saying it was preempting plans for a large—scale attack. the owner of x, elon musk, has criticised the arrest of telegram founder pavel durov, saying it's a sign that freedom of speech in europe is under attack. german prosecutors named the syrian man who has confessed to carrying out a mass stabbing attack in the city of solingen. hello. israel has launched airstrikes across lebanon and the militia group hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and drones at israel in a further escalation of the conflict in the middle east. israel says it hit more than 200 sites in lebanon in what it called a "pre—emptive strike" against the lebanese shia organisation, which was retaliating for the assassination of one of its top commanders in lebanon last month. hezbollah says the first phase of its attack is over. speaking earlier, its leader

hassan nasrallah said the attack was focused on striking military and intelligence targets involved in the killing of fouad shukr. untranslated. more analysis of that speech coming up more analysis of that speech coming up shortly. but first, our middle east correspondentjon donnison explains more about the latest escalation. 4:30 in the morning, and israel's biggest attack on hezbollah since the full—scale war back in 2006. its military says around 100

fighterjets hit hezbollah targets across southern lebanon, in what israel says were pre—emptive strikes. and the barrage went on and on. a short while ago, the idf identified hezbollah terrorist organisation preparing to fire missiles, rockets towards israeli territory. in a self—defence act to remove these threats, the idf is striking terror targets in lebanon, from which hezbollah was planning to launch their attacks on israeli civilians. for its part, hezbollah says it fired more than 300 rockets and missiles across the border. many were shot down by israel's missile defence system. but some got through. this house was hit in the northern coastal town of acre. translation: we didn't even get| the chance to close the closet door. there was a huge boom inside the house. the whole house was shaking.

i remember, like, flashbacks of fire, smoke, that sort of thing. siren wails the iranian—backed lebanese militia group said it was the first phase of its response to the israeli assassination of a senior hezbollah commander in beirut last month. ever since the assassination of hezbollah�*s fouad shukr injuly, which was quickly followed by the killing of the hamas leader ismail haniyeh in iran, widely blamed on israel, there have been fierce diplomatic efforts to try and stop the war in gaza escalating into a wider regional conflict. 0n today's evidence, though, those efforts are failing. early this morning, israel's prime minister convened his security cabinet and the question — what happens next? translation: we are determined to do everything to protect our country, - return the residents of the north safely to their homes and continue to uphold a simple rule — whoever hurts us, we hurt them.

israel and hezbollah insist they don't want another war. but both say they're ready for it if it comes. with me now is our middle east editor sebastian usher. welcome to you. let's start with that lengthy speech by hezbollah commander hassan nasrallah. want a say about the timing and target of their attack? i think he was trying to get across that this was a decision that was made with a great deal of thought, planning and strategy. there are a lot of people who

believe that hezbollah should have acted on its vow vow to take out revenge more quickly. he said essentially that the mobilisation by the us and israel was very strong at the beginning, so if they hurry, that might have been a failure in what they were doing. also, that by delaying, it caused more problems, more pain for israel, financially, for instance, and also that he was giving, hezbollah was giving the ceasefire and hostage release talks going on about gaza, which is even more than a week ago in qatar and are continuing in cairo, time to see if they would get anywhere, and he essentially said they are not, from his perspective, so there is no more reason to wait. what do we make have had to say in the wake of both of their actions now they have said this is effectively the first stage of this military action? as i say, the other messages n was giving was they weren't trying to escalate this beyond the red lines

where it was already. —— nasrallah. they were going to attack civilians or normal infrastructure in cities. they were just going to do it on military targets, and he particularly talked about this base, this intelligence and surveillance base deep in israel, which he said must have played a part in the killing of fouad shukr, so we very much made that part of what has bowler was trying to do, and he also said that his mother would now assess the success of what it was trying to do, and if it was found that the damage caused was insufficient, the response was not strong enough, they will think about having another response. the israeli side has been to say that they essentially thwarted what might have been a much bigger attack, saying that they launched a pre—emptive strike attacks on more than a0 sites that hezbollah had, and destroyed thousands of rockets, and in doing so, they took a step not only to foiling what hezbollah is trying to do but also to restoring some kind

of calm to northern israel. this is what the prime minister benjamin netanyahu said. this is the first step towards allowing people, more than 60,000 israelis have had to leave the border region of israel, and they can go back, and the chief of staff, the military chief of staff in israel, hasjust said something very similar, saying israel is very determined to change the security reality in the north and will act to return the residents of the north to their homes in safety. time is running out on that. schools are going back next month, and the pressure for the residents there on the israeli government and military to do enough to make it safe for them again is going. i think we will not see another hezbollah attack like this in the foreseeable future, but the attacks that are going on day after day between israel and hezbollah will continue, and as far as israel is concerned, that is still something they actually can't put up with.

they still have a goal of stopping that, because as long as that continues, it is not safe for people to go back to those areas, just as it is not on the other side of the border in lebanon, and as far as the israeli government and military are concerned, and the public are my thing, to an extent, that is not acceptable. what do you think today's actions mean for the stalled peace negotiations, hostage release deal? it is difficult to say. certainly, it will be even more urgency that the us will feel, pushing this very hard, that securing that deal finally is the best way to try and stop a wider conflagration, the confrontation between hezbollah, and remember, iran has still vowed a response for the killing of the hamas political leader hassan ismail haniyeh in iranjust after fouad shukr was killed. so from that

perspective, there is that obstacle, but the other obstacles that were in the way seem to still be in place. what nasrallah and hamas have essentially said as these talks are not going anywhere, but you could also see hamas itself might be in a slightly weaker position, that the threat that hezbollah was holding of israel now may have seemed to evaporate to some extent, that hezbollah is still very keen, it would seem, on keeping its conflict within the red lines. hamas might have wanted as a bargaining position this sense hezbollah could unleash its full force and that would help its full force and that would help it get the conditions it once, so hamas negotiators might be looking at that and thinking this has not worked out in the best possible way for us. as far as a deal is concerned, i think we are still some way from any sense that that is likely to happen. thank you. german prosecutors have named the man suspected of friday's mass stabbing at a festival in the town of solingen that killed three

people and injured eight. they said syrian national issa al h is suspected of being a member of the islamic state group. as is normal in the german legal system, they haven't specified his surname. the suspect turned himself in late on saturday and admitted to the crime. he appeared in front of german prosecutors earlier on sunday. the prime minister is warning that things in britain will get worse before they get better. sir keir starmer will say this week that there are no quick fixes to the problems left by the conservatives. the tories are accusing labour of "fabricating" a financial black hole to justify planned tax rises. here's our political correspondent leila nathoo. the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day, shining once again on a country...

good morning, prime minister. he'll stress again that that change will take time, pointing to what labour called a black hole in public finances, created, they say, by the last conservative government. and he'll say that people taking to the streets in recent riots were exploiting cracks in society. we haven'tjust inherited an economic problem, we've inherited a society problem too. there's a lot of work to do what the speech will also say that, but the speech will also say that progress will be made. the prime minister will say he won't shy away from unpopular decisions if it benefits the country in the long term. his chancellor, rachel reeves, has already made one, to means test the winter fuel payment. but tories claim pensioners are being left in the cold and point to public sector workers being given above—inflation pay rises. they say the economy is doing far better than labour are making out, and accuse the treasury of trying to provide cover for future tax rises.

the economy is now growing again, but government borrowing was higher than expected last month, inflation is back close to target, but food prices are still high. the battle for the economic narrative will keep ramping up as we approach 0ctober�*s budget. leila nathoo, bbc news. the reuters news agency says one of its team covering the war in ukraine is missing after a strike on an hotel in the east of the country. it happened in the eastern city of kramatorsk. ukrainian authorities say three journalists were wounded when their hotel was hit in a russian strike. one is still missing in the rubble. 0ur correspondent nick beake in kyiv and has this update. we have this statement now from the reuters news agency, and they say that six of their colleagues were staying in a hotel, as you say, in the east of the country, in the city of kramatorsk, when their hotel was hit last night, in what they describe as an apparent missile strike. they say that two of their colleagues were taken to hospital, but a third member of the team is unaccounted for, and that reuters are urgently trying

to find more information. the news agency also released some footage which showed the aftermath of what happened. a very large part of this hotel has been completely flattened. there was other video taken by other people that's been released, and that shows the same sort of scene. it was clearly a very powerful missile strike. the governor of the donetsk region, where this took place, has also been talking about similar sort of things, giving similar details. so reuters confirming that this has affected a six—man team, a six—person team in this part of the east of ukraine, and that they're supporting the families of those affected at the moment while they try and get more information. this is the latest we've had from the overnight fighting. you've got that from the russian authorities in that border region on the russian side. at the same time, the ukrainians are talking about more than 20 casualties in at least four different regions of this country, of ukraine, with people being injured, including children.

so this is an indication of the fighting that continues. and, of course, that's slightly separate from the big things we've seen over the past couple of weeks. and that's been the ukrainian forces that actually went into part of russia in the surprise incursion. and, of course, what's happening in the east of the country, this war of attrition that continues with russia, it seems, making gains there, albeit at quite a slow pace. the owner of x, elon musk, has criticised the arrest of the founder of the telegram messaging service, pavel durov. he said it was a sign that freedom of speech in europe was under attack. the russian billionaire, who's also a french citizen, is accused of failing to act on reports that the platform is being used for organised crime, including fraud and drug trafficking.

it is one of the most popular apps, almost a billion users. it's particularly popular in russia and ukraine. it is used by both sides in the war. it is used by russian state news agencies, pro—kremlin military bloggers, people spreading propaganda for the kremlin war and also by president zelensky, ukrainian officials, ordering ukrainians to keep up—to—date with the course of the war, to fundraise, support ukrainian troops. the reason it is controversial, telegram, is because there is very little moderation. western law enforcement agencies have a long list of issues with telegram, people using it for drug trafficking, for extremism, terrorism, pornography, the list goes on and on. 0ne german police official called it a medium of radicalisation and here in the uk, telegram was linked to the summer riots, the violent disorder we saw in english cities earlier this month, because telegram was one of the apps of choice for these far right groups that were instrumental

in organising that disorder. let's get some more now on the situation in the middle east with that latest exchange between israel and hezbollah. in the past few minutes, reuters is reporting a top military official from the us has arrived in israel just hours after this clash between israel and hezbollah. they say he is the chairman of thejoint chiefs of staff and is expected to hold meetings with senior israeli military officials. let's speak to senior fellow at the atlantic council and former us ambassador gina abercrombie—winstanley. welcome to you. thanks for being with us. let's start with events earlier today. both sides say this isn't it, this is the first stage of their actions, but also saying they don't want an all—out war, though they are preparing for that possibility. how do both sides and those invested in this conflict try to de—escalate

tensions? thank you. well, there has always been a two sided battle, one of actual events on the ground, and a war of words. so the words, of course, give both sides leeway to do more or not more after this round of retaliatory attacks. both sides have heeded the cautions of the international community in general, certainly the united states, with regard to israel, and the partners in the region with regard to hezbollah and likely iran. with regard to not escalating this beyond, we cannot overlook the fact that missteps happen all the time and can happen. it is likely a attack that killed the israeli children in the north, that they were not the target, and that is

just an example of how this round got started from something that was likely unintended, so they very forcefully focused on military targets, mostly targets that had been hit before, sending a clear signal that the efforts are trying to keep it at this level. the visit of a senior us military official, the chairman of thejoint chiefs of staff, is carrying a message from washington and also seeing for himself on the ground and having important exchanges about the situation and about us views. and indeed, the us defence secretary reaffirming as ever the us�*s ironclad commitment, as they call it, to israel's defence, and we also learned from the israeli military that they launched their military action against hezbollah in conjunction, or certainly with the agreement or advice of the us military, didn't they? even though they weren't involved militarily, it was certainly a decision they came

