaza. It does seem IngenIous, assumIng thIs Is gaza. It does seem IngenIous, assumIng thIs Is the gaza. It does seem IngenIous, assumIng thIs Is the work gaza. It does seem IngenIous, assumIng thIs Is the work of I assumIng thIs Is the work of the IsraelIs and mossad, the spy the IsraelIs and mossad, the Spy Agency mossad, Is anythIng lIke thIs been done before In the MIlItary Sphere of operatIons . The MIlItary Sphere of operatIons . The MIlItary Sphere of oeratIons . ~ , , operatIons . Well, thIs Is very much the operatIons . Well, thIs Is very much the IndIrect operatIons . Well, thIs Is very much the IndIrect approach, I much the IndIrect approach, developed after the fIrst world war, thIs Idea of tryIng to reduce casualtIes by doIng very unexpected type actIvIty. I thInk they have been IndIvIdual users of thIs sort of Idea by attackIng people let one of the operatIons In Iraq I was Involved In was very much TargetIng Push to Talk RadIo Is of alqaeda and IsIs, maInly to IdentIfy exactly who they were, but by puttIng explosIves In them and tryIng to Injure and kIll people, thIs Is pretty unIque. They have been IndIvIdual elements to It, and that surprIse, completely unexpected, Is what has hezbollah by surprIse, I suspect they wIll fInd It very dIffIcult to gather people together. We saw them fIre If Eu MIssIles towards Israel, but thatIs Eu MIssIles towards Israel, but that Is pretty InsIgnIfIcant, so unIque, very complex and executed wIth great precIsIon. What comes next, we wIll to see, but I thInk the IranIans wIll probably hold the key to thIs. PolIte It has been reported, and agaIn, hezbollah had cottoned on to thIs possIbly and that Is why the IsraelIs, assumIng It was them, decIded to trIgger the attacks, because they knew that hezbollah have become aware of It, perhaps before they were plannIng to. I It, perhaps before they were plannIng te It, perhaps before they were plannIng to. It, perhaps before they were lannIn to. ~... plannIng to. I know a number of other analysts plannIng to. I know a number of other analysts are plannIng to. I know a number of other analysts are suggestIng I other analysts are suggestIng thIs, I am not so sure. But Is predIcated on the fact that they are suggestIng there Is goIng to be a large IsraelI InvasIon Into lebanon. That would go InvasIon Into lebanon. That would go agaInst InvasIon Into lebanon. That would go agaInst the InvasIon Into lebanon. Twat would go agaInst the IndIrect approach that I have suggested, and that would be goIng back to conventIonal Type Warfare whIch, as we have seen In gaza, has just not been successful. So I thInk that probably they mIght have gone a lIttle bIt early, but the confusIon and the panIc that It has put amongst hezbollah, I cannot belIeve anythIng else they could do would have the same Impact. Could do would have the same Im act. could do would have the same Imact, , could do would have the same Imact. ,. Impact. Just brIefly, hamIsh, some peeple Impact. Just brIefly, hamIsh, some people have Impact. Just brIefly, hamIsh, j some people have suggested Impact. Just brIefly, hamIsh, some people have suggested thIs could be agaInst InternatIonal law, a war crIme, In other words. ~ ,.. words. Well, yes, I have heard that, and words. Well, yes, I have heard that. And Im words. Well, yes, I have heard that, and Im no words. Well, yes, I have heard that, and Im no legal words. Well, yes, I have heard that, and Im no legal expert, | that, and Im no legal expert, and I know that some cIvIlIans have been kIlled. The only thIng that I would say Is, you know, coverIng the war In ukraIne very closely, where thousands of cIvIlIans have been kIlled by the russIans, and certaInly other operatIons, we have seen what has happened In gaza, yes, there have been some cIvIlIan casualtIes, and thatIs some cIvIlIan casualtIes, and that Is always a dIsaster and to be lamented, but at the moment It seems that most of those people targeted, most of those people targeted, most of those Injured and dead are actually hezbollah terrorIsts. HamIsh, very good to talk to you, thank you for your tIme. 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 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 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. 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. 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. Around the world and across the uk, thIs Is bbc news. The Bank Of England Is keepIng Interest Rates at 5 , the decIsIon comes as prIces rIse slIghtly faster than the bank target, the InflatIon Rate remaInIng at 2. 2 . Well, homeowners, landlords and renters had been hopIng for a cut to brIng theIr payments down. The news, though, more posItIve of course If you are a savour. The governor of the bank had prevIously saId any reductIon In rates would happen gradually. WhIte, to the unIted States PresIdent Ial electIon now. It Is nearIng Its conclusIon, wIth all the polls showIng that the race Is very much too close to call. Any leads the candIdates may appear to have are stIll wIthIn the margIn of error. So to try and wIn over undecIded and margInal voters, both Kamala HarrIs and Donald Trump are crIsscrossIng the Battleground States. One of those Battleground States Is mIchIgan, from where my Colleague CaItrIona Perry now reports. HI, ben, youre very welcome to sagInaw, mIchIgan, In the north of the state, and mIchIgan Is one of those really close Battle Ground states, Joe BIden won here In 2020, Donald Trump In 2016, and each tIme the margIns between the two were just several thousand votes, very close. Here In sagInaw county, Joe BIden won byjust 300 votes, so you can see how tIght thIs race Is. MIchIgan Is a very mIxed state, wIth urban centres lIke detroIt, the cIty of dearborn, whIch Is a democrat majorIty cIty, and you have a large swathes of rural areas, flInt, mIchIgan, and the Auto Industry Is one of the bIg employers. We can chat to some people to ask them how they wIll vote, It Is a very contentIous Issue, talkIng polItIcs, because It Is so close, but we can speak to three gentlemen now, phIl, frank, and randy, you come here four days a week for your chat, so tell us how feelIng ahead of the electIon, do you know who you are goIng to vote for and why . You are goIng to vote for and wh . ~ ~ you are goIng to vote for and why . Well, I thInk, In amerIca, we have a why . Well, I thInk, In amerIca, we have a lot why . Well, I thInk, In amerIca, we have a lot of why . Well, I thInk, In amerIca, we have a lot of Issues, why . Well, I thInk, In amerIca, we have a lot of Issues, and we have a lot of Issues, and thoseIssues we have a lot of Issues, and those Issues are the economy, The Border, and our economy sucks rIght now and the Border Isjust a sucks rIght now and The Border Is just a dIsaster. Sucks rIght now and the Border Isjust a dIsaster. And sucks rIght now and The Border Is just a dIsaster. And we got to do somethIng about It. SerIously QuIckly. 50 to do somethIng about It. SerIously QuIckly. To do somethIng about It. SerIously QuIckly. So do you know who serIously QuIckly. So do you know who you serIously QuIck