live from singapore, this is bbc news. lets get you the headlines... israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says israel has delivered crushing blows to its enemies — after the killing of a hezbollah commander and a leader of hamas. more than 100 are arrested in a second night of violence as police investigating a mass stabbing in the north of england are due to give an update this hour — we'll bring it to you live. and the bbc says it is "shocked" by what it calls the "abhorrent behaviour" of former presenter huw edwards, who's pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.

you're watching bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. as we go to air, there are growing fears of region—wide conflict in the middle east. the un security council has wrapped up an emergency session in new york. wrapped up an emergency the secretary general is warning of a "dangerous escalation". and israel's prime minister says his country has "challenging days" ahead. all this follows the killing of senior leaders from two iranian—backed groups — hamas and hezbollah — both considered terrorist organisations by the uk and us governments. 62—year—old ismail haniyeh was the political leader of hamas — the group that runs gaza. he was killed in an air strike in tehran while visiting the iranian capital. hamas blame israel for the killing, but israel hasn't responded. iran has vowed to avenge his death.

his death came just hours after israel said it had attacked a building in beirut, killing fuad shukr — a senior commander of the hamas—supporting group, hezbollah. shortly, we'll have a report from quentin sommerville, in beirut — but first, here's our diplomatic correspondent paul adams, from jerusalem. across the west bank this morning, a furious reaction to the news from tehran. they knew ismail haniyeh had a target on his back. and israel has assassinated many palestinian leaders before. but that doesn't lessen the shock. in ramallah, seat of the palestinian government, they gathered at noon. the palestinian authority declaring this a day of mourning. condemnation here from supporters, and opponents of hamas. israel has just committed a terrible criminal, political act by assassinating a political leader. they have assassinated the person they were negotiating with about a ceasefire.

so this sends a very clear message to palestinians. israel doesn't want peace, israel doesn't want a ceasefire. all israel understands is only the language of force. this city, ramallah, is not exactly a stronghold of hamas, and today's demonstration isn't huge, a few hundred people at most. but no—one should underestimate the strength of feeling, of dismay and anger, generated by the killing of ismail haniyeh. the hamas leader, seen here on the left, was in tehran for the new president's inauguration. iran backs hamas as well as the houthis in yemen and hezbollah in lebanon. for one former israeli national security adviser, this was a perfect opportunity. in a way, it's the best place to kill him because it shows a connection between tehran and hamas. and in tehran, no—one can complain about it because they made hamas,

and now hamas what mektic and you lied to dutch life to the merseyside police headquarters with an update on the stabbing incident in southport. update on the stabbing incident in southport— in southport. calling the trauic in southport. calling the tragic incident _ in southport. calling the tragic incident that - in southport. calling the tragic incident that took| in southport. calling the - tragic incident that took place in southport this week. he will appear at liverpool city magistrate court on thursday, the 1st of august, 202a. we are mind all concerned that the colonel case against the defendant is active and he has a right to a fair trial. it is extremely important there should be no reporting, commentary, orsharing should be no reporting, commentary, or sharing of information online which could information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings. our thoughts remain with the families of all those affected by these harrowing events. those affected by these harrowin: events. harrowing events. good evening, serena kennedy, _ harrowing events. good evening, serena kennedy, chief— harrowing events. good evening, serena kennedy, chief constablej serena kennedy, chief constable of merseyside police. as the

cps have said, a child from banks— cps have said, a child from banks has_ cps have said, a child from banks has been charged with the murders — banks has been charged with the murders of three young girls, ten counts of attempted to make attempted murder, and possession of a bladed article after— possession of a bladed article after the _ possession of a bladed article after the tragic incident in south _ after the tragic incident in south southport... the south southport. .. the 17—year—old south southport... the 17—year—old cannot be blamed for legal— 17—year—old cannot be blamed for legal reasons. he's been remanded in custody to appear tomorrow_ remanded in custody to appear tomorrow at liverpool magistrates' court, darby square _ magistrates' court, darby square. while these charges are a significant milestone in this investigation, this remains very— investigation, this remains very much a life investigation and we — very much a life investigation and we continue to work with our partners from lancaster police and counterterrorism policing northwest. i would like to thank_ northwest. i would like to thank all the forces who have offered — thank all the forces who have offered and supplied support to merseyside police during the last three days, and i can confirm _ last three days, and i can confirm we are being supported with investigative resources

