♪ ♪

♪ ♪ 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" 'n washington, and this is bbc 'n world news america. in beirut, and attack killed 12

young people. venezuela braces for more violence after president temer maduro claims victory. and more on the assassination attempt on donald trump. ♪ welcome to world news america. we begin with a developing story tonight. at least one explosion hit a southern suburb of the lebanese capital beirut. israel set a carried out a strike targeting a hezbollah commander, responsible for a deadly attack over the weekend in the is really occupied golan heights, which killed 12 children and young people. the commander is being named in israeli media. sources close to hezbollah say he survived the strike but had not yet been confirmed. israel promised a major military response for the saturday attack

on golan heights. it blamed hezbollah, but hezbollah has denied any involvement. let's go to our middle east correspondent, who will be check out -- hugo bachega, for an update. hugo: yes, following the attack that happened on saturday, and this happened night, a huge explosion hit southern beirut. the israelis said the target was a senior hezbollah commander, identified by the israeli media as fu'ad shukr. no response as to whether as

has but i will react to them tonight's strike. it could be seen as a major provocation by hezbollah. most of the violence up until now between israel and hezbollah has been contained two areas along the border, not really far here from an area 30 kilometers from the border with israel, but there has always been concerned that this violence could escalate into a major conflict between israel and hezbollah. there could even be involvement of the group supported by iran across the region. it is obviously a very dangerous moment. sumi hugo, what response, if any, have we seen from lebanon? hugo: we had a statement from the lebanese prime minister who said he condemned the israeli attack, he said this was a criminal act, aggression by his real, and this was a violation

of international law. the lebanese government is in a very difficult position, because they have very limited if any influence over hezbollah, which is a powerful, heavily armed militia, political party that is supported by iran, and is based here in lebanon. the fear here in lebanon has been that hezbollah could be dragging lebanon into a conflict that is not in the country's interest. obviously at major confrontation here could have catastrophic consequences for both israel and hezbollah, enough to make 160,000 rockets and missiles, including precision -guided missiles that can strike deep inside israeli military. it could be fell deep inside by people in israel. people remember what happened in 2006, the destruction caused by a war between israel and hezbollah. obviously real concerns that

this could escalate into something much bigger. sumi: hugo bachega reporting from lebanon tonight. thank you very much for that update. let's get some analysis now with javed lee, a university of michigan professor and former member of the white house security council. how serious do you think a strike on a suburb in beirut is? prof. ali: this is a significant strike, but not clear if fu'ad shukr was killed or wounded in be attacked. the baball is back in hezbollah's court, to use a sports metaphor. they also might up the ante and escalate things beyond the conflict between israel and

lebanon over the past two months since october 7. so it is a difficult moment but it is not exactly clear we will immediately see escalation on both sides. sumi: tell us more about who he is and how significant he is within hezbollah. prof. ali: the long-standing hezbollah military commander. there are people like fu'ad shu kr who have grown up through the ranks throughout the decades, close to secretary-general hassan nasrallah. even if he were to be killed, there are very capable replacements for him, and hezbollah has also lost in your commanders over the decades in either lebanon or syria. it would not be that momentous if he were actually killed, and i think has below operates

basically as an army at this point. they are no longer a small, clandestine nine terrorist group, the way they emerged in the early 1980's. sumi: he said it operates as an army. give us an idea of how strong hezbollah is, what they have at their disposal. prof. ali: so secretary-general nasrallah said hezbollah can have probably around 30,000, 40,000 within different parts of southern lebanon, and they can quickly mobilize the thousands of reservists and then operate as one would expect an army capri. it is not a small terrorist group anymore. it is armed to the teeth or has been armed to the teat over the decades because of that relationship with iran, and now

rockets, drawings, missiles that can strike deep within israel. this is not the hezbollah of the 1980's and 1990's, this is a very different type of hezbollah , and that is why it is so significant, because it has below were to use the mitary inventory and has inside israel, it would be very difficult for israel to shoot down all of those missiles or all of those events. sumi: right. the risk of escalation is there. we can sell the state department say an all out war is not inevitable. they are taking measures toward de-escalation. do you have a sense we are closer to an all-out war than we have at any point since october 6? prof. ali: i don't think we are there yet. another interesting aspect, and it was tragic circumstances with the missile that was lost and killed the children at the soccer field in the golan heights, but i have to believe that was not an aitional