to together about the targets. how significant is that right now? i think it is logical and expected that us intelligence might be involved in that, but again, it allows the united states to make clear our expectation that this conflict should not be escalated. so, identifying what those military targets are, what are the targets that allow the cessation or help israel protect itself? because that is a commitment the united states has made. increasingly, americans are questioning the conduct of the war in gaza. does this serve the united states? and that is a discussion that will no doubt expand. but that commitment to israel's obviously right to exist, but to defend itself and be safe in the region is one that is ironclad. and the us�*s support for israel at that time is one that kamala harris, the democratic nominee for the presidential election, is coming under pressure over. joe biden now

hasjust a few under pressure over. joe biden now has just a few months left of his administration. what pressure do you think he can bring to bear upon prime minister netanyahu, given that the two have clashed so many times in the past few months, and he hasn't actually done, in many cases, what president biden has wanted him to? very, very true. the president certainly has levers, i think the world knows, several of which he could use if he were willing to, if he felt the need to. there will be some advice and counsel he is getting on how best to support israel, and what he is willing to do in and of himself. it is clear that even though he has expressed his irritation with the prime minister from time to time, he has questioned the prime minister's motives, accurately, many israelis would say, and certainly, reasonably, americans

think, and suffered the embarrassment, there is no other word for it, of the prime minister again seeing him in public even though the prime minister depends on the treasure, time, military and diplomatic cover the us provides israel. —— gainsaying him in public. he appears to not be very grateful for it and not be very understanding about the united states' needs as well. so whether the president is willing to move from that remains to be seen, but definitely he does not want to leave this problem for his successor, and both the vice president as well as former president as well as former president trump have been clear that they believe this war needs to be wrapped up, so the pressure for a ceasefire will remain. it may intensify. the prime minister may have a surprise one way or another with who is elected in november. the vice president has made a bit of space for herself, which is

important, i think, space for herself, which is important, ithink, not space for herself, which is important, i think, not only for the democratic party, but for the american people. we see what is happening, we understand the importance of israel being able to defend itself, but increasingly... thank you so much. gina abercrombie—winstanley. the paralympic flame is on its way to paris as 2a british torchbearers head through the channel tunnel. they'll be handing the symbolic torch to french paralympians in calais. the torch itself was lit yesterday in stoke mandeville, the birthplace of the paralympic movement. 0ur correspondentjoe inwood spoke to some of team gb�*s paralympians as they were getting on to the eurostar. do you know your s3 from your c7? do you know why wheelchair rugby is called murderball? well, over the next 15 days or so, we're going to find out, because the paralympics are going to get going in paris. now, of course, the olympics were a fantastic success and team gb are hoping to replicate that

with the paris games. i'm joined now by a couple of the swimming team, who are on their way here on the eurostar at st pancras. will and maisie, tell us which category and classification do you both compete in? so, i am sia, which is swimmers with, like, an intellectual impairment. and maisie, you are? i am an 56, and that's kind of in the middle of the physical impairments, yeah. now, maisie, you were at tokyo and you had great success, you are one of our big medal hopes. how are you feeling about these games? yeah, really good. you know, this year i have been swimming the fastest i have, so hopefully going into the games that can continue and i will try my best to hopefully replicate those medals. you broke your own world record recently? yeah, in may in berlin, so that was kind of a shock for that point in the season, so i think it shows that i am in a really good place and hopefully that will carry on for over the next few weeks. and how much sort of support have you got? how has the public mood around these games been going? completely different to tokyo. i think, you know, the whole crowd