from — with investigative resources from across the northwest. thank— from across the northwest. thank you. from across the northwest. thank vom— from across the northwest. thank yon-— thank you. that was the merseyside _ thank you. that was the merseyside police - thank you. that was the i merseyside police speaking about the stabbing incident in southport. the 17—year—old boy has been charged with the murder of those three children who were tragically killed in southport. we also heard from police that ten counts of attempted murder and possession of a blade, the police also highlighted they cannot reveal more about the identity of the 17—year—old because he is 17, and the charges are significant, but also the police highlighted this is very much a life investigation and they are coordinating with different departments of the uk police for more updates on that. the latest coming in from the police who just held a press conference about the stabbing incident in southport.

judith martz has more on that story. when a knifeman walked into leanne lucas's dance class, she showed incredible bravery, shielding the children from danger. her cousin has told the bbc how she's doing now. all we know is she's talking. she's still definitely not out of the woods yet, but she's definitely talking. yeah, we're not allowed to say too much, but yeah, she's a hero. she's an actual hero. the attack has devastated this community and made an impact far beyond here, too. nine—year—old alice aguiar, elsie dot stancombe, aged seven, and bebe king, who wasjust six, were all killed. eight other children were hurt. another adult was injured, too — stabbed in the leg as he tried to stop the knifeman, jonathan hayes ran in from his office next door. from his hospital bed, he told the bbc he doesn't

see himself as a hero, and wishes he could have done more. in southport, it's a time to hold your kids tight. all over this town, parents are in turmoil. gemma's daughter was supposed to be at the dance class, but it was fully booked. i just want to keep them close to me. they're in my bed every night since it's happened. ijust want to hold them, i don't want them to go anywhere. she was supposed to go to pre—school today — i just don't want to let her go. last night, things took a violent turn here. rioting broke out, inflamed by social media posts which suggested — wrongly — that there was an islamist link to monday's stabbings. more than 50 officers and three police dogs were injured. a mosque was targeted and a corner shop was looted. today, it was being boarded up by volunteers, and its owner is worried about more trouble. so theyjust flooded like a human flood inside, and theyjust took all the cigarettes, valuable

alcohol, smashed a couple of bottles. you know, sweets, chocolates, just threw it everywhere. the chief constable of merseyside came to southport to walk the streets where her officers were attacked. they were faced with that disgusting level of violence for people who do not represent our communities here in southport. was it your sense that they came in from outside this community? there was people who travelled into southport. people have attended, then, after the vigil for the purpose of mindless violence, thuggery and hooliganism. and they do not represent southport. do you worry about misinformation that circulates online? is that providing a new challenge? you know, it absolutely is, in terms of there's a lot of misinformation out there, there is a lot of speculation. and i would just urge people — we will give you the information when we can. though there's no sense of the rioters returning tonight,

the police are here in number. this place is putting itself back together. but it's one thing to clear up the broken glass and mend the damage. it's quite another to heal the hearts of people here who've seen the worst of humanity in their town. judith moritz, bbc news, southport. judith martz reporting on that very tragic story. to recap what we've heard from the south side police, mentioning the 17—year—old boy has been charged with murder and also ten additional counts of attempted murder have been levelled. they highlight because of his age, his identity cannot be revealed and he will be produced in the court on thursday in the uk. the police also highlighted the