strike by hezbollah, knowing how they tried to use their weapons against israeli targets. the fact that this is a mistake, even though hezbollah is not claiming responsibility for it, maybe hezbollah is willing to take some shots to the chin, using another sports metaphor, and knowledge that they made a mistake, they are willing to pay a price, even if someone like fu'ad shukr is killed, not willing to escalate things that would lead to a broader conflict between israel and hezbollah, because they were beetle winners at that point. they would just be losers on both sides, unfortunately. sumi: javed, do you anticipate the u.s. would use diplomatic tools to try to de-escalate the situation? prof. i: i have to think that has been going on for the past several months because of the ongoing conflict between hezbollah and israel, but especially now, looking at how things can turn very quickly

based on hohezbollah proceeds. who knows, israel may try to target other hezbollah commanders as well. it's a very dynamic situation, but i think the u.s., france, other countries with influence in lebanon may have channels to different parties, may try to have cooler heads prevail while both sides take a step back and figure out what actually just happened. sumi: all right, javi very good to ge your analysis tonight. ed-- javed, very good to get your analysis tonight. that leah clashes betwee police and antigovernment protesters continued tonight in venezuela. dozens have been injured. nicholas mike trout was declared the winner of sunday's election, but the opposition says that is a sham. -- nicholas maduro was declared

winner of sunday's election, but the opposition says that is a sham. the armed forces were told there was no need to repress the people of venezuela. let's bring in our correspondent, standing by in caracas. thanks for joining us. he is up-to-date on what has been happening where you are. >> well, protests have continued today for the second time. people were not deterred by the violence that broke out after the elections. thousands and thousands of people gathered in the city's center to protest against president maduro and his claim to victory. it was a relatively peaceful protest. many people said they were there to defend democracy, believing the election was a fraud. many people said they only believe they would w if the

military joint event against the government. so far, the police have been loyal to the government. they've been hitting back against protesters around the city, in some cases firing tear gas and rubber bullets where the protests have escalated. there was a gathering of protesters of pro-maduro supporters in another part of the city. some say the opposition's claims of fraud are untrue and have not been proved. the opposition says they have received from a majority now of the electronic voting machines in the election, and these receipts prove that president maduro won the election. the government accuse them of instigating a to come in their words, of-- a coup, in their words, backed by u.s. into imperialism. nicolas maduro had very strong

words for the government. he has accused the opposition of essentially instigating a coup, towards his defense minister has used as well. he's also accused foreign governments around the world of interfering in the venezuelan election. that is a reference to the fact that now dozens and dozens of governments around the world have put pressure on nicolas maduro, paying he needs to provide proof if the result is to be deemed credible, and if his government is to be recognized. he has responded to some governments around the world by cutting diplomatic ties entirely. sumi: ione wells reporting for us tonight from caracas. great to have you. with me now is lopez, a venezuelan opposition leader, also a fellow at the public wilson center. as we heard in our reporter's words, people have been killed in these protests. we've also seen dozens have been arrested.

what are you hearing from your fellow activists on the ground? are they going to continue going out? leopoldo: yes, people will continue going out on the street, it is important to understand how we got here. there was an election, a diplomatic 74-year-old was able to the register, three months ago, he was completely unknown, and he won the election by a landslide, 70/30. and it is not that we are making allegations, it is exactly what happened. let me tell you why we know this is what happened. there are 16,000 voting centers in venezuela, and we have witnesses, each one of them, and now we have a print out of each one of those centers that prove that with 80% of all of those receipts, there is a 70/30 landslide. sumi: you don't have all of the receipts just yet. if they are not released, what

is the opposition? leopoldo: the discussion is not about receipts. there's also 84 percent unaccounted at them and just accounted for in the 80%, there's no way maduro can win the election. what happened is sunday night, maduro basically decided to openly and bluntly do a fraud. he presented with his advisor, who is now the head of the electoral council, the results that were published, and there was a reaction. there was a reaction that was expected by the venezuelan people. what was not expected, i think, by the regime is the protests taking places where maduro at some point won elections. we are also seeing defections from the police, who were taking

off their uniforms, military who were decided not to repress. sumi: is that the case? at this point, it does look like the military and the police are remaining loyal to maduro. leopoldo: yes, and as somebody once said, the military and police are loyal until the point that they are not. i think that is where we are. as you said in your introduction. everything is already there for a transition. so it was a landslide victory, 70/30. the attention of the region, the welcome of the democratic world, i may say, is very clear in asking for the resolution of those results. the people are in the streets, and the only fear that maduro has now is the police come of the military, and maduro will continue to do that. let's remind that maduro last week threatened with a civil war, and now he is attempting to go to that stage. sumi: you know well what it

means to oppose nicolas maduro, to tell people your story. you were concted and sentenced to 14 years in prison after antigovernment protest in caracas, and you were a prisoner conscious. you did serve three years and sent to your family in spain. there have been protests in the past to get his maduro's government, but they have not led to a change in government. he is still in power. why do you think this time could be different? leopoldo: it has been a long process, and we are here. there's a huge margin of difference between those who support maduro and those who support change and democracy. we are talking about a landslide election that his best election got 66% of the vote,nd at gonzalez got 70% of the vote.

