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♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... woman: two retiring executives turn their focus to greyhounds, giving these former race dogs a real chance to win. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" christian: hello, i'm christian fraser. this is "the context." >> have to bring y some breaking news. in the past few minutes, there have been boards from several sources of a blast in the southern suburbs of the lebanese

capital beirut. >> the question tonight is whether that is a one-off targeted strike which appears to have been hitting a senior hezbollah commander. >> i have been there many times. it is a very packed area, close to a very famous mosque, also close to a hospital. what is the scale of the damage? christian: an explosion tonight in south beirut. the israelis are born hezbollah they they were in the severe retaliation for the weekend attack on the golan heights. tonight, a targeted attack on a senior hezbollah can limit their -- commander, which could have deep ramifications for the entire region. a vigil in southport, three

children killed in a knife attack, the community is in mourning. further demonstrations in venezuela after sunday's election. there are reports protesters have been killed, hundreds arrested including a key opposition figure. there has been an enormous explosion tonight in beirut, ree missiles fired from a drone above the lebanese capital said to have targeted hezbollah and one of its senior military commanders. israeli sources said the attack was in response to the attack this pack weekend in the occupy golan heights that killed 12 children. the lebanese group would have been expecting a response. these are the more recent pictures from that beirut neighborhood tonight outside the apartment building that was hit. the newspaper quoted military

sources saying the target was a high-ranking official within hezbollah named fuad shukr, known also as hajj mohsin. he was had to be second in command of hezbollah's military activities, directly linked, they said, to the weekend attack. lebanese media reporting one person was killed in the attack but that the intended target escaped. our correspondent mark lowen is in jerusalem this morning. maybe i could start with you, nafeesa. tell me what your sources are telling you about this neighborhood, what actually took place. >> first of all, from my balcony , everything was clear, i could see the smoke rising, and my building shook. i am close to the area, not the area that was attacked, but very close. i could see the smoke coming

off, my building was shaking. people were panicked because they remembered the attack that happened, explosion that happened four years ago in beirut port. that damaged the buildings as well. right now i am hearing, there are still conflicting reports regarding the commander that one of intended target for israel. sources are telling me that he escaped the building, only a few minutes before the attack happened. they are civilian casualties. the number is not clear david we cannot go there because of the security concerns. theyay there might be another attack in the same area. it is not clear if it was just a one-off attack by israelis or if there would be another attack. we noted that hezbollah and

other groups had told the media, in different statements, they made it clear that attacking any part of beirut, including hezbollah stronghold, would be a redline. now the question is what will be the reaction? this is what people are asking. everyone is talking about that in lebanese social media, asking what is next, what will be the response. christian: we should say that that redline has been crossed before in january, there was an explosion in south beirut earlier in the year. the question is what happens next particularly given these reports that the target has seemingly escaped. >> some report suggesting that fuad shukr had left the building earlier, survived the strike.

others saying -- a couple reports suggesting that he was killed in the attack. we will wait for confirmation. i doubt that will come from hezbollah. if the israelis had proof that they got him, they would try to present that. if they did not get their target, that opens up the possibility of what israel go in for a second strike, either on him or somody else? a reminder of who this man is, fuad shukr. not only a senior advisor to hassan nasrallah, the leader of hezbollah, but he is wanted by the americans as well. there was a $5 million bounty on his head, information that would reveal him. was wanted for involvement in the attacks in 1983, the bombing and the killing of 241 american marines at the marine corps barracks in beirut. he is a long-standing member of hezbollah.

clearly, a very high ranking official within the militant group. the israelis will be under pressure to produce evidence if she has been killed. as nafeesa was suggesting, the ball is in hezbollah's court. when they respond to the strike? okesperson from the israeli defense force confirmed that they were behind the strike, reassuring to an extent, because he said therwas no change in the directives of the home front command. what that means is that israel is not immediately changing its instructions to israeli nationals to suddenly take shelter. this suggestion being they are not in imminent and significant response from hezbollah. this could have been seen, calculated as a single strike and possibly prompting hezbollah rockets back into israeli

territory. many people in the region, many international leaders are hoping this is a measured, calculated response, strike, and not the start of something much bigger and more dangerous. christian: we should say that that instruction to civilians changed when iran targeted israel some months ago. if they had any intelligence, they would shift it. >> worth mentioning that iranian attack. you'll remember in april, when iran, for the first time, sent rockets into israel, preannounced it and then fired it, that prompted fears of a cataclysmic regional war. would have was that israel launched a series of quite limited responses in iran, iranian positions in syria and iraq, and that was kind of it for that moment.

also in january when israel bombed the same suburb in southern beirut, targeting a senior hamas commander, killed him, hezbollah fired rockets back into northern israel, and both sides seem to have moved on. even though there is a huge appetite to neutralize the threat from hezbollah, pressure from israelis living close to the border to lebanon, 60,000 of whom have been evacuated in recent months, they are not willing to countenance the continuing threat from hezbollah. despite all of that, everybody is aware of just how dangerous this momen is, how big the stakes are, how any kind of all-out war which could bring in the iranians as supporters of hezbollah could be really disastrous for the middle east. particularly while hamas continues to fight israel in gaza. does israel want to open up a second front on the northern border? that is a big question.

christian: the visa, i was trying to explain, there are three geographical areas of control that hezbollah has in lebanon. that area south of the river, closer to the border which has been the scene of a lot of the tit-for-tat attacks, then south beirut where the military command structure is, and also in the east. that said, politically across the country, they have a lot of control, much stronger than the lebanese military. the other communities in lebanon right now, are in some respects, the to them and what they do next. in that respect, they are on tenterhooks tonight. >> to some extent, yes, this is true, but they have also there limit. hezbollah as shown in the last 10 months that they don't want to drag entire lebanon into war.

this has been delivered publicly in messages from hassan nasrallah, the leader of hezbollah, repeating the mentioning that we don't want to take lebanon as a whole country to war, shows that they also know, despite the power they have, they have limits, too. it will have a backlash on them from another part of society. they have other allies, christian allies, druze allies which were targeted, israel says by hezbollah on the other side of the break are, but they have allies here. none of these communities, no one in lebanon wants war. they kept on saying that out

loud, that they do not want to go to war. but i need to mention something, you mentioned the attack, the redline that passed in january. the january 1, interestingly, was seen by hezbollah as an attack on hamas. yes, he was targeted, the leader, the deputy of hamas was targeted. but thgroup saw it as an attack on hamas, not directly on hezbollah. that is why there was not direct response from hezbollah. the thing that happened today, they attacked hezbollah itself inside beirut, -- lebanese officials, even groups against hezbollah were saying that

attacking beirut may drag other groups, including the lebanese army, to this battle that has been going on in the south. this is the part that is very tricky. christian: that is a really important qualification. nafiseh, thank you for that. you can see from the building, it was a targeted, precision strike from this drone. three missiles were fired. in the immediate aftermath, we saw flames in the night sky above beirut. you can see now there is a huge crowd of there. the buildings along that apartment block still standing, israelis acting on some intelligence, and as mark says, will take some time to get clarification on who was killed in the attack. we are hearing from the israelis, that they did share some of this intelligenc with the white house and biden administration. they don't always communicate,

but it would seem ahead of this strike, that was communicated. we will talk to another member of the lebanese comnity from the christian maronite community later in the program. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news.

welcome back to bbc news. we are going to talk about that appalling life in southport. the town and the country still absorbing the scale and the horror of what unfolded yesterday. please confirm a third child has since died in hospital. she has been named as nine-year-old alice dasilva aguilar. two of the other children that don had been named as six-year-old bebe king, and elsie dot stancombe, who was seven. five children and two adults

remain in critical condition. the suspect is a 17-year-old boy who cannot be named because of his age. he remains in police custody on suspicion of murder. we know he was born in cardiff to rwandan parents and moved to the area in 2013. from southport, our reporter has the latest. >> alice dasilva aguilar, only nine years old, whose parents say that she will always be there princess. elsie dot stancombe, age seven, smiling proudly for her school photograph. and bebe king, just six years old, whose families say they have no words to describe the devastation that has hit them. how can you find the words? three children who were just dancing, and now they are gone. it is impossible to make sense of this, and southport is reeling. the fire fighters of green what you want to help the children yesterday are numb.