charges are significant, and also importantly, this is still very much a life investigation, and they will be coordinating with all departments of the police for more on what really transpired in the motive behind that attack. switching focus to the other big headline we've had in the uk. the uk culture secretary, lisa nandy, has tonight called for an urgent meeting with the bbc director general, over the handling of the case of former news presenter huw edwards. on wednesday, edwards pleaded guilty to accessing indecent images of children as young as seven. the bbc says it knew he'd been arrested back in november on suspicion of serious offences. he'd been suspended from duties, but was still being paid his full salary, and later received a bonus. he resigned from the corporation in april — allowed to leave on his own terms. lucy manning reports. the man who read the news

headlines is now in them, in the middle of the jostling cameras and reporters who he would normally have worked alongside, facing serious charges that he accessed indecent photographs and videos of children, including a boy as young as 7—9 years old. no words outside court, but three key ones inside. the former newsreader stood in the dock and, as the counts were read out, calmly, quietly, he replied, "guilty". then again, "guilty," and for the third time, "guilty". the court heard huw edwards had been in a whatsapp chat with a man he met online, who sent him pictures and videos. of the 377 sexual images, 41 were indecent images of children, mostly between 12—15 years old. but two of the most extreme images were videos of a child who could have been as young as seven. the court heard on two

occasions he asked the man not to send underage or illegal pictures — but, after the first time, he still accessed more that were sent, including the video of the young boy. mr edwards' lawyer said the former bbc newsreader hadn't kept any images or sent them to anyone else. in the last year, huw edwards has gone from the top of the bbc to suspension, to resignation, and now pleading guilty to these serious offences. a downfall for a man who was at the pinnacle of his career. there are 650 mps... leading the bbc�*s election and royal coverage, the man entrusted to announce the death of the queen. good evening. the unrelenting pressure... the main presenter of news at ten, he left the bbc in the aftermath of separate allegations from the sun that he had paid for explicit photos. he left, but not before he'd received a £40,000 pay rise. in a statement, the bbc said...

the police revealed this afternoon that the man who shared the indecent images with huw edwards is convicted paedophile 25—year—old alex williams. they only began investigating the former newsreader after they seized a phone in an unconnected investigation and discovered the whatsapp messages.

huw edwards now faces a possible jail sentence, which will be decided in september. he has accepted his guilt, but the man who was the face of bbc news, who was the watchword for reliability and trust, has forfeited all of that and so much more. lucy manning, bbc news. the story that just came the story thatjust came out a short while back. the man accused of masterminding the september iith attacks in new york, khalid sheikh mohammed, and two of his accomplices have agreed to plead guilty. the three have been held at the us navy base guantanamo bay, cuba, for years without going to trial. according to us news outlets, the men agreed to admit to conspiracy charges in exchange for a life sentence, after a possible death sentence was excluded. the man accused of masterminding the september the cases against the three have been mired in a decades—long controversy over whether their treatment at cia prisons compromised the evidence against them.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

venezuela's president, nicolas maduro, says the country's opposition will "never ever" be in power, and accused them of having blood on their hands. several opposition figures are sheltering in the argentine embassy in caracas, which is surrounded by police. mr maduro was declared the winner of sunday's election — but argentina, along with several other countries, refuses to recognise him as president. he addressed the countries on wednesday, after days of protests, in which several people died. costa rica said it was prepared to offer asylum to the main opposition leader, maria corina machado. there are reports the government has issued a warrant for her arrest. 0ur correspondent ione wells is in caracas with more.

well, after sunday's disputed presidential election result, there have been days of protests around the city, and the opposition have repeatedly said that with the evidence they have gathered, with more than 70% of the ballots that they've been able to look at, they are confident they have proof that they, not president maduro, has won the election. now, president maduro has heavily disputed that, of course, and has accused the opposition of starting, in his words, "a coup". just today, he gave a press statement where he said that he was going to be asking the supreme court to take action against protesters who he described as terrorists. i think that is essentially a cue for more people to be detained and arrested around the country as a result of some of these protests. the chief prosecutor in the country has already said that more than 1,000 people have been arrested in some of these protests. the opposition have strongly condemned this. they've highlighted several key figures of their own party

that they know are missing or have been detained. they also, as you say, are very concerned about the fact that there was a sort of strong police presence around the argentine embassy today, where several key opposition figures have been sheltering even from prior to the election itself. president maduro has continued to sort of double down, saying that anyone refusing to kind of essentially acknowledge the results of this election is trying to instigate, in his words, a coup, and has also blamed foreign governments for demanding more proof for this election result and accuse them of interfering. a court in guinea has sentenced former dictator moussa dadis camara to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity, over a 2009 massacre at a political rally. 156 people were killed, 109 women raped, and hundreds more injured when members of camara's presidential guard, soliders, police, and militia brutally supressed an opposition rally

in a sport stadium. it's been labelled one of the darkest chapters in the nation's history. seven other people were handed terms of up to life in prison — with the court also ordering compensation be paid to the victims. let's turn to the us now — where kamala harris continues her presidential campaign. on tuesday, she told supporters in atlanta, in the swing state of georgia, that her rival, donald trump, had persuaded republicans in the us senate to vote down a bi—partisan border security bill. on wednesday, she's in texas for her next rally. mr trump, who is running again as the republican candidate, has questioned whether ms harris is actually black. in a speech at the national association of black journalists�* convention, mr trump said ms harris was of indian heritage. he said he didn't know she was black until a few years ago, when she — in mr trump's words — "happened to turn black."

for more on how the presidential race is placed i spoke to steve israel, who was the house democrats' chief political strategist from 2011-2015. he started by giving his reaction to trump's comments on kamala harris�*s race. well, it's another very dark day in the united states. it's a dark day for our politics. this isjust vintage donald trump. he panders to the worst impulses and instincts of various people. he engages in racist diatribes in his mind. he believes that this is how he revs up his base. the problem with his thinking is, not only is it immoral, his base is already revved up. this is no way to attract the more moderate, independent voters that he needs. and so, while this is — he reveals who he is as a person, i'm not sure it's a sensible political strategy — if he means it to be a political strategy. talking about reaching out to the modern voters, i want to get your thoughts on how the democrats have come up with that new theme

to attack donald trump and jd vance, calling them, quote, "weird". what's that about? is this likely to resonate with voters more than substantive arguments against a possible trump presidency? well, you have to do both in an american election. you've got to tap into people's intuitions, and you also have to offer substantive and coherent messaging about what you'll do for them when you govern. the fact of the matter is that the roll—out of senatorjd vance, from ohio, as donald trump's vice presidential candidate, has been weird. he has underperformed. he has said weird things about cat women — women who are childless, about mountain dew, the soda. and so he has had a very unstable roll—out, and the democrats are capitalising on that. it reflects kind of popular culture, but the best kind of political messaging

is popular culture — and that's exactly what the democrats are doing. democrats have found new pathways to victory in battleground states that might previously have been unwinnable, and the choice for the vice presidential pick will be made with one eye on getting an edge in key states. so which vice presidential nominee would have most impact in the polls, do you think? well, first of all, there is some recent news — and that is that it's entirely possible that vice president harris will announce her choice as early as next tuesday. and they are, in fact, narrowing the scope. there are three criteria for selecting a vice presidential candidate. number one, an ability to serve and to lead if called upon — if, god forbid, something happens to kamala harris if she's elected. number two, somebody who can win those battleground states that are essential. michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin, arizona, similar states. and number three, somebody who can unify the party,