are behind us and i think because we are so close to home in paris, it is going to be really special and even down here in the station, you know, we had everyone waving flags and cheering for us, so yeah, it has been really good so far. and will, this is your first games. how are you feeling about it? nervous? not too nervous, no. i'm going in favourite for 200 freestyle which is on the 31st, so, yeah, hopefully that will be good, and yeah, it's my first games, just try and embrace the crowd. i know in tokyo there was no crowd, so just try and bring as much of the 15,000 people in as possible. so, do you think, are you a favourite for a gold? how do you rate your chances? yeah, so, i hold the world record, well, joint with reece dunn who won it in tokyo. i'm1.52.a, so i'm going in favourite for that by 1.8 seconds. hopefully i can handle the pressure well and try and just hang onto a gold or at least get a medal, and just enjoy the moment. it's my first games, so hopefully many more to come as well. will, maisie, thank you. now, of course, we have a golden train for these athletes heading to paris.

they are hoping this is an omen. they are aiming for anywhere between 100 and 1a0 medals, which would better what they managed in tokyo. best what they managed in tokyo. of luck to all of them now, take a look at this. what they managed in tokyo. manette baillie from suffolk here in the uk has marked her 102nd birthday by doing a sky dive for charity. it was the first time she'd ever done one! speaking to the bbcjust before thejump, ms baillie said she "doesn't do fear". she is hard—core! stay with us here on bbc news. hello. southern and eastern areas have had the lion's share of the dry and relatively bright weather today. further north and west, a different story, including here across the isle of man, with cloud and outbreaks of rain. wet weather also affected parts of northern ireland or wales, northern england, up into scotland. this frontal system here, this

shield of cloud working through. we will still have the remnants of this frontal system in place as we head through tonight, but it will be weakening all the while. just a band of cloud, some showers in northern ireland, southern scotland and northern england. a few showers also likely to graze southern counties of england. for many, not as chilly as last night, but parts of north—east scotland could get down to 5, 6 or 7 degrees. monday is a bank holiday for most of us, though not in scotland, and this ridge of high pressure will try to build, but still the remains of that weather front sitting about here in monday morning. cloud and showers will tend to drift up across scotland throughout the day. further south, not as many showers and some spells of sunshine. 0n the whole, a drier, brighter and warmer day than we have been used to over the last few days. temperatures 15—23. through monday night, the winds will strengthen once again through western parts as this next frontal system works

its way into the picture. that will bring some heavy rain across northern ireland, western scotland, getting into western england and wales, but just ahead of that, we are going to tap into some warmer air. the further south and east you are, if you hold onto some sunshine during tuesday, i think you will really feel the difference. here is a band of cloud and rain moving across southern scotland, north—east england and wales. to the west of that, sunshine and showers. warmer than it has been, 19 for aberdeen, 2a belfast, 19 for aberdeen, 20 for belfast, but parts of eastern england could get to 26. into wednesday, the same weather front not making much progress, stalling across western areas with outbreaks of rain. western england and wales, northern ireland and scotland, a mix of sunshine and showers, but to the east of our frontal system, staying warmer. we could get up to the high 20s celsius. it looks like it will turn cooler again for the end of the week, with a bit of rain or indeed showers towards the north and west.

this is bbc news. the headlines... hezbollah�*s leader says the group targeted an israeli military base near tel aviv in retaliation for the killing of one of its commanders. israel says it destroyed dozens of hezbollah launch sites in lebanon to pre—empt a large—scale missile attack. german prosecutors name the syrian

man who has confessed to carrying out friday's mass stabbing attack in the city of solingen in western germany. the 26—year—old is reported to be a syrian asylum seeker, who's being investigated for links to the islamic state group. and the owner of x, elon musk, has criticised the arrest of telegram founder pavel durov, saying it's a sign that freedom of speech in europe is under attack. telegram has been accused of not cooperating with authorities and failing to curb criminal use of the platform. no on bbc news, it is sports day. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm marc edwards. here's what we've got coming up on

our show.