the ambulance crews who raced to save them and treat their wounds feel the same. all anyone here can do now is show their sorrow and offer their support. >> he is similar age, two of the children. it is just heartbreaking. >> it is very close to home. she went to holiday club. for something like this to happen, it is absolutely awful. >> as moms and moms to be, we want to feel safe with our children there. it is the most gorgeous place. you would never think anything like that would ever happen. >> emotions have been near the surface all day. the prime minister brought respects but found that for some, feelings were riding high. >> you cannot do --

he cannot do -- he is the prime minister. >> i came here to pay my respects to the victims and families who are going through raw pain and grief that most of us cannot imagine. i cannot imagine as a dad myself. to get a briefing from the chief constable, emergency services about the ongoing investigation, but also, importantly, to have the opportunity to say to those that were responding yesterday from emergency services, to say a personal thank you to them and shake their hand. to say, as prime minister, on behalf of the country, we are grateful for what they did. >> more information has been emerging about the heroes of this tragedy. this is leanne lucas, who is understood to have been running the children's dance class and

has thought to been stabbed while trying to protect them. her condition is not currently known. this is joel verite, a window cleaner who confronted the man before police arrived, carried a minute away from the scene. his friends had been speaking about his bravery. >> in that situation, no one knows how they will react, if fight or flight will kick in, which one will kick in. that second, being a father himself, he just heard kids and thought he has to help out. he went straight away. i think he was truly fearless. i am personally so proud of him. >> the children had been any taylor swift-themed dance workshop. today, the star posted on instagram, saying the horror of the attack is washing over her and she is completely in shock. fans of the singer have raised nearly 200,000 pounds to support the families involved. there are still children in critical condition and there are

many waiting anxiously for news about all of those who were hurt. tonight, teachers of the little girls whose lives have been lost say it is impossible to express the impact they made on those around them. they say this communy stands together in grief. christian: a lot more on that story on the bbc website. the other story we continue to follow tonight, in venezuela. t me show you the latest pictures from caracas where thousands of opposition supporters are continuing to protest the results of ts weekend's election. nicholas madero claiming victory on sunday despite the widespread claims of fraud and ballot rigging. after reviewing 70% of the voting tallies, it is clear that their candidate edmundo gonzalez won convincingly, they say. the white house has described the repression of venezuela protesters as unacceptable.

let's speak to a reporter in caracas. what have you seen today, did the protest today look bigger than yesterday? >> the protests just started. as a matter of fact, i can smell teargas being thrown at protesters gathering nearby in caracas. they made an appearance to express to those people in the streets, demanding a fair account of the boat. on the other the city in the west, where nicholas madero has supporters, to celebrate the victory. that is the situation right now when both parties claiming they have the right to be, to have the power of venezuela. on one side, as i said, it is the government with all the

power branches, with nicholas madero. the national assembly today said that nicholas madero is the president, like the electoral board did on sunday, but a of those powers are government controlled. on the other, we have the opposition saying they have the ballot counts to prove that edmundo gonzalez won the election. course there is concern in the street with people being detained, especially one member of the opposition who was obtained today in the morning by security forces. and also the attorney general said, during these 48 hours, more tn 700 people have been detained. christian: what has been the reaction to that among other latin american countries? >> it is huge. several countries say that

venezuela needs to recount the votes. allies of nicholas madero, cuba, supporting him, but the majority of countries like chile, panama, dominican republic, say it was not fair. today, the white house also released a statement saying that they are concerned, there is growing concern in latin america that the results do not reflect the will of the venezuelan people. christian: thank you very much for that. i want to talk about the economy because it is crucially important to the region, has the world's largest oil reserves. in 2008, they produced 3.5 million barrels a day. that has plummeted to fewer than half a million barrels a day today. let's bring him an emerging market strategist.

that is an extraordinary fall, two thirds caught in the export per day of oil. why? is it underinvestment, what is it? >> several factors can explain that. on the one hand, nonmarket policies implemented earlier by past president hugo chavez. that motivated several skilled workers to leave the country. later on, falling oil prices in 2014, underinvestment generated by the previous president chavez, combined with 2019, and then later u.s. sanction preventing venezuela from

importing several key inputs. this prevented several companies to invest in venezuela. christian: russia's oil was taken out of the market. venezuela is suddenly much more interesting to countries in the region. oil started to flow again. the inflation figure, 450,000% to 50% in five years, how has he done that? >> again, several factors. on the one hand, it helped significantly, thanks to the easing of sanctions from the united states, venezuela has been able to increase the supply of dollars, keep the effects maduro, even though official

government figures have not been released since 20 17, they have cap expenditures below inflation, which has allowed them to reduce monetary financing, printing. christian: still an economic crisis were a lot of people in venezuela which is why you are seeing the protests on the street. thank you. we will continue to keep an eye on the situation in caracas. we will have more reaction from lebanon after the break. stay with announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also pvided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs.

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