while at the same time attract those moderate ticket—splitters — people who vote republican or democratic. all of the candidates that she's currently vetting, and there are close to a dozen of them, fulfil at least one or two, some fill three of those criteria. i'm not going to speculate on who she's going to choose, and here's why. she doesn't even know yet who she's going to choose. and so, anything other than, you know, any speculation is just idle chatter. we'll know in several days, and i'm confident that the pick will be somebody who can help with winnability, but also serve if necessary. steve israel speaking to me earlier. to paris now — and the french swimmer leon marchand has won two gold medals in two hours this evening, winning both in 0lympic—record times. he won the 200—metre butterfly and in the same session won the 200—metre breaststroke. marchand now has three gold medals at these games — he also won the 400—metre individual medley on sunday. sticking with swimming — and american katie ledecky has

equalled the record for most 0lympic women's swimming golds, eight, after winning the i,500—metre freestyle. she dominated the race, with silver going to france's anastasiya kirpichnikova, who was over ten seconds behind. in tennis — the spanish pairing of carlos alcaraz and rafael nadal have been knocked out of the quarterfinals of the men's doubles. americans austin krajicek and rajeev ram dominated the opening set and went on to win — tking them into the semifinal. and great britain's alex yee won gold with a sensational sprint finish in the men's triathlon. the triathlon had been due to take place on tuesday but was rescheduled because of poor water quality in the river seine. a recap of the developments out of southport. we heard from the police that a 17—year—old boy

has been charged with murder along with ten counts of attempted murder. that's all for now, thanks for watching. hello there. humidity levels are beginning to increase now, and we're starting to see a thundery breakdown take place across england and wales, certainly after this recent hot spell. so, a thundery day on thursday, some good sunny spells around. yes, it will continue to feel very warm and humid. if you catch some of these torrential downpours, you really will know about it. we'll start thursday morning with torrential downpours through central, northern and eastern parts of england. then, into the afternoon as a sunshine comes out, we'll see further thunderstorms developing — east wales, the midlands, southern and eastern england. scotland and northern ireland not doing too badly — variable clouds, some sunshine and comfortable conditions there, ranging from 17—23 celsius, but another very warm one across england and wales, 25—29 celsius. as we head through thursday evening, those thunderstorms fade out across central and eastern england.

it turns dry with clear spells, but the breeze picks up with more cloud developing across western scotland and northern ireland. a little bit warmer across scotland and northern ireland to start friday than we've had of late, but it will be another muggy one for england and wales. start to see some changes into friday — this new area of low pressure will bring weather fronts, outbreaks of rain, strengthening winds to western scotland and northern ireland through the day, winds also picking up through the irish sea. large parts of eastern scotland, certainly england and wales will have another sunny afternoon with a few thunderstorms across eastern england — but it's going to be another warm one again, 28—29 celsius in the warmest spots in the southeast, low—20s further north and west. and it will be turning fresher here as this weather front starts to cross the country during saturday. eventually, it will reach east and southeastern england during saturday afternoon, clearing through, then allowing fresher air to move in across most areas, with sunny spells, variable cloud, scattered showers for western scotland and northern ireland. here, the high teens at best,

further south, it's cooler as well, 21—25 celsius. the fresher air will be across all areas as we move into part two of the weekend. low pressure starts to dominate, bringing our air source from the atlantic. not a bad day in store for sunday — a lot of sunshine through central, southern, and eastern areas, more cloud further north and west. we'll start to see more persistent rain moving into northern ireland and western scotland with strengthening winds. high teens celsius again in the north and west, low—to—mid—20s further south.

us central bank chief jerome powell hints that an interest rate cut could be on the table as soon as september, sending wall street higher. facebook parent meta going from strength to strength, as its quarterly results and guidance exceed expectations. hello and welcome to business today. i'm arunoday mukharji. let's begin in the us, where the federal reserve has wrapped up its latest two—day meeting, where policy makers kept the cost of borrowing rate steady between 5.25% to 5.5%. what was noteworthy though were the hints from chairjerome powell that a september interest rate cut could be on the table. those comments from his press conference pushed wall street higher, with all the major indices closing in the green.