this is massive. edmundo gonzalez won in every municipality of venezuela. there was no municipality where there was a maduro vote above edmundo gonzalez. that is one thing. the second thing is there's absolute unity between -- behind a and mondo gonzales -- sumi: you mean behind the opposition? leopoldo: i'm talking the country, civil society, there is a legitimate issue that is respect to the results, and that is what they are saying, brazil is saying, and historic ally of chavez, and col

ombia is saying the same thing. chile, that also has the government, is saying the same vein, and argentina and other countries in the world. everybody focusing the same, to respect the results of the election last sunday. at this moment, we want to ask for maximum attention, because venezuela could be the first transition from autocracy to democracy in the 21st century. we have been seeing a backslide of democracy for almost 20 years. venezuela could be the first case of a fourth wave of democratization worldwide. sumi: mr. lopez, that is all we have time for today, but thank you for joining us on bbc news. leopoldo: thank you very much. sumi: good to have you. it has been a violent evening in england after a knife attack killed three people and injured others. people place to be affiliated with the far right and i lying

english defense league -- anti-islam group english defense league. at least when officer has been injured. false accusations spread on light that the 17-year-old attacker was the asylum-seekers who had arrived at the u.k. by vote. the arrested individual was born in t u.k. and with most of his life and southport. the three children killed have been made as seven-year-old elise, six-year-old bebe king, and alice aguiar. the prime minister also visited the site of the attacks. the attack near lib l liverpool.

taylor swift said "the loss of life and innocence and horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and the first responders. these re just little kids at a dance class. i'm at a loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families. u.s. senators question security officials about the failures, acting secret service director ronald romo and paula featured at times heated exchanges as lawmakers pressed them on lapses in communication over the shooter. some senators demanded information over the security organization, which mr. rowe acknowledged in his opening remarks was a failure. mr. ro: what if my first actions as acting director was to travel to the butler farms site. i went to the roof of the building, where the assailant fired shots, and i laid in a

prone position to evalte his line of sight. what i saw made me aamed. as a career law enforcement officer and 25 year veteran with the secret service, i cannot defend why that roof was not better secured. sumi: ourorth america correspondent know me i think paul -- nomia iqbal has more. nomia: mr. rowe struck a different tone to his predecessor, who was very defensive, which led to the conclusion of her standing down. mr. row has stood up to become the acting heade of the secret service. he went in and was completely

remorseful, saying he cannot sleep at night, he was ashamed, but he was also very forceful as well. there are a few points during the hearing where they were shouting matches with some of the republican senators, and mr. rowe gave as good as he got. he said the book stopped with him --uck stopped with him, but he wanted to get down to what went wrong. mr. rowe, what i found was very different, no one called for him to stand down. senators that he did a good job when they testified. sumi: as investigations into what happened continue, what more do we know about the shooter? naomi: well, the fbi deputy director, as you mentioned, was in the hearing as well, mr. abbate, and they have a covered

a social media -- uncovered a social media account they believe belongs to mr. crooks come up with antisemitism and definitely extreme in nature, but in terms of that crucial question, why did he set out to kill donald trump, we still don't know. there is a bipartisan task force that has been brought together by speaker of the house johnson and minority leader hakeem jeffries. they will try to get to the bottom of it. sumi: thank you so much for your reporting. israel has carried out a strike in the leavening is capital beirut, and at a senior hezbollah commander, fu'ad shukr . a number of others were killed and injured. a base for the iranian backed group for fu'ad shukr's fate is not clear.

you can follow that story on our website, bbc.com/news. you will find updates on what is happening on the ground and analysis from our correspondents who are reporting tonight from lebanon and israel who are reporting on impact of the region and gaza as well. check our website for all of the latest updates. remember you can find all the day's news as well on our website, bbc.com/news, plus to find out what we are working on at any time, check us out on your favorite social media site, and you can download the bbc news app for the latest. i'm sumi somaskanda. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. 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: "usa today" calls it, "arguablthe best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett.